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how do you guys remove a gpu hsf??

M

M4d-K10wN

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
1,373
Well, I've tried removing the heatsink off my bfg 5900nu, and cut off a capacitor in the process. I could have fixed it myself, but RMA'd it because I have terrible soldering skills. Anyway, they soldered another one there and it's being shipped to me right now. So, for practice, I took my old riva TnT off the wall, and tried removing the heatsink from it. First I tried pulling it off. Doesn't even bulge. Then I tried wedging it off with first, a knife, and then a credit card. Neither can get into the space in between the GPU and the HS; not enough space :( . Then I tried heating the heatsink rapidly with my torch. I heated it untill the core reached it's melting point (probably..), and still doesn't move a bit.

It appears to be glued on with some sort of white ceramic-looking substance. At closer look it's exact same thing I found on an old Pentium-1 chip, the yellow-white-translucent stuff. Probably old thermal epoxy. It took me a while to scrape the TIM off the old P1 cpu, that stuff is hard, even though I was using an x-acto knife..

Anyway, then I put the card in the freezer. Forgot about it for two days, then went to get some ice cream, and saw it there. Tried twisting/pulling it off, nothing. Then I took my trusty torch again, and heated the heatsink untill it was almost too hot to touch. Nothing, again. Then I took a hammer, and started hitting the heatsink from the side. Didn't accomplish anything, except bending the fins on it. Then, in the final attempt, I took a chisel, and hammered it in between the GPU and the HS. The HS came off, but I also chipped off a bit of the core, to reveal the transistors. There's no way it would work now, but I have no use for it, so back on the wall it goes.

I wonder how you guys remove the stock HSF so you can install, say, a waterblock? :confused:
 
When I had to remove my GeForce4 TI4600 HSF, all I did was remove the mounting springs and gently twist the HSF back and forth, then I was able to tilt it and pull it away.

It had regular old white thermal goo.

My old Diamond MM TNT (wow that's an old card 1x AGP!) had the HSF stuck on with a thermal epoxy. I never got that HSF off. But I never tried TOO forcefully as I still use it in a P2 server at home.

Good luck with your 5900. I was going to reccomend the freezer trick, but it looks like you've already given that a whirl.

And good luck with the H20 cooling, I love my setup :->
 
I'm not even going H20, I just wanted to put the Zalman HSF on it, the stock looks un-1337.
 
yeah... modern graphics cards HSFs arent epoxied on. This misconception happens all the time. I always shudder at what happens next when I read "So I put my 9800pro in the freezer....."

The pastes create a weird like suction problem when trying to pull them off but its about patience and twisting. I guess I just assume people putting there VC in the fridge are out to pry something off. None of that. I'm glad the freezer trick is now for the most part unnecessary and best used for things like trying to get ramsinks off your older retiring video cards.

I use needle nose pliers to push the pins through and a few seconds later.... done. Don't even know if you're card will be cold yet.....
 
remove screws or pressure mounts. use a hairdryer to heat the heatsink of a thermalpad or something is stuck in there
 
xDigitalChaosx said:
remove screws or pressure mounts. use a hairdryer to heat the heatsink of a thermalpad or something is stuck in there
Click to expand...
Thanks, Now I can say that I've read that at leas a thousand times, and not lie while at it.... Remove the screws or pressure mounts? Why, brilliant! :rolleyes: Why haven't I thought of that yet?
 
my GF4MX-420's heatsink was epoxied on... i left it in the freezer overnight, wedged a credit card under the hsf and then popped it off with a butter knife.
before this i had tried fishing line, a screwdriver, and pouring acetone on it. well i scratched the pcb with a screwdriver by accident but the card still works perfectly.
 
V0ltage said:
my GF4MX-420's heatsink was epoxied on... i left it in the freezer overnight, wedged a credit card under the hsf and then popped it off with a butter knife.
before this i had tried fishing line, a screwdriver, and pouring acetone on it. well i scratched the pcb with a screwdriver by accident but the card still works perfectly.
Click to expand...

my hsf on my vid card was epoxied on too. i removed the screws and everything, then put it in the freezer for 30 mins and used the cc, butterknife to pop it off. becareful not to crack the core though.
 
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