Northbridge heatsink fell off!! $@#$%

[Kai Challai]

Hi,

I dont know if anyone else has faced this problem before. I got a Abit BH7 and its been running smooth for 2 months. Yesterday, all of a sudden, I heard a loud 'crack' from inside the case, and the screen went blank. I turned the power off almost immediately (1-2 secs). Upon looking in, I found that the Northbridge heatsink had fallen off the board and onto the video card. One of the U-shaped plugs that are attached to the motherboard had simply come off from the tension the 'arms' of the heatsink apply!!, and the heat sink had then fallen off due to gravity. I havent touched the board yet, waiting for some advice.. 1> Is the northbridge chip fried?? Does it have some thermal protection mechanism? I dont know yet whether the screen went blank due to the northbridge or from the heatsink falling onto my video card and shorting the circuits! 2> Could I just try to reattach the U shaped plug on to the board and reattach the heat-sink and see if it works?? Can anyone give me advice on attaching that Northbridge heatsink? Which thermal paste, epoxy etc should i use? and how? 3> Its only been 2 months and the damn thing came off by itself. Is this thing covered by warranty? Should I RMA the board without trying to fix it myself?

Thanks in Advance,
/Kai

 

[TomG]

the solder joints on the "U shaped" things have been known to be "cold" solder joints meaning that they are weak. I'd be willing to bet that the board just shut off due to the short circuit that was caused when the heat sink fell onto the video card. most likely, the power supply auto-clamped and shut down the rail or rails that went overcurrent but anything is possible.

if it were me, I'd repair the clip myself but you will need a good soldering iron, one with some high output, to heat up the clip and the pad the clip is supposed to attach to and get the solder flowing. might as well hit them all while you are in there.

if you do decide to take this on yourself, don't try it with the mobo in the case. pull the system apart and be real careful so you don't get solder anywhere it does not belong and be careful not to heat the board for too long. if you have a weak soldering iron, then you'll have to camp out on the solder pad for a long time which will damage the board from excessive heat. a higher output iron will allow you to heat the pad quickly and get the job done and then get back off the board with the heat before damage occurs.

 

[Colon Terminus]

If you're VERY familiar with soldering delicate electronic parts then go ahead and atempt the repair yourself, otherwise don't even think about it and have the board RMA'd.

Chances are pretty good that when the HS fell off and shorted out something, the boards protective circuits kicked in and prevented damage to other components.

"Kai Challai" wrote:

Hi,

I dont know if anyone else has faced this problem before. I got a Abit BH7 and its been running smooth for 2 months. Yesterday, all of a sudden, I heard a loud 'crack' from inside the case, and the screen went blank. I turned the power off almost immediately (1-2 secs). Upon looking in, I found that the Northbridge heatsink had fallen off the board and onto the video card. One of the U-shaped plugs that are attached to the motherboard had simply come off from the tension the 'arms' of the heatsink apply!!, and the heat sink had then fallen off due to gravity. I havent touched the board yet, waiting for some advice.. ...

 

[Dion L Heap]

"Colon Terminus" wrote:

If you're VERY familiar with soldering delicate electronic parts then go ahead and atempt the repair yourself, otherwise don't even think about it and have the board RMA'd.

Chances are pretty good that when the HS fell off and shorted out something, the boards protective circuits kicked in and prevented damage to other components.

I don't know American consumer law but if he solders the part back on and it's still faulty, ie if the sink shorted something on the board it would be more awkward to explain on returning the board.

regards,

Dion L Heap
www.thetophouse.com

 

[TomG]

this is true... I'd be pulling the heat sink out and seeing if the board booted real quick and then shutting her back off right away if it did...