How to attach a heatsink on the wrong socket. Ghetto mod ideas please?

Akagi

Akagi

Akagi

Caporegime
Joined
29 Jul 2011
Posts
36,930
Location
In acme's chair.
I have a Dell Precision T5400. It currently has a single Xeon E5405 (socket 771) installed and an empty socket where I am planning on installing a second (since they are only £10 on the bay) I cant find the correct heatsink for any less than £30 inc online though, and most are only for sale in the USA.

I have a few spare coolers knocking about, the one which I will probably end up using is a stock Intel cooler from the Core 2 era (about twice the fin height of the new ones)

The only way I can think of to install it really is by running cable ties through the fins and through the mounting holes on the board, but i'm worried that this might damage the board, or that the cable ties might melt near the base of the heatsink.

Anyone have any better ideas? :p

Ghetto modding on heatsinks isn't normally 'how I roll' but in this case, I dont think it matters too much as long as it is fitted securely and the chip is adequately cooled. :)

I suppose I could run the system laying on its side and not have the heatsink affixed properly at-all, but I would rather have it standing up.
 
Last edited:
Sounds good to me, the cable ties should not melt if they are nylon, If the fixings through the board are pretty much straight up and not bearing sideways it will not damage the board unless they are so tight they bend the board.

If the cooler is not too high, a few spots of superglue to the edges of the heatspreader and glue the heatsink to the chip (after adding paste)?
 
nkata said:
If the cooler is not too high, a few spots of superglue to the edges of the heatspreader and glue the heatsink to the chip (after adding paste)?
Click to expand...

That sounds thoroughly silly, but I like it! :D

Nahh I would do that to be honest, because as I say the CPU's are value-less anyway, but i'd be worried about the weight of the cooler straining the socket.

Hmmmm...
 
Last edited:
I found a 771 cooler from a competitor for £14.50 including postage, so I think I might just go for that to be honest. :)
 
on my old amd setup I had a phanteks ph-tc14pe, but the mounting bolts didnt fit through the mobo's backplate so I ended up using smaller bolts and put a nut on the end, tightened it both ends at the same time so it was pinching the mobo slightly and it was perfectly secure, not sure if the coolers holes match up with the motherboards but if they do, that would work :)
 
You can use a set of nuts of bolts, but when you're tightening them up you should use a torque driver to a fairly high torque of about 150N.
 
acme15 said:
That sounds thoroughly silly, but I like it! :D

Nahh I would do that to be honest, because as I say the CPU's are value-less anyway, but i'd be worried about the weight of the cooler straining the socket.

Hmmmm...
Click to expand...

Glad you are sorted, the attachment i described was used to attach an old athlon heatsink to a northbridge chip directly (without a heatspreader). One dot in each corner. But yes it could stress the socket a bit depending on the applied moment (mass x lever arm) of the cooler.
 
Bolts work fine, even at an angle to the vertical. Put silicone washers betwéen the bolt head and the motherboard.

I'd say low torque though - better to reduce thermal contact than to damage the board. Tighten the nuts enough to get acceptable temperatures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom