[Cm002300]

Hey guys!
I appreciate you taking the time to read this, I've always gotten really amazing help from here when I'm at a loss.

About a month ago my computer shut down without warning. Opened it to see what was wrong and discovered the fan hanging off the CPU. Turns out the bottom hinge on the bracket snapped off. So I replace it and about a day later the same exact thing happens. The bottom piece snapped off. So I get a third one and all is well for about a month. A few minutes ago I discover my com off and pretty much knew what happened. The bottom piece snapped off yet again.

So I'm really not sure why this is happening, asked my more knowledgeable friends about it and neither knows. I'm not sure if I simply need a new fan or what. I'm going to assume a new fan and bracket but would love advice. If you need specs I can provide those!
Thank youfor your time.

On my phone so going to try to upload the picture if I can.



if you look you see it's there on top and on the bottom is the black area where it snapped off.

Edited by Cm002300, 12 July 2010 - 03:52 PM.

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First and most obvious questions is this the same manufacturer of fan you keep buying?
If you can upload a pic that would help a lot.

[rshaffer61]

First and most obvious questions is this the same manufacturer of fan you keep buying?
If you can upload a pic that would help a lot.

[Cm002300]

Hah using a phone is so painfully slow. Picture in edit. No idea what fan it is, came with comp when I got it says it's an amd fan. The brackets are actually different. The first that broke had been in the comp for maybe 3 years now? My system hasn't changed. Got a new mobo last year as well as the amd athlon 64 6000+ CPU I got. The one prior was same cpu line just a bit older. The new bracket was a backup and then the last one came with the new mobo.

[Cm002300]

picture of the fan if that helps. My hands are really tiny so it's not that huge. It is kinda heavy.

[rshaffer61]

OK two things i noticed right away.
First is there doesn't seem to be any thermal paste on the cpu where the heatsink and fan sits on top of it.
Second if you are referring to the screws that hold the bracket down it is possible that it is being over tightened.
Something else i would like to ask is yu stated you got a new mobo. Can you supply the make and model of the mobo so I can take a closer look at the cpu connection setup?

[Cm002300]

Yeah honestly for the prior 3 years I've had this I've never worried or knew about paste. Last year when I got the new parts and installed them my friend had explained I needed some and since I had no idea he said light layer of toothpaste would work it would just have to be applyed more often than paste and it would run a little hotter. So all had been well up until recently. I even opened my case and put another fan outside the comp to add extra air. I guess it had to of worked since this bracket lasted a month without incident. I'm wondering if the hotter weather is cause. Our house is old and has no cooling, 1800s farmhouse. We're going through a bad heatwave as well...

As posted on newegg
http://www.newegg.co...8-394-_-Product



Model
Brand GIGABYTE
Model GA-MA785GM-US2H
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type AM3/AM2+/AM2
CPU Type Phenom II / Phenom / Athlon II / Athlon64 /Sempron
FSB 2600MHz Hyper Transport (5200 MT/s)
Chipsets
North Bridge AMD 785G
South Bridge AMD SB710
Memory
Number of Memory Slots 4×240pin
Memory Standard DDR2 1200 (OC) / 1066 /800 / 667
Maximum Memory Supported 16GB
Channel Supported Dual Channel
Expansion Slots
PCI Express 2.0 x16 1
PCI Express x1 1
PCI Slots 2
Storage Devices
PATA 1 x ATA133 2 Dev. Max
SATA 3Gb/s 5
SATA RAID 0/1/10/JBOD
Onboard Video
Onboard Video Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4200
Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset Realtek ALC889A
Audio Channels 8 Channels
Onboard LAN
LAN Chipset Realtek 8111C
Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Rear Panel Ports
PS/2 1
Video Ports D-Sub + DVI
HDMI 1 x HDMI
USB 1.1/2.0 6 x USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 1 x IEEE 1394a
eSATA 1 x eSATA 3Gb/s
S/PDIF Out 1 x Optical
Audio Ports 6 Ports
Onboard USB
Onboard USB 6 x USB 2.0
Onboard 1394
Onboard 1394 1 x 1394a
Physical Spec
Form Factor Micro ATX
Power Pin 24 Pin
Features
Features Ultra Durable 3 Classic Technology with copper cooled quality for lower working temperature
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 3 years limited
Labor 3 years limited

[Digerati]

The thermal paste has nothing to do with these things breaking but is critical to ensure proper heat transfer. So I hope you cleaned off the CPU before taking the picture. Good catch rshaffer.

The only thing I can think of for these breaking is the motherboard is not mounted flat in the case, or the case is not "true" - that is all angles are not exactly 90°. Are you using standoffs in each mounting hole that has a corresponding hole in the motherboard? If not, then perhaps something is being warped when tightened. You must, however, make sure you don't have any extra standoffs as that can short out and damage the board.

[rshaffer61]

I have to agree with my esteemed colleague. That fan is the same one I have on my older system which has been in use for almost 10 years with no problem. Something is stressing the clipping unit to cause it to break.
Toothpaste is not a heat conducting paste. It will not allow the cooling needed for the cpu which in some cases could cause the plastic clip to become brittle and snap.
Digerati's assessment of the issue would be more sound though I believe.

[Digerati]

Toothpaste! We posted at the exact same minute so I did not see the comment about toothpaste. Frankly - using toothpaste is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Toothpaste is full of water and dries out. Use real paste. See my canned text on TIM here.

[Cm002300]

Really, really appreciate all the help both of you have given.
So I opened everything and looked it over, screws are all as they should be with none missing. I know when I first got it I was really nervous doing it myself so read a million guides, had videos and had advice. It's worked 6 months without problem and now that summer has hit things seem to not be going well. Now as for straight it "looks" as though it's fine but something I do notice (and I hope I can make sense) is that the right side of the board is secure- the side with all the ports and such. Towards the ram side if I gently push on the top it's definitely looser than the other side. It clicks slightly so it seems a screw isn't tight.

Could the issue be that the screw isn't quite tightened enough and I have bad cooling ideas? Or maybe the side where connectIons are is too tight...

[Cm002300]

Bah didn't catch the new reply! I will definitely get some when I get a new bracket then! I had found different people saying it works so did not think much of it

[Digerati]

Nothing should be loose. That is something to check.

As far as cooling, what case are using? How many fans and how are they oriented. You need front to back flow. That said, unless there are extreme temperature changes causing extreme expansion/contraction conditions during the heat and cool cycles, I don't think heat is your broken bracket problem - not when things are loose. If too tight, that would cause more stress.

[rshaffer61]

Toothpaste! We posted at the exact same minute so I did not see the comment about toothpaste. Frankly - using toothpaste is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Toothpaste is full of water and dries out. Use real paste. See my canned text on TIM here.

Bah didn't catch the new reply! I will definitely get some when I get a new bracket then! I had found different people saying it works so did not think much of it

I'm surprised when it warmed up the toothpaste didn't leak out all over the cpu and mobo. This could have been a lot worse then just a clip breaking off.

Edited by rshaffer61, 12 July 2010 - 06:19 PM.

[Cm002300]

Yeah I will have to tighten it I'm sure. It's more secure by the ports because of how everything connects there like the video card and audio card being held in. My guess anyway.

The case is same as the one in this link.
http://www.pacificge...2...D=35724&P=F
Didn't buy it from there, came from a custom build site that had made it for me and then I just taught myself how to upgrade things on my own when they wanted to charge massive amounts of money to install a PSU....
There's only the one fan over the CPU, always been like that. The video card has a massive fan but I'm sure that's unrelated.

[Digerati]

There's only the one fan over the CPU, always been like that. The video card has a massive fan but I'm sure that's unrelated.

It is the case fans that matter. They are the ones that draw cool air in and exhaust hot air out. If there is only one case fan, the one in back as seen in the picture, that may not be enough. You can't really count the PSU fan - it helps but it is there for the PSU. The specs don't specify the size of that rear fan, but if only 80mm, they don't move much air. If the case supports larger, like 120mm, that would help.

Unfortunately, everywhere I look for your case, they only show the same pictures and state the same specs. It does not specify what fans the case supports. If it supports a fan in front behind the front panel, that would help. If the case does not support any more fans, you may have to continue blasting a desk fan into the open side panel.

That said, if the ambient (room) temperature is too high, no amount of case fans will help. Fans don't really cool the air, they just move heat away.