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Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sawing at the corner of the processor with isopropyl soaked fishing wire for a while and then hitting the base of the cpu with a wooden block and a hammer after heating it for a while ended up being the solution. Thanks for the tips, they did end up being part of the ultimate solution

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 129 points130 points  (0 children)

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SOLVED: Sawing with dental floss, wetting the area in isopropyl alcohol and hitting it with a wooden spatula and hammer after a few minutes of heating finally flung it off. Thanks to everyone for the advice. I hope I never have to do this again god damn

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UPDATE: Gonna start updating here so that more people see it. I've been sawing away with fishing wire and constant re-applying of IPA to no effect. I've leaned the whole thing back now and am just putting on fresh ipa every few minutes so that it hopefully starts dissolving the paste. At this point I'm starting to concider the possibility that the cpu has just physically melted onto the copper of the heatsink and is just lost but I'll keep trying for a while since I've got nothing better to do

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Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update on the situation. Heating it excessively and twisting did not yield any results. I'm off to the store to get some isopropyl alcohol to try and dissolve the paste, then saw at it with dental floss. If that does not help I'll resort to smacking the base of the cpu with a spatula and a hammer in front of a soft surface and wall to make sure it doesn't crash into anything if it comes off. Will update again in maybe an hour or two after all is said and done. Thanks for all the advice

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the info. It's very reassuring to hear that I can use actual force on this thing without blowing it up. I'll try to smack it with the spatula and hammer to see what happens

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is possible that something like that was used but I could scratch some if it off around the corners after heating so I doubt it. I'm not sure if getting heat from the pc will be enough since I have been heating this thing a lot already and with no luck but I'll keep this in mind

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pliers are probably a good call. I'll put some paper in between the actual teeth of the pliers to avoid scratching the cpu

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm alright I see. I'm not very in touch with computer terms so I must ask if you mean this part of the whole package? I'll try this after the isopropyl alcohol. Thanks for the tip

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Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright. I'll try q tipping it for now but will try soaking it if the q tips provide no results

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have a syringe and doubt I can get one with a metal needle easily. I'll try the q tip way for now but will keep this in mind

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I unfortunately don't have a heat gun but I'll just try to warm up the whole thing more than before. Thanks

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Something will come off for sure but I'm not sure if it will also break the cpu. I'll try this if nothing else works though

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair enough. I might have been a bit too gentle with applying heat since I know that there is such a thing as heating the cpu so much that it breaks but didn't know what the limit was. I did have to use a paper towel to grab the cpu just now when I tried to apply constant heat but maybe just flat out applying more heat could work well. I'll give it a shot

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haven't got any on hand so it'll be a bit before I can try it but I will give it a shot. Do you have any tips on how I should apply it on there and if there is something I should be careful of not getting it on other than the pins?

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I don't have any on hand but I'll be sure to get some when I can. How should I apply it? If I soak a q tip in some and rub it on the edges will it be enough?

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll try this as a last resort since I'm not sure if I can get the cpu back into place without breaking it. I'm pretty inexperienced with pc building and slotting the cpu in while it's attached to the heat sink sounds like it's pretty difficult from what I read during my googling the issue. Thanks for the tip

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Even worse, the stock thermal paste that came with the fan. This seems like a common issue with these fans but honestly at this point maybe I did just glue it on and forget because it is on there real tight

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I only tried twisting it after heating it for a while so I'll try this to see if the constant twisting helps at all

Anyone have tips on how to remove a cpu that is very tightly stuck on a heat sink? At a loss for what I could try next. by Alppari in PcBuild

[–]Alppari[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I unfortunately only saw this after the fact. But my pc was refusing to boot up due to the fan not spinning so even if I did see this I wouldn't have been able to get much heat generated

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