How To Remove Cpu Stuck To Heatsink

Q: What's the proper way to remove a cooler from a CPU? I don't desire to accidentally rip the CPU out of the socket and bend the pins.

Usually warming up the thermal paste before unmounting a CPU libation does the trick—cold thermal paste is more than likely to keep the heat sink and processor welded together. But run your organization for about 10 to15 minutes, then go about your normal procedure for removal. (Powering down, unplugging from the wall, etc.) The thermal paste should have go gooey and pliable, assuasive you to detach the cooler with ease.

When you lot do remove the cooler, use a very gentle back-and-along twisting motion. Start very small first, moving slowly in a direction until you meet a bit of resistance, then going dorsum in the reverse management. With warm thermal paste, you shouldn't have too much trouble freeing the libation and then pulling it up and away.

If the heat sink seems fairly stuck to the CPU (fifty-fifty after warming information technology up), yous can try running the PC once again for longer. You can besides still endeavor wiggling information technology very minimally to free it—go no more than 1mm dorsum and along until it gets loose. Stay on the aforementioned horizontal plane the whole time and don't pull up on it at all.

Adam Patrick Murray / IDG

Go gently, and you should have a stress-complimentary removal experience.

In the event you wrench the CPU out of its socket, you may withal stop up okay. We've had information technology happen to us a few times without pin damage. Don't take that equally license to yank on the libation without care, though. Spending a couple of hours or more than with a magnifying drinking glass trying to ever-so-gently straighten out pins sucks, especially if you're fixing a motherboard. Bent or smashed pins on a mobo are worse to deal with than those on a CPU, so practice your best to avoid that scenario at all costs.

Notation: Your PC will but take one set of pins to worry most—either on the CPU or in the motherboard socket. You tin figure out where they sit in your setup past looking up your processor's socket blazon. Any CPU listed as LGA ("State Grid Array") volition non take pins; instead, the pins volition be in the motherboard socket. Chips listed as PGA ("Pin Filigree Array") do have pins, and drop into a socket with holes. In home PCs, modern Intel CPUs are LGA, while modern AMD CPUs are PGA.

Speaking of bent pins, we accept ane final related tip to keep in mind. If you're removing a CPU cooler equally role of vehement downward your motherboard for repair or replacement, don't destroy your careful work by then removing the CPU and putting the wrong socket comprehend in its place. (This step is oft a requirement for a vendor to consider an RMA valid.) In one case you bring down the motherboard'south metal lever to lock a wrong embrace in place, you lot'll crunch a ton of pins and your mobo is toast. You tin can easily brand this mistake if yous have more than one DIY PC build in your firm, so make sure you lot have the correct socket cover in hand!

Welcome to Ask an Expert, where we tackle your questions near PCs and PC edifice. Have your own called-for concern? Shoot us an e-mail at thefullnerd@pcworld.com.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/393599/how-do-i-remove-a-cpu-cooler-without-damaging-the-processor-ask-an-expert.html

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