# Removing motherboard backplate safely



## whazzah (Dec 10, 2007)

Hi all,

I am new to this forum. Hope I enjoy my stay here with u guys. i just needed some advice on how to remove my motherboard backplate safely.

A month ago, I used to have a Asus K8V-X motherboard. I built my system in 2004. Last month I got a deal on a nice cooler (Foxconn Gold Tower). I thought I'll upgrade my stock AMD 64 3400+ fan to this bigger and nicer cooler. My socket on the motherboard is the old 754.

I bought the cooler. Came home and started the installation. To install the new cooler, I needed to remove the backplate of my motherboard. So I took the motherboard out and remove the screws holding the fan bracket and tried removing the backplate. But the backplate won't come off as it was glued on. Having the excitement to have the new cooler on, I decided to use a flat screw driver to lift the backplate off the motherboard. After 10 mins or so, I managed to scratch the PCB. (I no u r laughin) Anyway motherboard is now dead. Does not work anymore. Got myself a new one Asus K8V-XE. I wanted to check if anyone has been able to remove the backplate of my new motherboard safely. Lesson learned now. Thnx in advance.:tongue:


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

back plates usually come off very easy, worse case senario use a hair dryer to heat the back plate to soften the adhesive, but I dont think you will have that problem this time around.

just dont do any prying, but you learned that already :wink: / we have all learned the same lesson the same way! ray:

many times I use a ball point pen to apply pressure at the top side of the board where the screws enter the back plate, that seems to cure the stubborn ones.

keep us posted >>>>> no metal objects


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## whazzah (Dec 10, 2007)

Thnx for the quick reply :wink:. Much appreciated. I will give the hair dryer a try. But at the moment, i'm thinkin of ditching the Foxconn Gold Tower and buying the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 pro instead. Looked at some reviews and it seemed to be very good performance wise. It's not as good looking as the other coolers but I'll rather has the performance than the looks. And not forgetting, with the new AC heatsink, the backplate does not need to be removed. What do you reckon???


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I have used mostly zalman 7000 and 7700 with the amd cpus', they didnt need removal of the back plate either; although I dont worry about removing them, once you get the hang of the stubborn ones, it wont be a concern any more.

the hair dryer trick works well on cpu's that have very dried out thermal paste too,


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## whazzah (Dec 10, 2007)

I am going to buy the AC Freezer 64 pro. I will get back to you when I have install it and everything. Cheers for the replies. Much appreciated.


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