Ge845 Heatsink fallen off...

A while back - more than a year certainly (I don't know when because it happened when the side of PC was in place: I only noticed later when comparing the photos of mb later with the inside of my PC when trying to figure out how to put in a new memory card) - the heatsink on my Ge845 chipset fell of.

I was wondering if this mattered, given that I have put in (and had put in previously) an Nvidia graphics card.

I have felt that the Ge845 chipset get hot (not just warm) to touch, but not uncomfortably so.

Does this matter ? (I guess not ?) Would it degrade the performance of my PC ? What does this chipset actually do ?

It's not possible to repair (I think) because one of the hoops that holds the spring clip of the h/s to the chip/mb has become de-soldered from the mb and is lost.

Motherboard pictures can be found on HP website (if you look really hard, or there is link in one the threads I started) [also known as Xenon 4]

Dumb_Question
29.September.2011

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261 (2.7 GHz Celeron) - MSI MS-6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

In short yes it does matter. Heatsinks are put on to keep things cool and heat is the biggest killer of PCs.

See here for more info, in particular section 1.3http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/845ge-845pe-chipset-datasheet.html

This chipset is required for your graphics to run. If it blows your system is fobared. You should see about getting it fixed back on or make sure you have funds set aside for a new MB for when it blows

 

Thank you for the reference. A bit too detailed for my understanding, though I realise now that that the 845GE chipset does more that control the graphics and video !

Looking at sec 6.1 I see that the maximum operating temperature (die temperature under bias) is 97 C. (the good news is that my 845GE package is nowhere that although I don't know the precise temperature of that or the actual die ?). It stesses in this section that this an absolute maximum. However, it goes on to in sec 6.2 that "...is designed for operation... between 0 C and 97 C...", in apparent contradiction to the implications in sec 6.1. I shall try to contact Intel about this point, and that I am unable to find the @operating conditions@ refferred to in sec 6.1. Neither could I locate the document 'Intel 845GE/845PE Chipset Thermal Design Guide" referred to.

Dumb_Question
01.October.2011

Compaq Presario S5160Uk DT261A (2.7 GHz Celeron) - MSI MS-6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3