Question Is AMD using glue as a thermal compound?

[ggRyoside]

I've been using my Ryzen 7 1700 with the stock cooler and stock thermal compound for 6 months.

I decided to replace the thermal compound today.

I loosened the 4 screws completely but the cooler wasn't letting go. I ended up ripping the CPU from the socket and I had to use a knife to pry the CPU from the cooler.

There was no damage to the CPU or the motherboard.

But seriously is AMD shipping their stock coolers with glue as a thermal compound?

I've changed the thermal compound on a decade old Dell Vostro recently that wasn't as bad as the compound that AMD included with their cooler.

Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me?

 

[RememberThe5th]

Hahahha, sorry im laughing as you described it.

Well usually thermal paste is made to bond those 2, cpu and heatsink, I do not know how original thermal paste works which comes with heatsink, but ive seen or heard issues like you had, prying the cpu from motherboard.

But it did happen with other thermal paste , its just a match of how you put it, it can bond.

 

[ggRyoside]

Hahahha, sorry im laughing as you described it.

Well usually thermal paste is made to bond those 2, cpu and heatsink, I do not know how original thermal paste works which comes with heatsink, but ive seen or heard issues like you had, prying the cpu from motherboard.

But it did happen with other thermal paste , its just a match of how you put it, it can bond.

I've never heard of thermal compound acting as a binding agent but I'm relatively new to the PC scene. I've never owned a PC of my own before now. I was using an iMac my whole life.

I've built plenty of junkyard rigs for other people in my family with parts from systems that just happened to show up at my door one way or another. But I've never invested money in a PC until now.

 

[RememberThe5th]

Well , usually I build from used parts and keep some with decent deals.
Like my current, which is under 150€ mark.

Only ive had issue with old 478 socket which was glued af. And it died cause my friend putted it backwards (did not align the dots)... Shame it did not die in spectacular way .

 

[shemsureshot]

I had an issue like this a few years ago. I figured the compound bonds when the pc has been cool and unused for a while. To solve it I ran a cpu heavy benchmark with the cpu fans at there slowest speed. I quickly turned off the pc during the bench mark and the cpu cooler came off effortlessly.

 

[CountMike]

Most compounds will stick after a while, it's more of a vacuum holding it than gluing action. I have seen some really bad and stuck coolers. I always unbutton/unscrew the cooler body, let it worm up either by stopping or slowing the fan right down and then twist the cooler so it breaks the bond, after that it's easier to lift up one end with slight rocking motion and lift up.

 

[InvalidError]

All non-liquid-metal paste are made of fine powder (the heat transfer media) usually using silicone oil to help with application. Over time, heat cycle and under mounting pressure, those particles pack increasingly tighter together and as this happens, excess oil gets squeezed out of the interface. After several months, most of the oil is gone from the interface and if you try to pull the heatsink straight off, you have to fight the vacuum that forms in-between as the oil works its way back into the packed powder from the edges.

As Mike wrote, the easiest way to break this bond is to give the heatsink a little twist after warming it up.

 

[hopsteriam]

Had same issue with a mates old AMD last week. I will be trying to twist the cooler off in future while the cpu is still firm in the socket and can not spin with the cooler.