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Should I use Shims an my Heat Sinc

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  • Should I use Shims an my Heat Sinc

    I don't know much about shims.

    Iv'e seen them at most of the online cooling shops.

    1) How do I buy the correct one?
    2) Are they important factor in lowering temps?
    3) will they fit all Heat sincs?

    My specs

    Asus A7V133
    AMD 1.33Ghz
    Generic Aluminum fin Heat sinc

    I bought th Dragon Orb 3 and noticed no improvement(just alot of noise from the 7K fan), That's why I'm back to the Generic Aluminum fin.

  • #2
    First off, let's clear up a misconception. A shim is not designed to lower your temperature. Now that we have that cleared up, let's go into what they are for.

    Shims were designed when there was a lot of new AMD users cracking the processor cores of their brand new Thunderbird processors. These cores were considerably more fragile than the Intel cores that they were accustomed to working with, so someone came up with the idea of a "spacer" to make sure that the heatsink would fit flat atop the core. If the shim was made within a very strict set of guidelines and measurement requirements, it would allow someone to install a heatsink without fear of cracking the core of this new super-chip.

    Since then, the core material is a harder substance, and most folks have learned that you just have to place the sink flat on top of the processor before attaching the clips.

    Considering that you started with an aluminum heatsink, then removed it and replaced it with a Dragon Orb, then removed that one put the aluminum one back on again, it's reasonably safe to assume that you are comfortable in doing this. A shim really won't benefit you at all since it's job is that of protection and not cooling.

    If you still want one, then just get one that is designed to be mounted onto a Socket A Thunderbird processor (non-Palamino) and you'll be set.

    Hope this is what you were looking for.
    Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill
    My Toys

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    • #3
      Oh... and for question #3, they can be used with any heatsink that has a flat bottom. Beware if you have some of the older Orb style coolers that they have a ridge built into them and the shim will create a gap between the core and the sink...resulting in the need to buy a new processor.

      But hey... if you're looking for an excuse to get a brand new shiny Athlon XP processor, then it might be an idea. ;)
      Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill
      My Toys

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