Hi all,

Now that I've just finished a major upgrade of my computer and downloaded RivaTuner, I'm noticing that my processor temps are uncomfortably high for me at idle (in the 50's). I thought Intel's stock coolers were supposed to do the job, but I guess only barely, huh? As a result, I'm shopping for a good but reasonably quiet fan and heatsink for the processor. The one I'm currently looking at is this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835186134

It's by far the most popular one on Newegg (over 1,000 sold!). It'll fit fine with my processor as it's a LGA775 socket and and Core 2 Duo (Conroe E6600). Think it's a good pick? Oh, I have the room for it too, as I have a full-size case, so no worries there either.

My concern is this: When it comes time to replace it, how do I gently take off the old fan and heatsink without wrecking my motherboard? I've read that I should leave my computer on for at least a solid 10 minutes to warm up and loosen the paste. Some say to use a hair dryer (and I don't have one). I'm paranoid about this because I tried to upgrade my processor on an older computer and ended up yanking it out of the motherboard because it was completely fused with the heatsink. The motherboard I have now is eVGA 680i SLI, and I'd HATE to ruin this one. Ah yes, do I wipe off the old paste with an alcohol pad or something? The heatsink I listed above already has paste applied (at least according the official product web page).

Moving further along, after installing the new fan and heatsink, assuming it works fine, I'd like to overclock my processor. Any good tutorials on how best to go about it? I've read that not only do I have a great CPU for overclocking, but my motherboard is pretty much engineered with that in mind. Figured I might as well crank it up to 3.0 ghz if I can, even though I've read that I can push it up to 3.4 if I want (no thanks). I know it's best to overclock in BIOS, but I need more details.

Thanks!

Hello Venek,

the best way to remove the heatsink is, in a word gently. I'm not sure if there is any specific technique involved as there are many different designs on the market. If you have read up on the basic theory and best practices you should be fine. The one bit of advice that I believe is the most important to removing a heatsink is always remove it level and slowly; as to do otherwise would damage the board and or the processor.

The fan looks very good. From what I remember it is quiet and efficient.

Whew. I finally got the time today to install the new fan and heatsink. I was nervous because of what had happened the last time I tried to upgrade the CPU cooler. To my complete surprise, the stock cooler came off with absolutely no problem at all. Cleaned up the paste off the CPU with some q-tips and rubbing alcohol and I was ready to put in the new one. That, too, was a piece of cake which kind of surprised me a little because I read about how difficult it was to install those pins. Maybe it was because the computer had been running for a while and it was nice and warm and flexible or maybe I just took the time to carefully read the instructions and checked out exactly how those pins worked.

So, whew. It's in, and I am SHOCKED at the difference between this cooler and the old stock one. My CPU temp dropped from the low 50's to the 30's!!!! I highly recommend this cooler to anyone provided they have the room for it and don't want to take off the mobo to install a back bracket for any other cooler.

Now I can study up on overclocking and actually doing it! Woo-hoo!

Glad it worked out.

I believe the problem with stubborn heatsinks is when a thermal pad is used instead of thermal compound. The pad actually has wax in it

Maybe, I don't know. It was on an old Gigabyte mobo and a P4 CPU in socket 478 config. There was no lockdown like the LGA775 has now and I'm pretty sure it was a stock cooler too. Also, I had some local computer shop build it.

Now I know better!

I have been thinking about buying that HSF. I've heard lots of good things and it isn't too expensive. Glad to hear it worked out for you.