Pads on Athlon?

[reever]

OK, this feels like a stupid question. Bought an Athlon 1600 XP from Newegg. On the processor, at each corner, are what appears to be a small 'felt' pad of some sort. They are higher than the core and so my Vantec 6035 would not butt up directly onto the core. Are those 'pads' just for shipping purposes, or to offer a balanced surface off of the core? This is my first Athlon, and I feel sheepish about this. But hey, among friends, right?

[lost-and-found]

they are there on every athlon to help balance out the heatsink and to stop any vibration noise.

[KenKun]

These pads are for the core protection .. you`d better keep them ..

Removing them will not cause harm if you take care of how you attach the HS ...

Mine are still on the CPU ...

Regards

[bigblue77]

I kept mine on. They help keep the core form being chipped by a shifting or wobbling HSF.

Jer

EDIT-> they are there to keep the HSF from shifting or wobbling on the core and creating a side load which can, and usually will chip the core.

[Theophylact]

They're soft; with the pressure from the clip, the heatsink will press them down just enough to make intimate contact with the core. They take up some of the stress and equalize the pressure on the core.

KenKun is right; if you're careful, you won't damage the core without them, if you position it the heatsink very carefully. But why take a chance? They're there for your own protection.

[Sixpac_XP]

Has anyone ever offered any modded or bigger pads or such?

would it make a difference? In modding I would think so.

[thekingofpain]

Has anyone ever offered any modded or bigger pads or such?

Yes known as a "shim", copper, alu, or composite---not neccessary nor recommended by AMD---the Vantec once clipped in will be fine...

[bigblue77]

I read someplace on the boards about somebody taking off the pads, and using epoxy drops instead. I'll have to look it up.

Jer

[reever]

Thanks everyone. On to greater glory with my AMD XP.

[amdkt7]

I did it. I removed the pads on two cpu's, a duron and a 1.2 Athlon. I put epoxy on all four corners and turned it upside down on a smooth surface. I put scotch tape down first to prevent the epoxy from glueing the cpu to the glass.

Later, the Duron got chipped anyway by a POS HSF, the epoxy did not help. I'm getting a new Athlon XP this week, I don't think I will bother. I also don't think shims are good either....

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t12851.html