are copper shims bad?

[eshtog]

?

 

[Adul]

they can be bad. if they are to thick you can end up with a toasted cpu core.

 

[Boobers]

Don't waste your money...

 

[John]

<< Don't waste your money... >>

 

[Daovonnaex]

No, they're not. In fact, they're excellent investments in case you screw up on the HSF installation.

 

[johndoe52]

If you can find a different one that's not conductive. They are good for people that are new to installing heatsinks so you don't cruch/crack the core.

 

[fatbaby]

<< No, they're not. In fact, they're excellent investments in case you screw up on the HSF installation. >>



Well it depends...

Sometimes the shim prevents the HSF from fully touching the core, so you end up screwing up your cpu

 

[rarotonga]

Hey,

Use a decent heatsink clip design and the shim is not needed. I sell anodized aluminum shims that fit around the rubber pads on the Athlon CPU's but I never personally use them since I work with clip designs on my heatsinks that offer leverage/control when installing them.

I do not use any clip design that involves the fingers for leverage and control. The tip of a flat bladed screwdriver offers both. Forget that if the screwdriver slips out of the cradle nonsense since the leverage/control afforded by the screwdriver along with the cradle design prevents the blade from slipping out. You'll see far more damage when the finger slips off the clip and you bend over 3 to 5 capacitors which WILL leak once they've been bent 30 degrees or so.

I've tried a couple of Antec coolers and I wouldn't carry that garbage in my shop. My OEM brand is made by AVC who's the OEM mfg'r for Intel's heatsinks. Cheap at around $12 bucks and will cool through the latest Athlons and they use a clip design for a screwdriver.

AVC also makes the famous "Sunflower" for the P4.

 

[thraxes]

don't waste your money, as rarotonga said, get a decently designed heatsink

 

[CubicZirconia]

Yeah, take your time installing the heatsink and you'll be glad you didnt throw 10 bucks away.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<<

<< No, they're not. In fact, they're excellent investments in case you screw up on the HSF installation. >>



Well it depends...

Sometimes the shim prevents the HSF from fully touching the core, so you end up screwing up your cpu >>

That's why you buy a good shim from a reputable supplier.

 

[CTho9305]

my thinking is this:
if the shim is too think, dead CPU.
if the shim is .01mm too thin, the core is still getting all the pressure, so no benefit
if the shim is precise, then it might help.

edit: i think a somewhat hard rubber shim would probably work best.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

you need titanium shim

 

[Boobers]

Think about this...consider, if you will, the thermodynamics of the situation. Different materials do not expand at the same rate when heated. If the copper shim is machined to exactly the correct thickness, the HSF will fit properly only when the CPU core is cold. As soon as it heats up, the copper expands more than the core, lifting the HSF off of the core...

 

[Adul]

even if it is from a reputable supplier there is tolorences to take into account. Just happen to habe both lean to one side to much and you are SOL.

 

[McCarthy]

While experimenting and needing to take my heatsink on and off a lot I managed to chip the core on my T-bird. Mind you, this is during taking a FOP-32 on and off well more than a dozen times. Finally got nervous that I'd actually kill it eventually and used the epoxy trick to replace the rubber pads, worked like a charm.

With my Athlon XP I don't worry about it. Then again I'm done experimenting and this chip just sits under it's Alpha 8045 and purrs.

The epoxy trick Cost you $2 for the epoxy, rest of the materials you probably already have. Personally I skipped the step with the ink, just pressed it so they'd be flat and then sanded each pad slightly (took off the thickness of a sheet of paper) so the core would be slightly higher than the pads. Did check it in the same way as the inkpad, but used a thin coat of heatsink compound since I didn't have an inkpad and didn't really want ink on the cpu

Of course whether you go this method or shim MAKE SURE YOUR HEATSINK IS FLAT. Example, my FOP32 was quite concave. With the epoxy method or a shim it would have rested on the "protection" and left the core untouched. Luckily I'd already planned to lap mine and thought of this before I toasted my CPU. Probably not a concern with most sinks, the FOPs for all their good qualities weren't very flat.

--Mc

 

[Instagib]

<< Don't waste your money... >>