Heatsink Loose on GigaByte GA-MA78GM-S2H

[jim evans]

I just installed a GigaByte GA-MA78GM-S2H mainboard.

The heatsink shown in this picture is loose
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2162/mbheatsinkqe6.jpg. If you
touch it with the board vertical it wobbles toward and away from the
board. That's a beefy heatsink so I assume handles a lot of heat and
is important -- I think it's the sink for the north bridge. In my
experience a heatsink needs to be tight against the part it's cooling.
Any comments/suggestions? Should I return the board, contact GigaByte,
ignore it . . . what?

PS: I couldn't find any forums on the GigaByte website. Don't they
have any or did I just miss them?

 

[tarnk]

I just installed a GigaByte GA-MA78GM-S2H mainboard.

The heatsink shown in this picture is loosehttp://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2162/mbheatsinkqe6.jpg. If you
touch it with the board vertical it wobbles toward and away from the
board. That's a beefy heatsink so I assume handles a lot of heat and
is important -- I think it's the sink for the north bridge. In my
experience a heatsink needs to be tight against the part it's cooling.
Any comments/suggestions? Should I return the board, contact GigaByte,
ignore it . . . what?

PS:  I couldn't find any forums on the GigaByte website. Don't they
have any or did I just miss them?

the mounting can just be lose, take out the board and check on the
holes on the back side
btw sometimes it is abit lose but its still holding

did you try thermal glue?
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm

and i got the same board ;P

 

[jim evans]

the mounting can just be lose, take out the board and check on the
holes on the back side

I don't look forward to taking the board out. With my case connecting
all those little front panel pins was a real bi***. If I'm going to
take it off, I'm going to sent it back for a replacement.

But, what would I expect to see looking at the holes? Is there
something that can be adjusted/tightened? The holdown pins look like
plastic to me.

btw sometimes it is abit lose but its still holding

I'm not sure what you mean (and it's not an abit, it's a gigabyte.
Moan . It isn't falling off -- it just moves away from the board a
little (1/32"-1/16"?). But, anything that's not contact stops the
conduction of heat.

did you try thermal glue?
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm

I'd rather leave it up to the manufacturer to do the repairs. I
bought a new board not a fixer upper.

 

[GTS]

I just installed a GigaByte GA-MA78GM-S2H mainboard.

The heatsink shown in this picture is loose
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2162/mbheatsinkqe6.jpg. If you
touch it with the board vertical it wobbles toward and away from the
board. That's a beefy heatsink so I assume handles a lot of heat and
is important -- I think it's the sink for the north bridge. In my
experience a heatsink needs to be tight against the part it's cooling.
Any comments/suggestions? Should I return the board, contact GigaByte,
ignore it . . . what?

PS: I couldn't find any forums on the GigaByte website. Don't they
have any or did I just miss them?

I see you have a revision 1 board, as do I.
On the newer rev 1.1 boards, Gigabyte used a considerably bigger heatsink on
the Northbridge.
Because I already had to RMA one rev1 board, due to suspected Northbridge
over-heat, when I got the replacement board (another rev1), the first thing
I did was to examine the northbridge. It was really hard to remove, because
Gigabyte do use thermal glue. So the fact that yours is loose is def. cause
for concern. Even if the arrow-head pins going through the mobo have
'popped' out, it should have remained firmly stuck on the chip.
Anyway what I did after removing the Northbridge was just to clean off the
thermal glue and use some Artic Cooling MX2 paste and replaced, but I wish I
had been more patient and purchased a larger Northbridge heatsink - you can
get passive ones for about £6.

 

[jim evans]

I see you have a revision 1 board, as do I.
On the newer rev 1.1 boards, Gigabyte used a considerably bigger heatsink on
the Northbridge.

Actually, it's supposed to be a 1.1.

It says rev 1.1 on the box -- I must admit I didn't look on the board.
But, I updated the BIOS with a 1.1 update.

 

[jim evans]

Have you tried reseating the little white headed pins next to the
heatsink that hold it onto the board? If they're broken you should
RMA the board.

I had to push pretty hard on one of the pins until it gave way, so I
assume it was not pushed through. Now it pushes easily on the
springs. But, if I pull gently on the heatsink it still lifts easily
away from the board. So it stays in contact now but is not held
tightly. Given the minimal spring force of those tiny springs I guess
that's the way it's supposed to be.