So my brother’s CPU fan went on the blink and he has bought a new one to replace it, but once inside the case we became stuck at Step One: Removing The Old Fan. I’ve put computers together back in the day, but I’ve never had to tangle with one of these P4 fans. Judging by the help files available at Intel, this is not the model of fan/heat sink that they provide instructions for, and neither the new or old fan came with any directions, either. I guess they assume people who would buy a CPU fan would know what to do with it. Ha!
I’m sure it’s a ridiculously simple thing that we’re just not seeing. I hope that somebody will recognize the design and point out that ridiculously simple thing so that my brother can go on with his life. We made a short video that, hopefully, will provide enough detail:
(don’t worry about the sound, we’re trying to describe it, but that probably just adds to the confusion)
There are two “tabs” on one side that appear to be what’s holding it in place, but they don’t move much in either direction, and we’re afraid that forcing them too much the wrong way will cause unnecessary damage.
It’s hard to see in the picture, but is the setup something like this? If it is, it would appear that you have to push down on the tabs far enough to disengage the hook at the bottom and then, while pushed down, bend them up so the hook clears. It might be easier to use a small screwdriver to pry them away while pushing down. Some of these types of clips do take a good bit of force.
I can’t see anything in your blurry youtube video or make out anything you’re saying, but I know from the colours that it’s a Cooler Master fan. They attach to the heatsink with small black screws. You should be able to pass a screwdriver through the top holes down to the bottom holes where the screws are. If you’re unlucky, the screws are upside-down and you’ll need to remove the heatsink, flip it over, and then unscrew it.
I don’t know what you mean by tabs. There is a design where a plastic cages holds down the fan and heatsink, but this doesn’t look like one of those from what I can see. If you mean wire clips (kind of like this), then you just flex them to release tension and pull the fan off.
Oh, you probably mean the tabs that hold down the heatsink. Don’t touch those without a good reason.
I used “tabs” as my invented word for that feature, I hoped the video would sort of show what I meant. Sorry about the poor quality, it was made in a bit of a rush.
The clips are definitely more substantial than wire clips, the one Joey P linked to looks similar, but there are only two clips on one side, the attached metal pieces appear to just wrap around the opposite side of the heat sink. Still, it’s similar enough to try to manipulate that way, I know I didn’t try that.
Thanks for the help, the problem might be solved. I’ll try to get a better image tomorrow (I’m not there now) if that doesn’t work.
I can’t tell either, but some CPU fans have a J-shaped (usually silver) clip on the side that you need to carefully push down and out with a flat-blade screwdriver.
Not to be a wise ass but at this point, wouldn’t it be easier to go for the full monty and get both the fan and heatsink? It’s a little more involved since you’ll have to remove the old thermal paste that is used to get good thermal contact between the chip and the heatsink. Plus you’ll have to buy some thermal paste to replace it with.
I know that I’ve sometimes made things worse by trying to work inside a cramped computer case, so even if I were just going to replace the fan, I’d still remove the whole fan/hs assembly and work on it outside the case.
If you decide to go that way, let us know and someone will tell you how to go about re-installing the fan/hs. Like I said, you’ll need some thermal paste but if you have any friends who like to work on their own rigs, I guarantee one will have some to lend you.
