Whoops (with inline pix)

[poopypoo]

I'll let the pictures do the talking for now:

what you're seeing there is the remains of an ASUS A8N-VM CSM mATX mobo -- specifically, the nVidia 6150 northbridge chip. As is all well-documented on various other sites, this mobo has a cool featureset, but is a mess. Don't let the "rev. 1.1" silkscreen fool you! The BIOS was unstable and required a flashing to boot. The NB HS was passively cooled and poorly attached with a very loose spring clamp. It'd overheat on a dime. The SB, too, tended to get a bit hot.

All of this I didn't know going in -- I needed a mobo fast, was new to HK and had no internet at the time, so I played it safe and bought an Asus. Sadly, nobody is free from crappy designs these days, and I picked a rotten apple -- but a rotten apple I'd ALMOST gotten 100% stable. I used AS thermal epoxy to firmly affix the NB HS, and then epoxied a fatass Delta 40mm fan to the HS. Then I added some crappy 40mm HSF to the SB chip -- it didn't need much, if any, cooling. As you can imagine, the space between the NB and an A64 stock cooler is narrow -- about 15mm, I'd say. Then adding the Delta on top (was worried that the fan on the side would block the PCIE slot) made it even tighter around the clamp bracket of the A64 cooler. I decided I wanted to redo the TIM on the a64, since I'd used some obviously stale "Cooler Master" grease originally -- popped the far side of the A64 bracket off without much troublke, then tried to ease the NB-side bracket off and when it popped, it took the NB HS with it, and about 50% of the NB chip too. ^^;;;

PS sorry about the photo quality -- still haven't gotten an HK-style camera battery recharger, so they were taken and uploaded in a big hurry!

 

[DudeMiester]

I remember the trouble I had with my old ASUS. These days I'd get nothing but DFI personally. Although, I haven't been following the mobo market as much lately, so maybe the champion manufacturer has changed. I doubt it though, those DFI mobos are hardcore.

 

[Skrying]

Paste or epoxy? Big difference. Epoxy is exactly what its name says. It literally glues things onto it. Even in a short time its irreverisible.

Also, DFI boards, IMO, are a pain in the ass. They are super picky about certain settings and take a ton of work to get the full "potential" out of them. Asus has been producing some really good boards as of late, but some times everyone produces a dud.

 

[poopypoo]

epoxy was used to create the mess you see above (the block chunk on the bottm of the heatsink is the other half of the nV 6150 NB chip). I used paste on the a64 itself, though. Not THAT crazy. Headed out to buy a replacement now -- I think it'll probably be MSI K8NGM2-FID. The DFI RS482 would be a better overclocker but I'm more interested in high-quality audio and video output, and since the MSI sticks with the nV 6150/430 combo, should be an easier install on the exisitng Windows partition. I'm tempted to try and replace that NB chip though, later. I've put a little bit of work into the Asus mobo and it's in perfect condition, save that one chip.

 

[stevem]

That's when a 50%-50% mix of AS/AS epoxy comes in handy. Given the motherboard has NB retention holes, & the fact you used the stock HSF, I'd have used AS & secured with nylon threads/nuts for a better hold over the loose spring clamps.

Good luck in removing the BGA ASIC. You'll need a fairly powerful iron with a large/flat attachment. You'll probably find that you'll need to heat it up quite a bit due to the MB ground plane. Unless you've got the gear, I don't know how successful you'll be with mounting a new ASIC (if you can get one).

 

[poopypoo]

That's when a 50%-50% mix of AS/AS epoxy comes in handy. Given the motherboard has NB retention holes, & the fact you used the stock HSF, I'd have used AS & secured with nylon threads/nuts for a better hold over the loose spring clamps.

Good luck in removing the BGA ASIC. You'll need a fairly powerful iron with a large/flat attachment. You'll probably find that you'll need to heat it up quite a bit due to the MB ground plane. Unless you've got the gear, I don't know how successful you'll be with mounting a new ASIC (if you can get one).

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping it wouldn't be so hard! Irritating... regarding the mounting holes, of course I would have liked to use them, but I just got lazy/sloppy. Everything else had been accounted for, even the space the screwdriver would take to pop that part of the bracket off, except of course, that when the bracket did pop off, i slipped, sent the clip flying, it knocked the NB HS over, and well of course this is why you don't make permanent bonds on these these when you can avoid it.

For the record, MSI's K8NGM2-FID is unavailable in HK. I called MSI's sales dept and they said it's out of print. Probably the best board made for mATX s939 HTPC, so if anyone wants it, might wanna grab it online before they're out of stock.

 

[_xxx_]

Wait a moment, you used GLUE there?

No bad feelings, but I'd call that "you get what you were asking for".

You sir are officially crazy!

You can remove the chip with a flat tip for the soldering iron, but no way in hell you'll be able to solder a new one onto the board without a reflow oven. And that wouldn't work either since you'd have to remove all wired components and plastic parts etc. Get a new board and STOP USING GLUE for such things.