Pentium MMX 200 heatsink mountage
Posted by crazycurly69@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 6 comments
Hello everyone. Recently I've bought working Pentium MMX 200 CPU and wanted to put new thermal paste before using. However, the heatsink was so strongly attached to the processor that it wouldn't move unless I'd use the help of screwdriver to pry it. It finally separated, but then I was shocked to see the layer of old glue on both parts - it wouldn't dissolve when I use alcohol, neither with acetone.
So my question is - did I broke it? Was it normal to connect these with glue? Are there any ways to fix that?
Thanks in advance for your help 🙏
ZarK-eh@reddit
The ones that could be removed had a metal clip thing that held the cooler to CPU socket. This is something that was done to gain better cooling for overclocking efforts.
bio4m@reddit
Its not normal glue, its thermally conductive and doesnt need to be replaced.
Now that you've broken the bond you'll need to use a very thin razor blade to remove it from the top of the CPU and from the heatsink. You can then use normal thermal paste
crazycurly69@reddit (OP)
Can I glue it with thermal glue again without removing the existing layer? The process of removing the glue will be dangerous, unless there are other ways to do it?
bio4m@reddit
It wont cool as well but you can put thermal paste between the two glue layers
Taking the excess glue off with a razor blade isnt too hard as long as youre careful. You only need to take it off from the heat spreader (the shiny metal part of the CPU). If you scratch the heat spreader it a bit it wont harm it. Just dont scratch up any of the black areas of the CPU
to3cutter@reddit
Just use any 3rd party socket7 cooler, this was Intel genuine attached cooler for OEM machines, you were lucky to get it off without breaking anything.
Accomplished-Camp193@reddit
In many cases back then, no thermal paste or pad were used. The older, ceramic processors didn't use it at all, and while CPU's like this MMX 200 does benefit from the use of thermal compound, even more so since it has an IHS, most of the time the cooler was just glued on.