Will the fan fit the Mother board?

[tyler4402]

Hi All
   XP Pro SP3 intel core i3 and GA-H55M-D2H Mother board (figures taken from the user manual)
The fan on my core i3 is slipping and making a horrible noise when I start the PC, so I would like th replace the fan with a Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7rev, socket 775-1156- 1155 1366 Am2.
As I have never fitted a cooling fan can anybody tell me if this type of cooling fan will fit my Gigabyte Mother board? and will I have to take the M Board out to screw the fan onto the board from the back side of the board? as when I look at the original fan that came with the processor it looks thin and flimsy and shows no obvious way of its fixing to the board.
Many thanks regards Robert.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

The fan should fit the motherboard fine as long as you haven't got it in some tiny case. You will probably have to remove the motherboard as the stock cooler fits with special twist and splay feet through the motherboard mounting holes whereas you new cooler will more than likely use four bolts that will need you to get at the back of the board to fasten.

[tyler4402]

Many thanks for your quick reply, the inner workings are in quite a big case which I run with the side off, so there should be lots of room.

I was actually wondering how to take the stock cooler fan off the board? there does seem to be four legs, but I can't see underneath them or how they are fixed, each leg has an arrow on top pointing anti clockwise, is it just a twist and turn to break the sealant and remove the fan?

regards Robert.

[Dark Mantis]

The stock cooler will come off very easilly. The legs just require a quarter turn to unlock them and then they will come free of the motherboard. As you quite rightly summised the best way of releasing the heatsink from the CPU is with a gentle twisting action as the TIM is a bit like glue. When you come to install mthe new one just use a small amount of paste about the size of a grain of rice as too much is as bad as too little.

[tyler4402]

Hi thanks for your help, I feel more confident now, so I will order a new Arctic Pro 7 and some fixer,  and have a go at the replacement, regards Robert.

[Dark Mantis]

If you want to purchase some good quality TIM (paste) try Arctic Silver 5.

[tyler4402]

Silver 5 now ordered, many thanks, regards Robert. 

[Dark Mantis]

It makes sense to get some decent TIM if you are buying a good aftermarket cooler. You don't want to cut down on it's thermal properties by using some low grade paste. Just remember if there is any TIM already applied to the base of the new cooler to clean it all off first.

[Karlston]

Just remember if there is any TIM already applied to the base of the new cooler to clean it all off first.

Just out of curiosity, what do you use when removing TIM?  I use cotton buds + isopropyl alcohol.

[Dark Mantis]

Isopropyl is the best thing to be honest if you need a solution to disolve it as it is not so harmfull as acetone on the surrounding components and board.

[tyler4402]

Update

 Hi all, my new fan should arrive this  Monday morning, again thanks for you advice it has given me confidence to get on and do the job.
I do have some Isoprope although its 10 yr old as I got it from work before I retired, and as the PC innards and the stock fan were only fitted in Jan this year, I don't suppose the old TIM will be to hard to clean off.
Just to re-cap, twist off the stock fan and gently work the heatsink to loosen, and clean off the old TIM, although I guess some distructions on re-fitting the new fan will come in the box.
Regards Robert.

[Dark Mantis]

Your old fan and heatsiunk should come off as a single unit with just a careful twisting action.  You can discard the fan/heatsink unless you have a use for it. The CPU can be left in situ in the socket so there is less chance of damage.  Just use a clean cloth to remove any TIM that is still adhering to the surface. You can use some of your old Isopropyl Alcohol, because it doesn't go off only evaporates, if there are any stubborn paste areas.

Then it is just a case of installing the new cooler as per their instructions. Good luck.

[tyler4402]

Another update
Hi DM, I did the swap about 1 hr ago and sited in the Arctic 7 Pro, and once I figured out how the legs fix to the MB all was OK and it only took about 15 mins, but it has given rise to 2 more problems  for when I turned the PC on the same screeching noise was still there !!!! (problem 1) so I turned the PC on and off a few times and found what might be another prob, as the new fan only starts after 15/20 second delay, I am not sure if this is normal?
In the meantime I unplugged the HDD and when the fan started it was very quiet, pointing to a HDD failure, on re-connecting the HDD and booting the PC, after the bios txt, I got a message that MD*R is missing, so I have booted from the CD.
Any suggestions most welcome  Regards Robert.


   

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Normally the message MD*R missing is due to a failure of the RAID array. This is probably simply due to the fact that you have unplugged the drive.

Don't worry about the new fan on the cooler only starting up  a few seconds later than the rest of the system, as this is probably due to the fan being thermostatically controlled. Until it reaches a certain temperature the fan won't run.

[tyler4402]

Hi DM
   Thanks for the explanation, the words actually were NTLDR is missing, anyway I was using the CD to boot from and it asked if I wanted to repair, so I said yes and went through the process of reloading the OP again.
I have done a disc cleanup and the hdd is being defragged continuously,while the analysis says the disc is OK, and  now when I boot I don't get the chattering and slipping noise and the PC seems OK, you have put my mind at rest with the thermostat news, and Core Temp now shows a temp of core 0 34% and  core 1 @ 32% ish.
Thanks for your help, regards Robert.