Melted Chip or Heatsink...

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amo

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Hi Everyone,

Again another newbie and this time with a big mistake. Everything was working fine for a good month now until I noticed my PC kept shutting down. I later realized I did not leave that thermal layer on the heatsink. So I'm sure as most of you know this type of thing I basically melted either the CPU or the Heatsink. It's hard to tell because the damage doesn't appear to extensive but the peices are melted. It looks more like the heatsink melted leaving traces of it on the CPU.

Now the CPU still works, well the system still works (If I were to place everything back together, but what should I do? Should I replace both the CPU and the Heatsink or could I just replace the Heatsink and make sure I use that Thermal layer or some kind of other conductive substance?


The spec I think you might be wondering about are:
AMD 64 3400+
All fans were and are functioning
Large Antec Aluminum case.
 
Stock heatsinks come with a thermal pad. It would take hundres of degrees celcius to literally MELT a heatsink...it is after all a sturdy metal.

Those 64's have automatic thermal shutdowns so I doubt anything is fried.

The thing that'd be melted to the CPU would be the thermal pad that originally came on the stock heatsink.

Either get an aftermarket heatsink which they always come with thermal paste included, and apply that.

see www.arcticsilver.com for instructions on how to apply the goop to your specific CPU. Even if you aren't using the arctic silver brand paste, it still gives you basic instructions for proper goopage.

You could simply remove your current stock heatsink, use something like a credit card and remove the thermal pad that was on there and reapply the heatsink with some thermal paste.

I say use a credit card because you don't want to scratch up your heatsink.
 
Actually thats what I meant. The thermal pad that came with my Heatsink originally... well... I took it off ignorantly. That is part of the reason why I think something melted (still not so sure which part, the heatsink or CPU). Also, I kept trying to turn my PC on even though as you said, "64's have automatic thermal shutdowns" so I am sure that didn't help.

Do you still think I should just replace only the Heatsink?

Thanks for the reply btw....
 
Yeah, but like I said, they have a shutdown at 70C, so there's not a chance for anything to be melted, unless you can get some pics or something.

You shouldn't even need a new heatsink, just clean everything using a Q-tip and 99% isopropyl alchol, and reapply a nice thin layer of some thermal compound.

like I said go to www.arcticsilver.com for instructions on how to properly apply it.

But yeah for even better cooling a new good aftermarket heatsink couldn't hurt
 
Nubius said:
Stock heatsinks come with a thermal pad. It would take hundres of degrees celcius to literally MELT a heatsink...it is after all a sturdy metal.

hehehe not true, my intel one was unusable after less than a week of solid gaming =)
 
Yeah perhaps the pad itself, but a heatsink will not melt from anything a CPU can put out.

Takes I don't even know how many thousands of degrees fahrenheit to literally 'melt' the metal
 
I would guess around 1200 dergees to even start melting , just a guess . lol lots more then a cpu would produce , a cpu would die before getting anywhere close to melting .
 
Not to mention the socket the cpu is in and the pcb , trace wires and what ever else near that cpu , lol might as well kiss your motherboard good buy also .
 
Hey guys here are the images. I guess it's the cpu then? The system still seems to work though so should I just get the thermal pad?

cpu.jpg


heatsink.jpg
 
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