chipped cpu die a problem?

[legion]

So when I had to clean the melted thermal tape off the top of the cpu I must
of chipped the edge in a couple of places. This isn't a problem right?

I am using fiber washers between the screws and the mobo. The bottom of the
screw hole on the mobo still contacts metal, yet the mobo I salveged the
washers from had none on the bottom side either.

when I first started I had the mobo screwed directly to the mounting plate,
I had read "....many cases ship with small fiber washers. Don't bother with
these; Today's motherboards have insulators around the holes"
(extremetech ZD vol 1 Fall 2004)

so I wen't ahead and screwd down the mobo, attached the agp video, hdd, fdd,
mem, and thought I was good to go, all of the fans were spinning, and I
could hear the hdd spin up.

then I was told from a number of people the mounting was very incorrect.
Since the termal tape was ment to be permanant my diagnostic removal marred
the surface and needed to be removed. I used the reccomended craft knife to
remove the gummy substance from the top of the cpu die, and inadvertently
nicked the edge in a couple of places, though not enough force to actually
crush the die.

I have been testing the system w/o thermal paste or tape. I have been
assuming that there will be no harm as long as I do not run anything for
more then a minute. (cpu and all fans are hooked up)
Nothing has been working anyway since I first started.

There is a 5V LED that shines when the psu is connected, before when the
power switch was activated the board would fire up and the VCC light would
come on.

The psu does not seem to be working now, could it of failed from the
constant on/off of testing the mobo? OR is there still a ground somewhere
that is causing it not to come on?

For now, I am going to try to find some thermal paste

 

[Papa]

Are you still at it? Man, you had better start reading up on building a
computer before you ruin something or hurt yourself. The questions you are
asking are a pretty good indication that you haven't the least idea as to
what to watch out for. For example, letting a CPU run without heat sink
paste even for "only" a minute can destroy it.

Do your homework, or get a computer-knowledgeable friend to help you.

 

[John Doe]

So when I had to clean the melted thermal tape off the top of the cpu I
must of chipped the edge in a couple of places. This isn't a problem
right?

Avoid chipping components in your computer.

when I first started I had the mobo screwed directly to the mounting
plate,

You aren't saying that the underside of your mainboard was touching the
metal plate, are you? That probably would destroy your mainboard when you
connected the power supply and turned on your computer.

I had read "....many cases ship with small fiber washers. Don't
bother with these; Today's motherboards have insulators around the
holes" (extremetech ZD vol 1 Fall 2004)

I think those holes are ground points which are intended to be connected
to
the case.

so I wen't ahead and screwd down the mobo,

You used mainboard standoffs, right? Those are the brass or silver
colored female/male screws which screw into the case and space the
mainboard.

attached the agp video, hdd, fdd,
mem, and thought I was good to go, all of the fans were spinning, and I
could hear the hdd spin up.
then I was told from a number of people the mounting was very
incorrect. Since the termal tape was ment to be permanant my diagnostic
removal

Diagnostic removal? Whoever told you that removing thermal tape could
help, if the same source did not warn you that
tape/paste/grease must be applied, then do not look to them for further
advice about building a system.

I recently did something along the same line. I removed the memory heat
sinks from my fan cooled AGP video card. Then cleaned off the residual
heat sink tape. I don't have any thermal tape and ordinary heat sink
grease probably would not hold well enough. After cleaning the chips and
the heat sinks, I super glued the heat sinks back on to the memory chips.
It's running fine at the moment, but don't try that at home [playing].

marred the surface and needed to be removed. I used the reccomended
craft knife

Same adviser as the one who told you to remove the thermal tape?

to remove the gummy substance from the top of the cpu die,

I would use a Q-tip with some chemical (probably a drop of WD-40) and
then dry, carefully removing any strands of cotton which were left in
the area.

and inadvertently nicked the edge in a couple of places, though not
enough force to actually crush the die.

I have been testing the system w/o thermal paste or tape.
I have been assuming that there will be no harm as long as I do not run
anything for more then a minute.

Like the other reply author (Papa) said, that is a bad idea.

(cpu and all fans are hooked up) Nothing has been working anyway since
I first started.
There is a 5V LED that shines when the psu is connected, before when
the power switch was activated the board would fire up and the VCC
light would come on.
The psu does not seem to be working now, could it of failed from the
constant on/off of testing the mobo? OR is there still a ground
somewhere that is causing it not to come on?

A ground?

If the power supply is not connected, it probably will not start, they
require a load (a connection to the circuit).

Sounds like you are lost. If you cannot troubleshoot, if you do not know
how to tell whether a component is working, then you are stuck without a
clue. Putting it another way, you have to think before you act, hacking
away at a system leads to trouble.

For now, I am going to try to find some thermal paste

Radio Shack sells thermal paste/grease.

 

[Velvet Glove]

I have been testing the system w/o thermal paste or tape. I have been
assuming that there will be no harm as long as I do not run anything for
more then a minute.

You're a troll. You asked for advice, ignored all of it. You even seem to
be rubbing in that you bought this POS power supply despite about 20
people telling you it was a bad idea. You claim you screwed the
motherboard directly to the tray and I don't even think that's possible.
Next you claim to be testing it without the heatsink even though you were
warned yesterday not to do that. You've also said you worked in a tech
center and that you know what you are doing. Everytime someone has warned
you against something, you come right back and claimed that you did it.
I'm not buying it.

 

[Papa]

Yep. He's a troll all right, just egging everyone on. Best to just ignore.
Better yet, killfile the guy. I sure am. This is ridiculous.

 

[Bob Troll]

I agree with that one 100% Papa. I put a 2400 amd xp+ in and didn't set the
hs correctly. The cpu was 1, 2, gone in a puff.... His cpu may already be
cashed in.

Regards, Bob "hopelessly insane machine warrior" Troll

 

[Bob Troll]

FYI, although WD40 is an excellent lubricant, it should never get close to
the die of a cpu. The hs "paste" we use fills in the micro pores on the die
surface and using wd40 leaves a residue which would hinder the "paste's"
ability to do it's job perfectly. Don't do it! You could probably get away
with high % rubbing alcohol, but never anything that would leave a residue
like silicone, wd40, nail polish remover etc.

Regards, Bob Troll

 

[Michael Cecil]

FYI, although WD40 is an excellent lubricant, it should never get close to
the die of a cpu. The hs "paste" we use fills in the micro pores on the die
surface and using wd40 leaves a residue which would hinder the "paste's"
ability to do it's job perfectly. Don't do it! You could probably get away
with high % rubbing alcohol, but never anything that would leave a residue
like silicone, wd40, nail polish remover etc.

Regards, Bob Troll

Nail polish remover, the acetone kind, will not leave a residue. Acetone
is commonly used to rinse glassware used in qualitative analysis. Of
course, there are other kinds of namby pamby safe-for-the-environment nail
polish removers now too.

 

[John Doe]

FYI, although WD40 is an excellent lubricant,

This is off-topic, for what it's worth.
It (WD-40) is an excellent degreaser, cleaner, and protectant. I don't use
it as a lubricant, except to free sticky things. I use it a lot. I used it
a few times for removing hot melt glue. Unfortunately, it tends to
dissolve the hot melt glue. Fortunately, rubbing alcohol neatly removes
hot melt glue from almost any surface.

it should never get close to the die of a cpu. The hs "paste" we use

fills in the micro pores on the die

surface and using wd40 leaves a residue

Yes it does, it penetrates.

which would hinder the "paste's" ability to do it's job perfectly. Don't

do it! You could probably get away

with high % rubbing alcohol, but never anything that would leave a residue
like silicone, wd40, nail polish remover etc.

I won't do it again. Thanks for the information.

 

[sbb78247]

Nail polish remover, the acetone kind, will not leave a residue.
Acetone is commonly used to rinse glassware used in qualitative
analysis. Of course, there are other kinds of namby pamby
safe-for-the-environment nail polish removers now too.

that politically correct, enviromentally safe crap never works right. don't
you hate that?

alcohol has never let me down and it evaporates quickly too. just remember
not to use the good rum or the sugar will cook on the die too.
BAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

S

 

[Sayso Takewashi]

that politically correct, enviromentally safe crap never works right. don't
you hate that?

<hint>Which,of course,would not remove nail polish,as a side
note.</hint>

A friend of mine destroyed yesterday his pc by putting the heatsink
down and back,without removing old/applying new termal paste....

 

[Scott]

A friend of mine destroyed yesterday his pc by putting the heatsink
down and back,without removing old/applying new termal paste....

Yup - been there myself in my early years of system building. A mistake I'll
never repeat. All was ok though as I blagged a replacement!

Scott

 

[Dorothy Bradbury]

If you use nail polish remover, there are 2 types:
o Cheapo type which is mainly acetone
---- however, always check the label
o More expensive type which has lots of other things in it
---- I don't think CPU die's benefit from moisturiser

Acetone is a pretty harsh solvent, keep it away from case
plastics as it may mark them. ABS plastic is common in a lot
of PC applications and is a "messy" plastic in that a lot of
household cleaners will (long-term) make a mess of it. UV is
one common one on beige ABS, but the surface cracks easily.
Polypropylene is a better plastic re solvents, etc, but even in
a leathergrain finish it looks pretty horrible (re 1970s oil crisis).

If you do chip a die, check the pins are ok, and remember the
LGA based sockets are somewhat less robust than SktA/478.

Chips can take very high G rating & a lot of damage, it's only
when you get into BGA (solder ball) on PCBs that you can have
unseen mechanical damage creating longer-term reliability issues.