SECC heatsink, possible Dellism (~780k pics)

[Snugglebear]

Some time ago my mother broke her Dell V350 by pushing the power button one too many times. The button retainers snapped off and the button fell inside the bezel. It was good for a few laughs and took a couple minutes to fix with super-ultra-mega glue. Unfortunately the glue failed. So tonight I've been working on hacking up a retaining clip to see if that can do the job, but frankly, there's nothing worth a damn inside the bezel to get a grip on with glue, screws, etc., so I'm fairly sure this fix will last a few weeks at most. Replacement bezels from Dell are all system pulls and they haven't come accross one in 9 months. Thus the time has come to start investigating a case transplant.

My family and former employers have been keen on Dells over the years so I've gotten to know many of the Dellisms in the various machines. I know enough to check all the mounting screw hole locations and never to plug in a non-Dell ATX PSU into the boards, among other things. However, this one has me stumped - when I pulled the processor out to take a closer look at the heatsink I found it to be stuck on from the inside. Any case transplant would require some new form of coolong (V350s duct air over a passive heatsink and then out a 90mm fan at the rear), and if I can't get new heatsink on there the whole transplant is pointless. Thus I'm hoping those of you with more experience on Dells and P2s can tell me how to remove/replace the sink, if possible.

While replacing the entire system would be nice, it's not going to happen anytime soon for three reasons: I) I did too good a job maintaining and doing targeted upgrades over the years, II) the only hardware I'm impressed with enough to recommend buying right now are PPC970s/G5 Macs, III) everyone in the family blew through a lot of cash this summer running accross the country tending to sick relatives. It's very hard to tell someone to buy a new machine when I wouldn't buy one and they've got it at idle priority.

Anyway, here are the pics. It's a standard P2-350 SL2U3, SECC cartridge out of a Dell V350 circa 1998. Works fine and has for 6 years. The heatsink is attached to the cartrdige by clips that go down through the whole width of it, leading me to believe removal would require complete disassembly of the cartridge. I've been unable to find instructions on doing so.

 

[0ldman]

I've got a 400 or 450 PII and a 500 PIII, had a PII 300 and 350. All are different, some were Dell's, others were various OEM's.

Got a pic of the back?

Honestly, that looks like it is part of the cartridge.

hit up *foo, see what he says...

 

[Snugglebear]

The back of what, the bezel? Think I got it solved this time by carving a piece of cork to act as a retainer. The metal clip I tried earlier wasn't big enough to find purchase.

For the CPU, that's about it as many angles as I can get. The folds of the heatsink are attached to the plate which is sandwiched against the outside of the cartridge. The folds are held in by pressure from metal fingers (think boiled-egg slicer) pressing down on it which are themselves attached to the bars you see above and below the folds of the sink, and those bars, in turn, are somehow attached to the processor. Couldn't find squat in the Intel Bible as far as this goes, which is rather odd, actually.

*foo still cruises through this place?

 

[widefault]

Ugh, SECC. Only way to get most of those off is to pop off the casing. There's a spring clip on the back of the CPU itself, same basic setup as the slot one Celerons. Anyway, to get them off you'll need a steady hand, small screwdrivers, and leverage. It's been a few years since I de-cased one, though, so I can't remember how I did it then. It was a matter of starting in one corner and slowly prying it apart.

*foo comes by here every once in a while, probably be easier to ask at the other place. Besides, we miss you there. Well, maybe.

 

[Papa-Ming]

....

 

[Frobozz]

Is a case transplant necessary? All you should need to do is find a way to rig up a momentary switch. Not sure if that's the technical term but think doorbells and such. You may even be able to find a decent one that'll fit into the current pwr button hole.

 

[Lazn_Work]

P2's are not heatmonsters, just screw a fan blowing into those fins on that funny looking heatsink and you should be fine.

I have run them fanless with similar sized heatsinks (different design though) and no ducting.

==>Lazn

 

[0ldman]

Snuggle, I was leaving the power switch to you. I meant the back of the CPU. I guess the HS clamps/latches/bs doesn't go all the way through on that one...

 

[Snugglebear]

Originally posted by Frobozz
Is a case transplant necessary? All you should need to do is find a way to rig up a momentary switch. Not sure if that's the technical term but think doorbells and such. You may even be able to find a decent one that'll fit into the current pwr button hole.

Not yet, only if the hacked retainer fails. Any further modifications would be pretty ghetto, and believe it or not, that's something she doesn't want to look at. Since I have a spare case, it made sense to explore this option to minimize further downtime.

Originally posted by widefault
Ugh, SECC. Only way to get most of those off is to pop off the casing. There's a spring clip on the back of the CPU itself, same basic setup as the slot one Celerons. Anyway, to get them off you'll need a steady hand, small screwdrivers, and leverage. It's been a few years since I de-cased one, though, so I can't remember how I did it then. It was a matter of starting in one corner and slowly prying it apart.

That's what I was looking for. Sadly I've never taken an SECC or SECC2 apart, celeron or P2/P3.

Originally posted by widefault
*foo comes by here every once in a while, probably be easier to ask at the other place. Besides, we miss you there. Well, maybe.

Aww, you're just upset that I got away without being post-raped

Originally posted by Papa-Ming
Maybe the photos will be useful, then maybe not? It's all I could find with photos.

They are, thanks. I remember a few guides like this but most have vanished.

Originally posted by Lazn_Work
P2's are not heatmonsters, just screw a fan blowing into those fins on that funny looking heatsink and you should be fine.

I have run them fanless with similar sized heatsinks (different design though) and no ducting.

Dang, my old 266 used to get extremely hot even with the dell ducting and heatsink. Screwing a fan on might work, though I'd be wary about not having much airflow over the cache chips.

Originally posted by 0ldman
Snuggle, I was leaving the power switch to you. I meant the back of the CPU. I guess the HS clamps/latches/bs doesn't go all the way through on that one...

Well, they don't come out the other side, but AFAIK they mount into some sort of receptacle that's built into the back half of the plastic casing.

 

[Lazn_Work]

Dang, my old 266 used to get extremely hot even with the dell ducting and heatsink. Screwing a fan on might work, though I'd be wary about not having much airflow over the cache chips.

266=Klamath core
350=Deschutes core

Klamath at 266 = hotter than Deschutes at 450

If you are worried about the cache chips, use two fans, or a big one positioned above it.

==>Lazn

 

[pxc]

That heatsink looks like the one in my old Gateway G5 at work. They must have had a special.