What's new
Carbonite

South Africa's Top Online Tech Classifieds!
Register a free account today to become a member! (No Under 18's)
Home of C.U.D.

Any risk in installing a cooler with scratches on the heat spreader ?

jaxx

Epic Member
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Joined
Feb 9, 2012
Messages
172
Reaction score
61
Points
3,535
Hey all,

Just looking to see what the forum thinks about installing a CPU cooler with a few scratches / gouges onto a new CPU.
Recently upgraded, and the CPU cooler I'm looking to install has ~1mm gouges on the heat spreader (where the edge of the CPU would sit) that is through to the copper.

Cooler 1
Cooler 2
Cooler 3

Could this do damage to the CPU IHS if I went ahead fitted ?
I realize that I maybe being a little paranoid, but google seems to be returning mixed results hence the caution.
TIA.
 
Hey man,
In my opinion it shouldn’t make a difference. The damage is on the outer edges and not the center where the heat in generated.

I would fit the cooler with compound and see what the spread is like and take it from there.
 
Use a good thermal paste and should be good to go


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If anything, that cooler was tightened down way to hard the first time around, or it isn't flat at all.

It won't hurt the CPU to install the cooler, but due, to what looks like it, the uneven nature of the base. cooling might not be optimum.

To try reduce this, I would recommend a decent thermal paste, to make sure you can get the best possible contact.
 
If anything, that cooler was tightened down way to hard the first time around, or it isn't flat at all.

It won't hurt the CPU to install the cooler, but due, to what looks like it, the uneven nature of the base. cooling might not be optimum.

To try reduce this, I would recommend a decent thermal paste, to make sure you can get the best possible contact.
Or the CPU wasn't properly in the socket. Oof. Imagine the feeling when you remove the cooler and realize your miskate.
 
Scratches on the cooler will devalue your voided warranty, which means it will be worth less - Evetech joke

I am just kidding, if the scratches are really bad, I would look at polishing it down
 
Had a similar situation quite recently. It was with an AIO that had some fine scratches (I didn't ask how they got there).

We filled the gaps with a bit of paste, and wiped it just to make sure it got into the little grooves/scratches. From there, we applied the normal amount of paste and mounted it. This was a week ago and everything has been 100%

But can't stress enough what everyone mentioned above. Always use a good paste and don't overtighten.

Also, keep some temp monitoring tools runnings and actively watch temps for a bit, both idle and something to stress it a little. Provided it's mounted correctly, the cooler itself shouldn't damage the CPU. If things look a bit toasty, rinse repeat the above or perhaps look at a new one
 
I have built numerous Class A amplifiers, and found that having an uneven heatsink or one with scratches, can be sanded flat using a piece of 10mm glass laid flat,sheet of whatever grit sandpaper, grit depends on severity of scratches, place heatsink ontop, and move in a lateral direction. Obviously bigger heatsinks wont be able to be done like this. But works wonders for smaller ones.

BTW, Im glad you got is sorted and its working 100%
 
I have built numerous Class A amplifiers, and found that having an uneven heatsink or one with scratches, can be sanded flat using a piece of 10mm glass laid flat,sheet of whatever grit sandpaper, grit depends on severity of scratches, place heatsink ontop, and move in a lateral direction. Obviously bigger heatsinks wont be able to be done like this. But works wonders for smaller ones.

BTW, Im glad you got is sorted and its working 100%

Can confirm... way back in the day I "lapped" my XP2000+ CPU cooler with a piece of glass, hose running slowly, sunlight dishwashing liquid as lubricant... ended up with a literal mirror finish on the bottom of my cooler AND a drop of 10+ degree celcius.
 
I always forgot to mention the LUBE. Even a light machine oil, Johnsons baby oil, yoghurt etc :cool:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom