the processor stuck to the heat sink .......

[Omsck]

when i removed the heatsink of my P4 , the processor had stuck to the heat sink.the processor had come out WITH the heat sink.what does it mean ? is the processor heating too much ? the processor had stuck so firmly that i had to spend some time to remove it.when it finally came off, the thermal paste looked somewhat dark grey & was extremely hard.further more, i discovered a tiny hole of about 2mm diameter on the upper surface of the processor. the thermal paste which was applied was the stock paste which comes packed with the heatsink. what problem might this be ? will the hole cause any problem to the processor ? my pc ran normally after i assembled everything back.

please help
thanx in advance

 

[enoonmai]

First of all, I dont understand how you managed to pull the processor out along with the heatsink, unless you had already flipped the retention mechanism/ lever up. Yes, the thermal paste hardens over time. A fresh coat of thermal paste will make sure your processor/heatsink works just fine. If you want to find out if your processor is overheating, use the monitoring tools in the BIOS or get third party tools like SpeedFan or Motherboard Monitor. As for the hole on top of the processor its a result of the manufacturing process. When the heat spreader is glued to the processor substrate with epoxy, the hole allows the gases to escape while the epoxy cures. Its perfectly safe to cover it with thermal paste.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hi Omsck,

What has happened in your case is that you (or whoever installed your CPU) applied too much thermal paste to the top of the CPU. I have seen this happen to a P4 on an Intel motherboard and when you try to remove the heatsink, the processor just comes out with it!! You don't even reach that stage of moving the lever up.

Secondly, as enoonmai rightly pointed out that mysterious hole is just fine.

Anyway, this time you apply the make sure you apply a very small amount of thermal paste and spread it across the CPU surface using a firm plastic card.

Please read up links like this on the Internet to learn more
*www.neoseeker.com/Hardware/faqs/kb/5,61.html

DH.