AMD Abandons CPU Heatsink Mounting Holes

[lokem]

Got this from www.warp2search.com:

Hardware: AMD Abandons CPU Heatsink Mounting Holes!
=>Posted by: Rancho*.
=>Saturday, March 30 @ 15:46:56 CET
http://www.warp2search.net/article.php?sid=3713&mode=thread&order=0

AMD has issued the latest version of their Thermal, Mechanical, and Chassis Cooling Design Guide which is the official guideline for hardware vendors to build their products on. According to the January 2002 release of the technical white paper AMD recommends that the four mounting holes surrounding the Socket A are removed from the so called Motherboard Keepout Area.

Read more...

This sums up to the following:

* Maximum mass of heatsink: 300g
* Only clip attachment will be possible

The Socket A allows heatsink attachment by 3 noses on two sides of the socket using a metal clamp design to firmly seat the heatsink. Due to the maximum clip force of 24 lbs the maximum heatsink weight is limited to 300g.


Almost all high ranked heatsinks from Alpha, Swiftech or Thermaltake exceed the 300g limitation and were usually attached by being bolted on the motherboard itself using the 4 mounting holes.

AMD's PDF doc: http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/23794.pdf

I wonder how many heatsinks will be usable by then...

 

[svtcobra]

Swiftech is gonna hit the roof...A universal clip design needs to be implemented for all HSF's on the market. And the HSF clip needs to be easy to use. I dont want to have a set of needle nose pliers and a flat head screwdriver to install the HSF..

 

[uncleel]

The mounting holes came into vogue w/ the 1st P4, due to the weight of its hsf. Remember, this is just AMD's suggestion to the manufacturers. That doesn't mean they are going to abandon the holes.
Agree w/ Cobra; the clip needs to be standardized.

 

[Didou]

HardOCP had contacted a few board makers (ASUS, ABIT & MSI ) & found that they weren't even awar of this decision by AMD. They replyed that they would continue to provide the Mounting Holes on their boards.

 

[Phantasm66]

I think that the current HSF design for the Athlon CPU needs rethinking.

Installation of my own onto my Athlon C involved a fifteen minute battle with a screwdriver....

This should not be! It should be simple and easy to remove these things, and the mechanisms that hold them onto the board do not look strong enough..... I have nightmares about that HSF breaking off, making my processor overheat and blow up and crashing into my AGP card thereby destroying that as well.

By the looks of things, a replacement of the HSF in my machine might even involve taking the motherboard out of the case for proper access, which is silly! This should be as easy as changing a cassette in a VHS machine!

 

[lokem]

Originally posted by Phantasm66
I think that the current HSF design for the Athlon CPU needs rethinking.

Installation of my own onto my Athlon C involved a fifteen minute battle with a screwdriver....

This should not be! It should be simple and easy to remove these things, and the mechanisms that hold them onto the board do not look strong enough..... I have nightmares about that HSF breaking off, making my processor overheat and blow up and crashing into my AGP card thereby destroying that as well.

By the looks of things, a replacement of the HSF in my machine might even involve taking the motherboard out of the case for proper access, which is silly! This should be as easy as changing a cassette in a VHS machine!

That was exactly how I felt when I got my first Athlon system. And having read soooo many articles about cracked core and fried mobos, I was breaking cold sweat when attaching the HSF. I checked and re-checked as if I was building an aircraft to see if there was any gap btw the CPU and HSF. Thankfully, things have gotten better; I'm more confident in changing the HSF I'm hoping that they can change the entire socket design so that it can be as easy as changing a cassette in a VHS machine

 

[svtcobra]

Originally posted by lokem


That was exactly how I felt when I got my first Athlon system. And having read soooo many articles about cracked core and fried mobos, I was breaking cold sweat when attaching the HSF. I checked and re-checked as if I was building an aircraft to see if there was any gap btw the CPU and HSF. Thankfully, things have gotten better; I'm more confident in changing the HSF I'm hoping that they can change the entire socket design so that it can be as easy as changing a cassette in a VHS machine

I feel the pain..When I got my first AMD cpu I must have checked and rechecked the install 3 times. Then I got a Swiftech and I didnt have to worry about the clip...Well worth the extra money for the piece of mind.

 

[lokem]

Originally posted by svtcobra
I feel the pain..When I got my first AMD cpu I must have checked and rechecked the install 3 times. Then I got a Swiftech and I didnt have to worry about the clip...Well worth the extra money for the piece of mind.

I got myself a GlobalWin HSF. I'm kinda getting used to the "single hook" clips; although a better design wouldn't hurt