Intro: I recently ordered some nt-h1 which is supposed to be amazing tim and I am waiting on a 3770k from a user here on ocn so I decided to take apart my cards and prep them for some hopefully better tim/temperatures. I googled for a bit and could find no info on taking it apart so decided to do it my self and make this crappy guide.
STEP 1 four screws with springs on the backside
You DO NOT need to remove this metal bar
STEP 2 remove the screw right on top of the hdmi port and the two posts that a dvi wire screws (my multi-tool kit had a hex nut remover that was the perfect size for this, you could use a pair of pliers but you will likely scratch/damage these posts)
STEP 3 Turn the card so that you are looking at the fans and look towards the area with the video outs. In between the end of the plastic fan shroud and the metal bracket for the video outs is a black screw that you kind of have to wedge the screw driver in to get at, this loosens the front face plate so it can be remove completely. (sorry no pic of this but you will find it easily)
STEP 4 Now that the video ports bracket is off remove these two screws that help hold the fan shroud on.
STEP 5 Turn the card around completely and take off the remaining two screws holding on the fan shroud and note it is connected still by a wire that you really don't need to unplug to work on the card
STEP 6
Okay so now everything holding this card together is removed, except for the fact that the card has thermal tape of some kind on some of the vrms or chips i'm not an electronics expert so not completely sure.
Basically the heatsink is no longer attached by any screws or anything and you just have to remove it from the pcb. I used a flathead screw driver and just very carefully worked the edge where the pcb attaches to the heatsink.
Don't go all rambo on this part just seperate it a little bit at a time applying very little force you don't want to damage the pcb. It might even be a good idea to put a bit of electrical tape around the screw driver tip.
BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN DOING THIS AS YOU WANT TO HAVE A FIRM HAND ON THE PCB BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET IT SEPERATED NOTHING WILL BE HOLDING THE PCB IF YOU ARE ONLY HOLDING THE HEATSINK
My second card was alot easier to get the heatsink off than the first.
END PICS
I was going to use some of the cool labs liquid ultra I ordered but I don't like how close those little square things are to the actual die of the gpu and liquid ultra being electrically conductive I figured it was probably a really bad idea to use it on this card.
STEP 1 four screws with springs on the backside
You DO NOT need to remove this metal bar
STEP 2 remove the screw right on top of the hdmi port and the two posts that a dvi wire screws (my multi-tool kit had a hex nut remover that was the perfect size for this, you could use a pair of pliers but you will likely scratch/damage these posts)
STEP 3 Turn the card so that you are looking at the fans and look towards the area with the video outs. In between the end of the plastic fan shroud and the metal bracket for the video outs is a black screw that you kind of have to wedge the screw driver in to get at, this loosens the front face plate so it can be remove completely. (sorry no pic of this but you will find it easily)
STEP 4 Now that the video ports bracket is off remove these two screws that help hold the fan shroud on.
STEP 5 Turn the card around completely and take off the remaining two screws holding on the fan shroud and note it is connected still by a wire that you really don't need to unplug to work on the card
STEP 6
Okay so now everything holding this card together is removed, except for the fact that the card has thermal tape of some kind on some of the vrms or chips i'm not an electronics expert so not completely sure.
Basically the heatsink is no longer attached by any screws or anything and you just have to remove it from the pcb. I used a flathead screw driver and just very carefully worked the edge where the pcb attaches to the heatsink.
Don't go all rambo on this part just seperate it a little bit at a time applying very little force you don't want to damage the pcb. It might even be a good idea to put a bit of electrical tape around the screw driver tip.
BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN DOING THIS AS YOU WANT TO HAVE A FIRM HAND ON THE PCB BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET IT SEPERATED NOTHING WILL BE HOLDING THE PCB IF YOU ARE ONLY HOLDING THE HEATSINK
My second card was alot easier to get the heatsink off than the first.
END PICS
I was going to use some of the cool labs liquid ultra I ordered but I don't like how close those little square things are to the actual die of the gpu and liquid ultra being electrically conductive I figured it was probably a really bad idea to use it on this card.