# Heatsink fell off sound card



## F-Zero (Oct 15, 2016)

Hey guys ! Just as the title says my sound card heatsink fell off.  Can i add a little bit of my MX-4 thermal paste or do i need it at all ?


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## rtwjunkie (Oct 15, 2016)

If you want to keep it on there, MX-4 won't work.  You need something that functions as an adhesive too, such as Arctic Ceramique.


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## F-Zero (Oct 15, 2016)

Could i use a thermal conductive silicone pad ?


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## GreiverBlade (Oct 15, 2016)

rtwjunkie said:


> If you want to keep it on there, MX-4 won't work.  You need something that functions as an adhesive too, such as Arctic Ceramique.


nope ... Arctic Premium Silver thermal adhesive not Ceramique  (not a fan of Arctic Silver but that one works nice and better thermal conductivity as the one i have from Phobya, although it's not that useful on a soundcard. )

Ceramique and Ceramique 2 does not glue
https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/produc...aste-25g-thermal-grease-5796454?tagIds=76-526
https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/product/arctic-silver-ceramique-2-thermal-grease-284532?tagIds=76-526

the two i talk about
https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/produc...-090wm-k-thermal-grease-2448246?tagIds=76-526
https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/produc...g-750wm-k-thermal-grease-454906?tagIds=76-526

website only used for reference.


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## Assimilator (Oct 15, 2016)

I'd wager that heatsink isn't even needed... after all, if it just fell off, it obviously wasn't attached very tightly, so wasn't doing much of a job of transferring heat.

IMO use whatever thermal paste you have, then take a zip-tie over the heatsink, through the frontmost notch in the PCI connector and over the back of the card. A bit ghetto, but if you use a black tie it won't be too noticeable.


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## Iceni (Oct 15, 2016)

That style of heatsink is normally held in place with double sided tape.
Google this for your region it should throw some up on your local sites or ebay.

"Akasa _double_-_sided thermal_ adhesive _tape" _


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## silentbogo (Oct 15, 2016)

The chip itself should be fine even without cooling.
Instead of wasting money on expensive TIM you can simply invest in a two-sided adhesive metallic tape(like the ones used in tablets for heat transfer).
In some cases I've seen those types of chipsets were held in place by a sticky residue. very similar to the cheapest and crappiest glue sticks, found in any office supply store.

EDIT: @Iceni beat me by 2 sec about tape


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## Jetster (Oct 15, 2016)

Just glue it back on with epoxy


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## rtwjunkie (Oct 15, 2016)

GreiverBlade said:


> nope ... Arctic Premium Silver thermal adhesive not Ceramique  (not a fan of Arctic Silver but that one works nice and better thermal conductivity as the one i have from Phobya, although it's not that useful on a soundcard. )
> 
> Ceramique and Ceramique 2 does not glue
> https://www.digitec.ch/en/s1/produc...aste-25g-thermal-grease-5796454?tagIds=76-526
> ...



Thanks for the correction!


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## AsRock (Oct 15, 2016)

silentbogo said:


> The chip itself should be fine even without cooling.
> Instead of wasting money on expensive TIM you can simply invest in a two-sided adhesive metallic tape(like the ones used in tablets for heat transfer).
> In some cases I've seen those types of chipsets were held in place by a sticky residue. very similar to the cheapest and crappiest glue sticks, found in any office supply store.
> 
> EDIT: @Iceni beat me by 2 sec about tape



How i see it tape is what got him in this in the 1st place, arctic thermal adhesive there is not chance of that happening again EVER.


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## Bill_Bright (Oct 15, 2016)

I would not use epoxy. That will act as an insulating barrier.

As others have suggested, use "adhesive" TIM (thermal interface material). It is designed just for this purpose - to mount heatsinks on devices that don't use a heatsink clamp or mounting screws to hold it in place. It comes in liquid or tape formats.

I would not run without the heatsink unless you compensate by mounting a case fan that blows right on the device.


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