HowToNot: Taking Corsair RAM heatspreaders off

[sapetto]

so now your ram is dead?!?

 

[95Viper]

Sorry about your loss.

It probably is an epoxy. They come in various final setup; flexibly to rigid.
Artic silver makes a rigid:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100005 and http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm
Masterbond makes a whole gamut of them:http://www.masterbond.com/lp/lpthermcond.html and http://www.masterbond.com/sg/masterbond_tcsg.pdf

 

[Ahhzz]

dude......

 

[r1rhyder]

My Dominators only had thermal tape, popped right the f**k off one day when I was putting the stick in the slot. Sorry for your loss.

By r1rhyder, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-05-12

 

[Thrackan]

Oh all of you, don't worry about the loss. I put 3 sticks of Crucials in today, no heatspreader (so safe) and absolutely Microns

r1rhyder, thanks for sharing that. I was under the impression they'd use glue on all sticks, but it seems that is not even valid for all DDR3 sticks. Maybe it's just the XMS3 DHX sets then.

Just for closure, the stick is definitely dead. As in, it will not function as a piece of memory. Not ever again.
The fun part was that the SPD (controller) chip actually still functioned. It was still telling me (through CPU-Z) that this was a 2048MB Corsair stick when I put it in next to another working stick. The controller chip is actually the only IC left on this side of the stick

To be precise, I was not actually trying to pry the entire spreader off when I did this.
I was trying to see if I could wiggle some room between the outer heatspreader and the inner one.
When I saw that one of the IC's actually came loose, I just decided to kill the entire stick.
It was not hard at all to get the chips off. The ball solder joints came off much easier than the glue did, so that's the tricky part.

Conclusion: if you look closely between the heatspreaders and see stuff that looks like blobs instead of tape, do not pry the damned heatspreader off!
If you still feel adventurous, go the fuck ahead, but it's up to luck whether you end up like me or like r1rhyder.
I might try the freezer or blow dryer method on the other side though and see if it works better.

 

[ace80]

Sorry to hear this man, but thanks for the info.
Many a times i've thought of taking mine off, now i wont.

 

[MKmods]

"Do, or do not, there is no why."

+1!!!!!!

 

[Meizuman]

I would definately try to get it back to life

Removing the chips from HS
Heating the ball joints (and chip?)
Sticking the chips back to PCB one by one

But I bet you have more money to spend, so not a big deal... but I would try.

 

[Thrackan]

I would definately try to get it back to life

Removing the chips from HS
Heating the ball joints (and chip?)
Sticking the chips back to PCB one by one

But I bet you have more money to spend, so not a big deal... but I would try.

I would if I had the patience... Joints look like crap though since I basically cracked them apart.

I actually just sliced one chip in half instead of prying under it. I either need a better razor/exacto or I need to resort to other methods.

Freezer method is a no-no with this stuff. It does get rock hard, but it don't budge

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

I have some Gskill PC8500s with the normal blue heatspreaders that I would love to swap out for something decent but I'm afraid. Is there any good way to do this? I hear alot of horror stories.

Thumbs up for the effort and balls, it just sucks that it didn't work out for you.

 

[MKmods]

Freezer method is a no-no with this stuff. It does get rock hard, but it don't budge

Freezer=Fail throw the piece in the oven at 350deg for a while (heat rules)

(Make sure your mom dosent see what ur doing)

 

[Thrackan]

I have some Gskill PC8500s with the normal blue heatspreaders that I would love to swap out for something decent but I'm afraid. Is there any good way to do this? I hear alot of horror stories.

Thumbs up for the effort and balls, it just sucks that it didn't work out for you.

I'd say rule of thumb: look closely. If it looks like tape, it's probably tape. If it looks like blobs, it's probably glue.

Freezer=Fail throw the piece in the oven at 350deg for a while (heat rules)

(Make sure your mom dosent see what ur doing)

Heatsink is currently in a sealed bag with an overdose of deodorant (main ingredient: alcohol) to see if that softens it up.

 

[<<Onafets>>]

LOL...sor for the looss,

LESSON: If your can afford Corsair dominators, its a good idea not to break the fuck out of em!

Sorr for the loss again. Poor RAM= Retarted Abandoned Memory

 

[Thrackan]

LOL...sor for the looss,

LESSON: If your can afford Corsair dominators, its a good idea not to break the fuck out of em!

Sorr for the loss again. Poor RAM= Retarted Abandoned Memory

Correction: if you can afford Corsairs, you can afford them twice
If you can't afford Corsairs, don't break them if you have them!

 

[<<Onafets>>]

Correction: if you can afford Corsairs, you can afford them twice
If you can't afford Corsairs, don't break them if you have them!

Me> < my shitty DDR ram

Don't know what hit 'em until the last 20 minutes of Bootup time!


God my life sucks