Fastening the small heatsink back on a Max- Haig

[Snake-Eyes]

I had my case open the other day so that I could temporarily move a SCSI card to my other PC, so I could use Adaptec's Take2 to make a system backup on it, when I discovered that the smaller heatsink had fallen off the chip on my Max.

It appears that the compound used to fasten it there had dried up and just let the chip drop. There is some residue on both the sink and on the chip, although I can still see the exact orientation that the sink was on the chip. The residue left a puzzle like pattern on the chip that exactly matches the residue pattern on the sink.

My question is this- what compound should I use to reattach the heatsink, and what preparations do I need to make to the chip and heatsink before attempting to reattach it? I mean, how best to prepare the two surfaces? Or should I see about getting some sort of swap authorization from Matrox (I don't have a card to put in the system while I wait)?

Thanks in advance.

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Ace

[Snake-Eyes]

BTW- a swap isn't exactly necessary to me, though I did purchase the card thru Matrox's online store, and I'm sure that the replacement would be one of the 4A Max's, since those have been out a while now. I just don't have an AGP4X motherboard yet, so I don't really care whether I have a card that does 4X transfers right now. By the time I get a motherboard that does do 4x transfers, I'll have a G800 (or whatever Matrox calls it) to mate to it anyway.

Thanks again.

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Ace

[Haig]

Hi Ace,

to clean the surface of the Mavenchip, you can use an exacto knife. Make sure that you don't scratch the surface of the chip.

The compound that we use is Locktite 384 Thermal adhesive with activator. Apply the glue to the heatsink, and activator on the chip, then press them firmly together, and let it stand for a day.

Haig

[Snake-Eyes]

Thanks for the info, Haig. So far, the lack of the heatsink hasn't caused me any real problems, but then I haven't overclocked my Max, since I have found that I get a very marginal, if any, performance improvement. Instead, my best performance improvements come from overclocking the CPU.

I'll see if I can get some of this compund at Radio Shack this weekend, and reattach the heatsink.

Thanks again.

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Ace

[Maggi]

Hi Ace,

make sure to leave your 2nd VGA disabled until you reattached that heatsink ...

Would be a real pain if you'd fry your Maven before the heatsink is back on.

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Cheers,
Maggi

Despite my nickname causing confusion, I am not female ...

[Snake-Eyes]

Thanks for the tip, Maggi- I'll make sure NOT to use the second output until I get the heatsink squared away. It's fortunate that I found the chip now, as I am getting ready to hook up a second display soon.

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Ace