OK, So I'm noticing heat issues with my 4400+ recently. It started idling at 37*C when it usually averages 31-32.
I turn it off and give the cooler a wiggle. It pops off like it wasn't clipped in properly. There is no damage or shearing on my motherboard's heatsink mount and the heatsink's bracket isn't bent or damaged.
I'm using the Arctic Freezer 64 Pro. I've had this one running problem-free for almost a year. I'm guessing I just got lucky that it didn't pop off during operation.
Any tips on seating the heatsink properly without smearing around thermal paste? I found that I have to hook in one side of it and carefully use a screwdriver to pop the other side on. Then I just close the lever. This gave me solid cooling for about a year. But I would like any other's method.
That's the accepted method, don't know if there is any other way, and I've never heard of any problems with it.
Ironically once when I moved my PC down to a LAN party, it would instantly power off as soon as I turned it on, and I found the heatsink was loose, a Freezer 7 Pro. That uses a completely different mounting method to the 64 though (and it's way inferior). All I can say is make doubly sure it won't come off again, that or buy a backplate-mounted cooler.
But yeah, I was thinking about a back plate cooler.
I don't want to dump my Freezer 64 Pro though. It's never had a problem cooling or staying on until that one time.
I don't believe that the Freezer 7 Pro is inferior. It cools almost the exact same and can handle some monster overclocks before you need an upgrade. My temps are above normal but not exactly toasty either.
And I think the mounting design is much better. It takes me upwards of 1 hour to get my Freezer 64 on but it takes me all of 10 minutes to put on my 7 Pro and it's never had a problem staying on even taking it to LANs.
While I'm on about hardware retention brackets and whatnot... Why do people hate screwless video card slots on cases? I've never had a problem with mine. It holds that big old 8800GTX absolutely fine.
Mine doesn't shut with my card installed, the PCB rises too high, so it's not currently attached at all. The screws aren't easy to do up either.
As for the Freezer 7, no, the 7 is the better cooler, but the mounting system, though quicker, is pretty flimsy.
