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S939 A64 IHS Removal

i not really sure what made me read this thread today. i've been out of the hardware tweaking business for years now. last time i overclocked must have been 2005. However tonight i just had a bit of a mood on and wanted to tinker. id been suffering high temps on my X2 4400, so much so i had to underclock it from 2200 to 2000. So i took the plunge and decided to take my IHS off.

Since i had a few older cores lying around i tried it on one of them. I have two 3200+'s and im not sure which one was the better one but i picked one of those, and slowly but surely removed that with ease. Then comes my X2 4400. I took pc appart, fitted my 3200 to see if the heatsink would sit right, booted it up and run some tests to see how warm it got. Never got above 35c (fan less too!).

So while im watching this im carefully doing my X4400 when..... PING my knife snapped. 1 part hit me in the face close to the eye, and the other part still in the handle goes right through my CENSORED hand! Blood everywhere! Whoops. So anyway, i rush to the bathroom, wash out the cut in my finger and wrap it up to stop bleeding. Since the knife was so sharp and clean its already healed up but still hurts.

Anyway back to the CPU. I find another blade (yeh i didnt give up), and start doing the job again... Pop off comes my 2nd IHS of the night. Yay! Joy fades when i try to put it in the MB. My slip with the broken blade musta ment i pushed on the cpu too much, id bent 2 pins. :rolleyes:. I bend em back, bend one too far back, then bend it back again, knowing this is probably my last chance to bend it into right position before it snaps off fully.

Thankfully it worked and is now overclocked slightly. Results are a bit hard to judge due to dirty heatsink but.

Before
X4400 underclocked to 2000mhz 45c and 48c

After
X4400 overclocked to 2400mhz 39c and 40c

Result!!!!? I dunno, ask my finger :D
 
Hmmm, I have a couple of old AM2 Athlons lying around the house, and an old 939 single core 3000+.. I might give this a try on my 4200+ X2 to see how much of a difference in the temps it makes...

Although, I think I have hit the ceiling for these chips when it comes to overclocking...

I can get the 4200+ running stable at 2.9GHz with 1.4v Vcore and the temps never ever got any higher than 42c, but if I tried to push it any faster even with 1.55v going through it I can't get it stable at all...

And my 6000+ X2 can only hit 3.2GHz stable.. I can get it to boot into Vista @ 3.6GHz, but as soon as I start benching it BSOD's everytime... I have tried tweaking the BIOS to get it stable, but anything over 3.2GHz becomes really unstable...

Although in saying that, I have only used these chips on budget mobos, I am guessing if I were to have them running in a decent mobo I could probably get them stable at higher frequencies...

I think I will have a go at removing the IHS just for fun, while I wait for my i7 processor to be replaced/returned...

@Overlag, I actually snapped 2 of the pins off my 4200+ X2 last year, I figured that the CPU would have been dead after that, but I installed it into my PC and it worked perfectly!!

I have been running this chip in my Fiancees PC for a while, and I used it for several months after snapping the pins, and it hasn't made a blind bit of difference...
 
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Davy:
be aware some of the later AM2 chips (and afaik all AM2+ and AM3) were SOLDERED rather than pasted - if your cpu has a big delta in core temp between the 2 cores, or abnormally high change from idle-load (even after lapping etc) then you most likely do not have a soldered core - if cores are close in temp, and have an average idle-load change, then it could be soldered.
only you have cut the glue round the edges (its kind of like cutting cheese - the feeling)if there is absolutely no give if you try and rotate/jiggle the cap then its likely soldered - forcing the issue will result in a dead cpu. if it has some jiggle, like the stock heatsink once mounted using the thermal pad - resistant, but moveable - then you can likely proceed in safety. keep turning side to side and apply a little leverage up - should come off easily.
 
As above, there's a reasonable chance that the IHS on your AM2 chips is soldered on. Might be worth giving your HSF and chip a lap if it is, you might shave a few degrees off your load temps at least :)
 
I just removed my IHS off my Opteron 185 and remounted the HS and it is the same temp as before. I took the HS off and remounted it three times to make sure it was seated ok and still the temps are the same as before (running stock core voltage, o/c to 2.7 GHz, temp is at 40 idle and 53/4 load, room temp is about 28). Any ideas how to make it cooler, besides water. I have a Tuniq Tower and it is seated very good and tight.
 
smit101 said:
Not in my media PC in which sckt 939 is alive and kicking! infact along with an 8800gtx it's still a pretty decent gaming system too!
Click to expand...

Well i've still got an X2 4200+ @ 3GHz rig somewhere around, kitted out with 4gb top end corsair stuff @ tight timings. Delidded and sitting under a big typhoon. Great system at the time and the 6800 Ultra was the dogs.. No ones buying or really messing with that platform and i daresay even an entry level ol skool platform system with say an E6300 would eat it alive with just a mild overclock :)
 
Justintime said:
Well i've still got an X2 4200+ @ 3GHz rig somewhere around, kitted out with 4gb top end corsair stuff @ tight timings. Delidded and sitting under a big typhoon. Great system at the time and the 6800 Ultra was the dogs.. No ones buying or really messing with that platform and i daresay even an entry level ol skool platform system with say an E6300 would eat it alive with just a mild overclock :)
Click to expand...

It's suprising how good sckt 939 cpus still are when paired with a decent graphics card,I have a 3800+ @ 2.8 in a my media system that also doubles as an occasional gaming machine,currently playing resi 5 at 1920x1080/x2aa and the 3800 and 8800gtx handle it very well,also absolutely no problem decoding/playing back blu ray/HD DVD video.

I agree very few will be buying 939 cpus now, but I'd wager a lot of people are still using them in media or second/backup systems,not sure whether that warrants keeping the thread alive or not,I'm not really bothered either way tbh but just wanted to make the point that 939 still serves a purpose for me so I don't consider it a totally dead platform.

Infact I haven't removed the IHS from the above mentioned cpu,what's the best method again lads?:D
 
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