Computer busted

[Lare Kikkeli]

So as I was moving to a new apartment yesterday, I hit a speed bump a bit too fast and my sis who was in charge of keeping my computer safe ****ed up and now my computer is broken.

 

Apparently the heatsink busted out of it's place, and the little plastic hooks it uses to stay in there bent so that it's useless now.

 

My question is, can I just buy a new heatsink, apply the paste thing again and go on as normal? Also are heatsinks designed for mobos or processors in mind? I can't remember if my old heatsink came with the processor, mobo or if I bought it separately. It's big as hell though so for ease of installing and so that I won't have to disassemble the whole god damn thing to get it in i'd really like a smaller one this time.

 

What do you guys recommend? I can't remember if I've got Intel or AMD, I think Intel but I'm not sure. I'll check when I get home.

[Pidesco]

Apparently the heatsink busted out of it's place, and the little plastic hooks it uses to stay in there bent so that it's useless now.

 

 

That's pretty strange. How big was the speed bump? Either the heat sink wasn't properly installed or your PC took a really powerful hit. Were the mobo and CPU damaged in any way? Anyway, if the only problem is the heatsink, replacing it should be easy.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Apparently the heatsink busted out of it's place, and the little plastic hooks it uses to stay in there bent so that it's useless now.

 

 

That's pretty strange. How big was the speed bump? Either the heat sink wasn't properly installed or your PC took a really powerful hit. Were the mobo and CPU damaged in any way? Anyway, if the only problem is the heatsink, replacing it should be easy.

 

Yeah it's a weird thing but seems like nothing else is broken. I actually only realised what had happened after I put the computer on and it shut itself off after 30 seconds (thanks sis for not telling me you lost your grip...). I hope the CPU and mobo are alright, they don't seem to be broken and the computer went on as normal.

 

I'm gonna look into it more tonight when I get home, gonna have to check my CPU brand and mobo model so I can look for a replacement heatsink. Thankfully they don't cost a lot, 50

[Spider]

If I were you I'd do some more testing before getting a new heatsink. The problem could very well be something else.

 

 

What happens when you turn the computer on. Do you get the boot screen? Do you get into the OS at all?

[Lare Kikkeli]

If I were you I'd do some more testing before getting a new heatsink. The problem could very well be something else.

 

 

What happens when you turn the computer on. Do you get the boot screen? Do you get into the OS at all?

 

Well I booted once without the heatsink, it went to the OS, no error messages. Once in XP, after about 15 seconds the computer turned off, most likely due to the CPU overheating.

 

There seems to be no external damage on the CPU, mobo or any other parts. Would booting up without a heatsink risk the processor cracking or breaking due to overheating?

 

I really hope the hard drives aren't damaged, I've got a lot of stuff that I haven't backed up.

[Gorgon]

So the fixtures are broken on the mobo or the heatsink ?. Because there are sometimes a set of empty screwholes around the CPU area for other cooling options or whatever. You might get lucky and be able to affix a new cooler that way. Not super likely though.

[Gorth]

You *might* just want to hook your hdd's up to somebody elses pc and copy your stuff onto an external usb hdd if you have one, or know somebody who has one you can borrow for a short while. Just in case.

 

If it is just the heat sink that is damaged, then it us usually cheap and easy to replace. Worse if it is part of the mobo heat sink fitting/socket thingies. I can't even remember how those things are attached to the mobo

 

Edit: Gorgon beat me to that last bit.

[Lare Kikkeli]

So the fixtures are broken on the mobo or the heatsink ?. Because there are sometimes a set of empty screwholes around the CPU area for other cooling options or whatever. You might get lucky and be able to affix a new cooler that way. Not super likely though.

 

IIRC my mobo has four holes around the CPU, so it's the heatsinks fixtures that bent. I distinctly remember it being a pain in the ass to set up.

 

If it is just the heat sink that is damaged, then it us usually cheap and easy to replace. Worse if it is part of the mobo heat sink fitting/socket thingies. I can't even remember how those things are attached to the mobo

 

It's two of the little plastic thingies that fit into the mobos holes that are bent out of shape (lol). I wish I had a camera so I could take pictures

[Gorgon]

Are those self affixing plugs. You punch them in, nearly destroying your fingers, and they snap in place ?. Those come with the cooler, doesn't really matter if they are bent, but if the mechanism that fastens the CPU in place is, then that is not so good.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Are those self affixing plugs. You punch them in, nearly destroying your fingers, and they snap in place ?. Those come with the cooler, doesn't really matter if they are bent, but if the mechanism that fastens the CPU in place is, then that is not so good.

 

Yeah those are the ones. The plugs have two plastic sides that kind of widen when you punch them in? Well the plastic things are bent out of shape on the other side of the heatsink. I can't get the plugs in the holes anymore. I tried to bend them back so they would get in there but couldn't.

 

There doesn't seem to be any damage on the CPU or the cradle it's in. It's only the plastic plugs that have any external damage.

 

What sucks is that my case is kind of smallish so I can't really get my hands in there to put the heatsink back on. I'd have to disassemble the whole thing to get enough room to try and force the bent heatsink back in place, and I'd rather not have to force anything when it comes to delicate electronics.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Lare Kikkeli

[Gorgon]

Well no worries then, a good cooler costs a couple of hundred SEK.

[Pidesco]

Why is a Dane telling a Finn the cost of something in Swedish crowns?

[Gorgon]

Because this Dane lives close to the bridge with Sweden and sort of assumed Karftan was a Swede.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Long live the Kalmar Union

 

...and sort of assumed Karftan was a Swede.

[Gorgon]

Yeah, no kidding.

 

In my defense I have not been 100% for a couple of days. Massive head-cold.

[Pidesco]

[mkreku]

First: kill your sister.

 

Second: If it's fastened with plastic.. thingies, then it's probably a boxed CPU fan (ie. original cooler). Have you tried just pushing it in place again? The same thing happened to me when I transported my mom's computer by bus. The cooler jumped out of place (crappy Intel cooler), but I was able to force it back into place again.

[Lare Kikkeli]

First: kill your sister.

 

Second: If it's fastened with plastic.. thingies, then it's probably a boxed CPU fan (ie. original cooler). Have you tried just pushing it in place again? The same thing happened to me when I transported my mom's computer by bus. The cooler jumped out of place (crappy Intel cooler), but I was able to force it back into place again.

 

The plastic plugs are bent out of shape, I tried to force them back into place but they won't fit anymore. I'd really rather not us any more force than I did since I feel that there's a risk of busting up my processor. I'd rather pay the 20-40

Edited December 29, 2009 by Lare Kikkeli

[Gorgon]

I have an arctic cooler 7, very cheap and makes no noise once you enable silent mode in the bios. If you don't OC that's all you will ever need. I think it's good for all speeds, might want to double check that though.

 

It's got a 6 year warranty which ought to tell one that they are pretty confident it won't fail before the rest of your computer.

[Walsingham]

In my defense I have not been 100% for a couple of days. Massive head-cold.

 

Misread as:

 

"Massive-head cold."

[Lare Kikkeli]

Got a new heatsink, cost me 60€, but the computer works now. Thanks for the help ya'll

Edited January 10, 2010 by Lare Kikkeli

[mkreku]

Which one did you get?

[Lare Kikkeli]

A Noctua NH-U9B. Pain in the ass to set up, had to disassemble my whole computer including taking my motherboard out of the case. it's pretty quiet though so worth the effort i guess.