Upgrading CPU cooler - How fragile are they?

Chuffbaby · 23 Mar 2015 at 11:34

Hi,

Just managed to toast my son's motherboard whilst upgrading the cooler. First failure ever in about 15 years of building and customising PCs

I removed the standard retail cooler and mounting and the only thing I can think of is that the force required to separate the cooler from the CPU has damaged the CPU socket or pins. I have not had this problem before as I usually upgrade the CPU and mainboard at the same time.

Has anyone else had similar problems or can offer any advice on the best technique for separating a CPU and cooler? New mainboard and processor are on the way from OCUK and I do not want a repeat.

Thanks,
Chuffbaby

snips86x · 23 Mar 2015 at 11:35

I'd normally use a light twist to free it!

thefogo · 23 Mar 2015 at 12:56

I usually heat the cpu up first. It makes the cooler a lot easier to take off.

PieEater · 23 Mar 2015 at 13:45

Sounds like the thermal pad that was fitted to the stock cooler was used. I would always remove this and use some proper paste, that way you shouldn't have any issues removing the cooler just twisting slightly to break the seal.

Chuffbaby · 24 Mar 2015 at 09:29

Thanks for the posts. Fingers crossed for the upgrade today. It might also have been the issue of overtightening the cooler when fitting it

Chuffbaby · 24 Mar 2015 at 14:43

All sorted now. I had forgotten how easy the new Intel processors are to install compared with the old AMD Athlons