Athlon64 X2 Boxed - can the fan be easily removed?

[Digga]

hi there.

I will assemble a new low budget rig for the son of a friend of mine in a few days, based on an Athlon X2 EE 3800. as the computer won't be used much for gaming, if at all, I thought of getting a boxed version. this would also results in the benefit of being 99.6588% sure that the CPU is genuine. the boxed version is only five bucks more.

now, the question is if the fan could be easily removed and replaced if his son's habits changes and the need arises? he's 15 now and isn't much into gaming.
so did somebody actually removed the fan from a boxed version?
does it go of rather easily or is it a major PITA? any hard to remove leftovers or good chances of scratching the DIE, etc?

cheers,
Digga

[Blue_MiSfit]

Digga,

There is absolutely no difference between the OEM / Retail (boxed) editions of the CPU, aside from the fact that the Retail version comes with a heatsink/fan combo, which is more than adequate for ANY usage at stock speed, and even some overclocking.

If you need a better HSF later, you can just buy another one and replace the stock unit. It's not attached to the CPU at all :)

Also, there is no visible die on an Athlon 64. They have a heat spreader like all new desktop CPUs, unlike the older Athlon XP.

So in short, don't worry :)

~MiSfit

[Digga]

There is absolutely no difference between the OEM / Retail (boxed) editions of the CPU, aside from the fact that the Retail version comes with a heatsink/fan combo (...)yes, and that with the boxed version you can be sure that it's genuine (without looking up numbers).

It's not attached to the CPU at all :)ah, I always imagined that it is already attached, hehe :)
I only dealt with non boxed CPUs thus far.

thanks for the answer!

[foxyshadis]

I haven't had an X2, only XPs and various P-M/Cores, but sometimes it'll come glued together with a heat pad or heatsink compound, so it could look inseparable. In that case prying them apart is all it needs. Just don't gouge the spreader or sink doing it, of course. ;)