Anyone Who Has Changed the Heat Sink on a Gen8 MicroServer

[Joe_Miner 254]

Last night I changed out the Stock G1610T cpu on my HP ProLiant Gen8 MicroServer for a Xeon E3-1265LV2

 

I observered several interesting things.

 

When I lifted the Stock Heat Sink from the G1610T the Thermal Paste had only contacted the "top 1/4" and "bottom 1/4" of the G1610T

 

 

As you can see on the heat sink the paste area "should" have covered the CPU -- 

 

1st Q: Is this what you saw when you changed out your CPU's?

 

2nd Q: Could this be an indicator that the heat sink is NOT flat and is "bowed" in the center lifting the heat sink and thus the thermal paste off of the CPU?

 

3rd Q: Did you do anything to Flatten or Smoth out the bottom of the Heat Sink?

 

 

In preparing the Heat Sink for re-use I had cleaned it completely, then used Arctic Cleaner 1 & 2, then I applied AS5 and spread it out and wiped of the excess in order to "tint" the face of the Heat Sink which then looked like

 

The tinted face of the heat sink looks streaked, i.e. rough, which is not what I have seen typically when I would tint a heat sink in the past.  

 

4th Q: is this a sign that the heat sink face should be "smoothed" or is this adequate?

 

5th Q: If you smoothed/flattened your Heat Sink how did you do it?

 

Thanks!

[schoondoggy 771]

I think mine was mated up nicely.

I would run a square across the heat-sink to confirm it is level.

It almost makes me wonder if it was cranked down too tight and warped.

Run a square on the top of the 1610 to confirm it is not warped.

This would be a good one to send to HP, they may have a manufacturing issue.

[tangcla 8]

Did you have abnormally high temperatures?

 

My understanding is that it's not as important as the old CPU days, where the cores were exposed - the heat spreader on the CPU should already disperse some heat across its surface so the contact area might already be sufficiently large enough.

[psikey 32]

Mine was uniform across the surface when I took off to install my E3-1265LV2.

 

Think mine had same texture surface, certainly not polished. I used Arctic Cooling MX-3 paste when I installed the new CPU.

Edited December 19, 2013 by psikey

[Joe_Miner 254]

I've confirmed with a square that it is very slightly bowed.  I took it off and confirmed that the contact between the heatsink and CPU is the top and bottom area shown in the picture from the first time with the heatsink not making contact in the middle of the CPU.

 

With the deformation being so slight I'm thinking this might be a good candidate for lapping --

 

The only issue I see is removing then re-attaching the mounting screws -- the four screws each have a "retainer" that is on the surface/face of the Heatsink --can I remove the mounting screw retainers without destroying them? -- I haven't tired that before so I thought I'd ask before blindly going forward. OR in the alternate are these retainers something I can pick up at a hardware store so it would be ok to break the 4 that are on there? 

 

Do you use AC MX-3 for all your builds?  How do you like it?  I've been a AS5 fanboy for some time so I haven't looked at other possibly better thermal pastes.

 

Temps I'm seeing: after 30+mins of Prime95 the iLO shows the CPU at 59C and the fan at 18% but at the same time with OpenHardWareMonitor I'm seeing temps of 85C

Edited December 19, 2013 by Joe_Miner

[ikon 438]

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like the bolts are secured with E type retaining clips. If so, I've been able, in the past, to use a small screwdriver to 'pop' the clips off the shaft of the bolt. To reinstall, I would just push the clips back on. You just have to be careful to not let the clips pop away so you can't find them

[Joe_Miner 254]

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like the bolts are secured with E type retaining clips. If so, I've been able, in the past, to use a small screwdriver to 'pop' the clips off the shaft of the bolt. To reinstall, I would just push the clips back on. You just have to be careful to not let the clips pop away so you can't find them

 

Thanks iKon!  You are absolutely correct.  I went shopping last nite after work and picked up a pane of glass & automotive sandpaper (and six bottles of wine) and got one of the retaining clips off.  -- plan to do the rest this weekend and smooth that heatsink out!

 

based on the iLO data I know I'm "probably" OK as is -- but it really bugs me that the heatsink is making such poor contact and my OCD will not let me move on until I've done something about it

 

Now I just hope I don't screw something up, LOL...............

[ikon 438]

You can take some comfort in knowing that those clips are quite common, so you could order up some pretty cheap if required. You just need to take the measurements of one of them so you know what size to order.

 

Also, I've always heard that there is never any downside to lapping a CPU cooler contact plate. Many I have seen can be used as mirrors.

 

BTW, just don't drink that wine until after you've removed (and safely stored away) those clips

[Joe_Miner 254]

As a reference: 

 

My temps really aren't that far off from what Psikey, Sorted, Overcoat and others had been seeing.............

 

http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6170-active-cpu-cooling-for-the-gen8/?p=69785

 

http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5639-proliant-microserver-gen8-links/page-6#entry71066

 

http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6170-active-cpu-cooling-for-the-gen8/?p=69786

 

http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6170-active-cpu-cooling-for-the-gen8/#entry69784

 

Overcoat is running lower due to his active cooling system.

 

@ikon:  I actually found some clips that would work at Lowes -- in case I destroy/lose 1 or more accidently   Roger on the wine!

Edited December 20, 2013 by Joe_Miner

[psikey 32]

Used to use AS5 then after reading reviews and to get away from electrically conducting paste went to MX-3

 

Sent from my Galaxy S4

 

Edited December 22, 2013 by psikey