Removing phase change material from heatsink???

[Barry Ward]

12 months ago, I built 2 identical AMD XP2400 based machines - one for
myself and one for a friend.

My machine's processor runs 25C higher that the system temp - whereas my
friend's processor only runs 10C higher than the system temp. This means
that mine runs quite hot during the summer months.

Now that winter has arrived , my machine makes a strange "noise" during the
boot-up process. This sound only happens when the machine is cold and the
sound is definitely coming from the processor/heatsink. I suspect the phase
change material and the contact (or lack thereof) between the processor and
the heatsink.

Since I have never removed a heatsink before -- only installed them - I am
looking for advice . The phasechange material is the standard stuff that
comes with the standard AMD supplied heatsink.

Will removing the heatsink cause any kind of problem/damage to the
processor. Is it likely to be firmly attached to the processor - maybe like
a kind of glue holding the 2 bodies together? Any advice would be much
appreciated. I would really like to fix this problem - both to eliminate the
horrible bootup noise during winter and reduce the operating temp in summer.
I do have some silver paste to use in place of the existing phase change
material if it needs to be replaced

Thanks

Barry

 

[rays]

if you used the PAD that came with the heatshink fan, then you will need to
change the whole heatsink fan
once melt it fill the microport on the heatshink and if you put new
coumpound its not gonne be effective.

to remove the heatshink , what i do is twist the heatshink gently i mean
VERY gently and it sould be easy. or yu get some compress air shoot it in
the reverse between the cpu and heatshink, this should do it.

 

[Mel]

My previous machine made a noise during the startup, in fact the machine
prior to that also made a noise. It only happened for about 2-3 minutes -
but boy what an horrible noise. I changed the fan(s), voila, no more noise -
bearings perhaps?

Funny though, both my machines were about 12 month old when this noise
started.

 

[Barry Ward]

My previous machine made a noise during the startup, in fact the machine
prior to that also made a noise. It only happened for about 2-3 minutes -
but boy what an horrible noise. I changed the fan(s), voila, no more noise -
bearings perhaps?

Funny though, both my machines were about 12 month old when this noise
started.

Thanks for that Mel -- so you machine only made a noise during startup too
!! I guess it could be the small fan on top of the heatsink/processor combo.
But why would it only happen during bootup -- and why after 12 months.

Was your machine AMD XP based as well? -- It would be certainly easy to
replace the AMD fan - but I am reluctant to break the heatsink/processor
interface unnecessarily.

Regards

Barry in Brisbane Australia

 

[Mel]

Yes it was an AMD. Only explanation I have is metal when warm expands -
bearings warm up and expand with processor heat. er why - cheap fan ?

Stop your computer booting into Windows, I suspect the noise will stop after
2-3 minutes regardless. Again I suspect as windows boots up it loads the
processor > creates heat > noise stops. If your system has the same problem
as mine, it was remarkable that the noise stopped each and everytime the
log-on screen was displayed. It got to the point where I could tell the
temperature of the room with the pitch of the fan - arghhhhhh

I know it was certainly the processor fan, as it booted up I placed my
finger GENTLY on the hub of the fan (not stopping the fan though) - the
noise stopped until I moved my finger away.

 

[Matt]

if you used the PAD that came with the heatshink fan, then you will need to
change the whole heatsink fan
once melt it fill the microport on the heatshink and if you put new
coumpound its not gonne be effective.

nonsense

 

[Matt]

Since I have never removed a heatsink before -- only installed them - I am
looking for advice . The phasechange material is the standard stuff that
comes with the standard AMD supplied heatsink.

Will removing the heatsink cause any kind of problem/damage to the
processor. Is it likely to be firmly attached to the processor - maybe like
a kind of glue holding the 2 bodies together? Any advice would be much
appreciated. I would really like to fix this problem - both to eliminate the
horrible bootup noise during winter and reduce the operating temp in summer.
I do have some silver paste to use in place of the existing phase change
material if it needs to be replaced

If the material looks like wax or putty, remove it with 91% isopropyl
alcohol (Walgreens) and paper coffee filters. Doing so will not damage
your CPU.

The silver compound can be troublesome. I would recommend the ordinary
heatsink compound from Radio Shack or so.

 

[Barry Ward]

Yes it was an AMD. Only explanation I have is metal when warm expands -
bearings warm up and expand with processor heat. er why - cheap fan ?

Stop your computer booting into Windows, I suspect the noise will stop after
2-3 minutes regardless. Again I suspect as windows boots up it loads the
processor > creates heat > noise stops. If your system has the same problem
as mine, it was remarkable that the noise stopped each and everytime the
log-on screen was displayed. It got to the point where I could tell the
temperature of the room with the pitch of the fan - arghhhhhh

YES YES!!! Same as mine -- I can tell by the temperature of the room
whether the machine will make a noise when I turn it on -- AND like yours,
the noise my machine makes instantly dissapears as soon as the log on screen
is displayed.


Barry

 

[Matt]

YES YES!!! Same as mine -- I can tell by the temperature of the room
whether the machine will make a noise when I turn it on -- AND like yours,
the noise my machine makes instantly dissapears as soon as the log on screen
is displayed.


Barry

Please describe the noise.

 

[rays]

read up!

http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

When it melts, it will fill in the microscopic valleys in the heatsink with
wax. To minimize the permanent contamination of the mounting surface with
wax, the thermal pad should be removed before it is used and melted. Never
use heat or hot water to remove the pad, the heat will melt the wax into the
heatsink.

 

[Barry Ward]

Please describe the noise.

I am afraid that I can't -- it isn't a "rotating" or "whirring" sound
really -- it is a type of noise that I have never heard before. That is why
I was suspecting some kind of high frequency vibration between the processor
and the heatsink.

It is quite a loud noise -- loud enough that when it first happened , I
thought "What the H*** is THAT!!!" . The most significant thing though is
that it only happens when the room is cold, it sometimes doesn't happen then
but nearly always -- and when it does occur, it ends exactly when the bootup
process ends as soon as the desktop background wallpaper appears on the
screen. Also my processor runs a little hotter than my friend's machine and
appears to be getting worse.

Today I intend to lubricate the processor fan and see if the noise stops and
whether the fan spins faster causing better cooling.

Barry

 

[Ric]

read up!

http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

When it melts, it will fill in the microscopic valleys in the
heatsink with wax. To minimize the permanent contamination of the
mounting surface with wax, the thermal pad should be removed before
it is used and melted. Never use heat or hot water to remove the pad,
the heat will melt the wax into the heatsink.

....it's still nonsense. try it - you'll notice one metric fvck-all's worth
of difference.

ric

 

[Matt]

read up!

http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

When it melts, it will fill in the microscopic valleys in the heatsink with
wax. To minimize the permanent contamination of the mounting surface with
wax, the thermal pad should be removed before it is used and melted. Never
use heat or hot water to remove the pad, the heat will melt the wax into the
heatsink.

Arctic Silver's mystique is built largely on fear, uncertainty, and
doubt (FUD).