# CPU stuck to the cooler? - Solved



## HTC (Aug 12, 2017)

Got myself an AM4 mounting kit for my NH-C14 cooler and finally proceeded to pull the board out to swap the stock cooler ... but the cooler was firmly stuck, even with the screws taken off, which i found quite odd.

Applied a little more force and, to my disbelief, the CPU got yanked right out of the socked (which was locked, obviously) and it's still stuck to the cooler.

Several concerns:

1 - did i damage the board?
2 - did i damage the CPU?
3 - how do i unstuck the CPU from the cooler?

There don't appear to be any bent pins on the CPU.

I've removed many coolers (replaced TIMs and / or CPUs) but this is the 1st time this has happened to me and, frankly, i'm concerned i've borked my new AM4 system 

Help?

EDIT

#3 is fixed already: managed to separate the cooler from the CPU.


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## DRDNA (Aug 12, 2017)

Not sure about damage but I think a hair dryer may help in getting the cpu off the cooler along with a thin putty knife. Damn tho.


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## MrGenius (Aug 12, 2017)

It happens. That's why they say to remove the HSF while it and the CPU are still warm. And with a twist instead of a straight pull. I doubt you broke anything. But there's only one way to find out...put it back together and see if it still works.

Good luck!


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## HTC (Aug 12, 2017)

MrGenius said:


> It happens. That's why they say to remove the HSF while it and the CPU are still warm. And with a twist instead of a straight pull. I doubt you broke anything. But there's only one way to find out...put it back together and see if it still works.
> 
> Good luck!



I had turned off the PC like 3 minutes earlier.

Assembling the Noctua cooler now: fingers crossed!


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## theFOoL (Aug 12, 2017)

This happened to me once. The CPU was so stuck I had to use a Flat-Head to Separate the Cooler&CPU


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## HTC (Aug 12, 2017)

rk3066 said:


> This happened to me once. The CPU was so stuck I had to use a Flat-Head to Separate the Cooler&CPU



Didn't need to use any tool: tried to rotate the CPU to dislodge it and it worked but i had to use quite a bit of force.

What surprised me was that the CPU came off from the socket while it was locked.


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## Devon68 (Aug 12, 2017)

That is normal. That happens from time to time.


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## jboydgolfer (Aug 13, 2017)

Did you use the stock noctua thermal interface material or something different? Just curious what was used so I can avoid it


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## theFOoL (Aug 13, 2017)

Devon68 said:


> That is normal. That happens from time to time.


Yeah, Normally if the PC is old/Dusty



jboydgolfer said:


> Did you use the stock noctua thermal interface material or something different? Just curious what was used so I can avoid it


Normally I try to Avoid using that at All-Cost. Like to use Sliver-5 when possible


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## HTC (Aug 13, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> Did you use the stock noctua thermal interface material or something different? Just curious what was used so I can avoid it



I had used the paste that came with the stock cooler.



rk3066 said:


> Yeah, Normally if the PC is old/Dusty
> 
> *Normally I try to Avoid using that at All-Cost.* Like to use Sliver-5 when possible



Put the Noctua thermal paste this time.

Good news is the PC booted and seems OK, for now!


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## newtekie1 (Aug 13, 2017)

Whenever you're removing a cooler from a ZIF socket, you should give the cooler a twist to break the TIM suction.


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## HTC (Aug 13, 2017)

newtekie1 said:


> Whenever you're removing a cooler from a ZIF socket, you should give the cooler a twist to break the TIM suction.



I've seen it middly stuck before but this time it was as if it was nailed together: that's how stuck it was!

Almost gave me a heart attack when i noticed the CPU came off the board!

EDIT

How do i edit the title to state "Solved"?

EDIT #2

Before and after pics:


  

Tried to use the 2nd fan but it doesn't fit by like 3-4 mm


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 13, 2017)

HTC said:


> How do i edit the title to state "Solved"?


up at the top right of your OP you should see an edit thread drop-down.

also, thanks for letting us know it is resolved!


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## jboydgolfer (Aug 13, 2017)

HTC said:


> I had used the paste that came with the stock cooler.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 Isn't that a Noctua cooler?  If so the stock paste that came with it would've been Noctua


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## HTC (Aug 13, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> up at the top right of your OP you should see an edit thread drop-down.
> 
> also, thanks for letting us know it is resolved!



Learn something every day: thanks!



jboydgolfer said:


> Isn't that a Noctua cooler?  If so the *stock paste* that came with it would've been Noctua



It had the *stock* paste from the *stock cooler*.

Now i have Noctua's paste in the Noctua cooler.


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## jboydgolfer (Aug 13, 2017)

HTC said:


> It had the *stock* paste from the *stock cooler*.



okay, your answer wasnt very clear the first time. STOCK paste is stock , i didnt see mention of a 2nd cooler till just now, so i thought stock was stock noctua, not stock other cooler


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## HTC (Aug 13, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> okay, your answer wasnt very clear the first time. STOCK paste is stock , i didnt see mention of a 2nd cooler till just now, so i thought stock was stock noctua, not stock other cooler



The R5 1600 came with a cooler: it's the paste that came pre-applied that i had used originally.

@ the time, i hadn't the AM4 adapter to put this NH-C14 cooler directly so i had to wait.

To those that need to ask for an AM4 mounting kit from Noctua but have misplaced the cooler's invoice (like me), send this as proof of purchase instead of the coolers' invoice:



I covered in white my full name and my e-mail address (required)


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## DRDNA (Aug 13, 2017)

I thought the CPU socket was designed to let go before it was torn from the PCB.


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## biffzinker (Aug 13, 2017)

Count yourself lucky @HTC . Had it happen to a Pentium 4 Northwood but lost a pin.


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## Norton (Aug 13, 2017)

DRDNA said:


> I thought the CPU socket was designed to let go before it was torn from the PCB.


This happens from time to time with pin grid array sockets- socket 939/AM2/AM3 and others have had this happen.

Note that the Noctua paste is not likely to cause the same problem but giving the cooler a twist before trying to remove is still the best way to go


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## newtekie1 (Aug 13, 2017)

HTC said:


> I've seen it middly stuck before but this time it was as if it was nailed together: that's how stuck it was!
> 
> Almost gave me a heart attack when i noticed the CPU came off the board!



I had a P4 pop the IHS off trying to get it off the heatsink before.


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## HTC (Aug 13, 2017)

Norton said:


> This happens from time to time with pin grid array sockets- socket 939/AM2/AM3 and others have had this happen.
> 
> Note that the Noctua paste is not likely to cause the same problem but *giving the cooler a twist before trying to remove is still the best way to go*



Will do that next time: thanks!



newtekie1 said:


> I had a P4 pop the IHS off trying to get it off the heatsink before.



Ouch!


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## theFOoL (Aug 13, 2017)

Have any one tried using just water to clean off computer parts? Hearing if you let them dry then All should be good. Been wanting to try it but idk still


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## R-T-B (Aug 13, 2017)

This is how I lost my Opty 185 back in the day, when they were worth like $400.


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## DRDNA (Aug 13, 2017)

Norton said:


> This happens from time to time with pin grid array sockets- socket 939/AM2/AM3 and others have had this happen.
> 
> Note that the Noctua paste is not likely to cause the same problem but giving the cooler a twist before trying to remove is still the best way to go


what I meant is I thought the CPU sockets lever and biting teeth was designed to let it break free before the actual cpu Socket was was ripped from the board. So if for example what happened to the OP he wouldnt have to buy a new mobo because the whole cpu bed ripped lose from the mobo PCB, if such as this happened.


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## Norton (Aug 13, 2017)

DRDNA said:


> what I meant is I thought the CPU sockets lever was designed to let it break free before the actual cpu Socket was was ripped from the board. So if for example what happened to the OP he wouldnt have to buy a new mobo because the whole cpu bed ripped lose from the mobo PCB, if such as this happened.


The lever is designed to hold the pins w/o damaging them (most of the time) so what happens is the cpu pulls out of the socket while the latch is still down if pulled up too hard.

The cpu pins may be damaged when this happens and should be checked but the socket is _usually_ not damaged (depends on the socket type though)

Note that the same thing happened to @Chicken Patty with his Ryzen setup iirc


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## HTC (Aug 13, 2017)

Norton said:


> The lever is designed to hold the pins w/o damaging them (most of the time) so what happens is the cpu pulls out of the socket while the latch is still down if pulled up too hard.
> 
> The cpu pins may be damaged when this happens and should be checked but the socket is _usually_ not damaged (depends on the socket type though)
> 
> *Note that the same thing happened to @Chicken Patty with his Ryzen setup iirc*



Really? Damn!


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## Vya Domus (Aug 13, 2017)

rk3066 said:


> Have any one tried using just water to clean off computer parts? Hearing if you let them dry then All should be good. Been wanting to try it but idk still



Problem is water can remain in nooks and crannies and not dry completely even after a while.


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## hat (Aug 13, 2017)

It's happened to me before too. I recall using a butter knife to (gently) pry the CPU off the heatsink. It still worked afterwards.

@rk3066 I've done it many times. Usually with heatsinks and stuff, but I have used water to clean other components. Best thing to do is play it safe and make sure they're dry. As @Vya Domus says water can remain in nooks and crannies. Currently my method for this is to let any excess water run off, maybe give a little shake, and rinse whatever it was in 91% rubbing alcohol (which dries much faster than water). Then I use a hair dryer to try to dry it up. I've washed a motherboard and had it running again inside of an hour by doing this.


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## Chicken Patty (Aug 17, 2017)

Yeah it did happen to me, and I spent about four hours trying to get the CPU back in the socket.  Did you get things sorted out?


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## ShurikN (Aug 17, 2017)

HTC said:


> What surprised me was that the CPU came off from the socket while it was locked.


Happened to me once on an Athlon II 640 and a Gigabyte board. Nothing got damaged luckily.


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## Bones (Aug 17, 2017)

Has happened to me plenty of times - I've done more damage getting the CPU separated from the cooler AFTER it was out than the CPU simply coming out of the socket with the cooler.
Some coolers I've noted will do that. Those I have that do it I tend to leave them in use with my daily driver machines.
The one on this machine is one that's notorious for doing it.

While the chip and cooler are still warm, giving the cooler a twist and sliding it towards the edge of the CPU lid will help but normally the retaining collar on the board won't let you go very far that way. As long as your pins are OK and you don't damage anything getting the two pieces separated after the CPU and cooler comes out it's fine.


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## HTC (Aug 17, 2017)

Chicken Patty said:


> Yeah it did happen to me, and I spent about four hours trying to get the CPU back in the socket.  Did you get things sorted out?



Yes: it's sorted out. I edited the OP's title to reflect this!

It did scare the crap out of me, though: had never happened to me before! For a bit i thought i had screwed mobo + CPU.


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## R00kie (Aug 17, 2017)

Had this happen to me numerous of times, with P4 CPU's and my FX8320, the FX was actually stuck so hard that it managed to puncture my finger and fly away a couple of feet.


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## Outback Bronze (Aug 17, 2017)

Yep the good old Artic Silver with a P4 Northwood under water stuck like glue.

Soooooo many time's I had to realign the CPU pins.


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## Shadowdust (Aug 18, 2017)

Same thing happened to me with one of my old Socket 754 setups. It was my first CPU with a heatspreader and the cooler suctioned to the CPU. I ripped it out and lost a few pins on the CPU. A lesson well learned! Now I just lightly wiggle until it begins to break free.


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 18, 2017)

Very common with 478 P4s, the 423s didn't do it...


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## trparky (Aug 18, 2017)

One has to wonder if this is the reason why Intel went with the LGA setup. Intel's CPUs are locked down onto the motherboard by a sort of bracket when installed so _technically_ this shouldn't happen in the Intel camp.

Unless you somehow manage to break the socket off of the motherboard but then you'd end up seriously breaking the motherboard.


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## HTC (Sep 1, 2017)

This dude had the exact same thing happen to him (post # 716):

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/threadripper-builders-thread.2512631/page-29#post-39056854


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## Vario (Sep 1, 2017)

My friend had a Phenom II X6 1090T.  Calls me up: "I Can't get this heatsink off bro what do I do?" I say : "I'm coming by don't do anything".  By the time I get there hes managed to rip it out and tore and bent the pins on the 1090 and mangled the motherboard socket.  

What always worked for me was to run prime 95 for 10 minutes then turn it off and unmount it before it cools down.  Or if its a bricked system you use a hairdryer to heat it up and then twist it clockwise/counterclockwise while pushing down so it doesn't lift the cpu out of the socket.


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## Space Lynx (Jun 24, 2018)

This thread has scared the crap out of me. I think I might use Arctic MX-4 in the future, since it seems to be rather... well I don't know, but in my experience with many pastes, temps are negligible as long as you use one of the popular ones, and MX-4 doesn't seem to have any issues as far as drying up a little or sticking.


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## HTC (Jun 24, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> This thread has scared the crap out of me. I think I might use Arctic MX-4 in the future, since it seems to be rather... well I don't know, but in my experience with many pastes, temps are negligible as long as you use one of the popular ones, and MX-4 doesn't seem to have any issues as far as drying up a little or sticking.



Note that the "original" stock paste was the one that came pre-applied with the stock cooler. After it's removal, i used Noctua's NH-T1 with the Noctua's cooler because i misplaced my MX3 (or is it 4?) paste: it was the only one i had available and it came with the cooler, meaning it's around 8 years old.


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## Vario (Jun 25, 2018)

Doesn't matter what paste you have, this kind of thing will happen its not a big deal.  In the future, run prime 95 get it real hot, then shut down and unbolt the cooler, then give it a twist back and forth a bit while pushing slightly down and it will come off as the paste bond shears off.


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## Space Lynx (Jun 25, 2018)

Vario said:


> Doesn't matter what paste you have, this kind of thing will happen its not a big deal.  In the future, run prime 95 get it real hot, then shut down and unbolt the cooler, then give it a twist back and forth a bit while pushing slightly down and it will come off as the paste bond shears off.




I agree with you for most pastes, but if you have ever felt mx-2 or mx-4 paste, it really is... like more silky than other pastes, doesn't seem to solidify at all, its 1-2 degrees celsius warmer than Noctua paste i think, i personally use noctua paste, but if i go to ryzen i might switch over to mx-4, or if i switch over to any chip die that is bigger than intel lga 115x series, i think i will switch in general, just because the suction increases


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## micropage7 (Jun 25, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> This thread has scared the crap out of me. I think I might use Arctic MX-4 in the future, since it seems to be rather... well I don't know, but in my experience with many pastes, temps are negligible as long as you use one of the popular ones, and MX-4 doesn't seem to have any issues as far as drying up a little or sticking.


Maybe it's the good reason for anyone, dont put too much paste there and make sure you spread it thin enough so it's safer when you remove the heatsink


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## HTC (Jun 25, 2018)

micropage7 said:


> Maybe it's the good reason for anyone, *dont put too much paste there and make sure you spread it thin enough so it's safer when you remove the heatsink*



The cooler that got stuck (Ryzen 1600 stock cooler) *had the paste pre-applied*.

I didn't change anything with the stock cooler until the time i tried to take it off: it was then that it got stuck. I had just turned down the PC prior to attempting this: the PC had been turned on for several hours but wasn't doing anything with high load intensity, so it wasn't "very hot", but not cold either.


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## delshay (Jun 25, 2018)

R-T-B said:


> This is how I lost my Opty 185 back in the day, when they were worth like $400.



You do realize the pins are soldered on. Look carefully at the pin base, just around it.  Just solder on new pin(s). I did this without removing the base copper contact. Never tried removing the complete pin including the base, looks like to much work when I can just solder on a new pin on top of the old contact base.


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## Skypup (Dec 12, 2022)

Ok...had same thing happen to old Prescott cpu during mobo recap...of course it was on motherboard for 18 years (GX270 tower)...this board was a real pita because of those stiff heatsink clips and the plastic tabs holding metal plate (Guess Dell was pretty confident their caps would last for decades)..


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