Removing old heat sink from cpu ?

[Durkis]

Hello Everyone,

I have an old P4 from a dell machine.  I am building a new system with this old CPU. 

How can I effectively remove the old heatsink from the CPU without doing any damage?

Is this even possible to break the glue seal?

Thanks !

[Kurtiskain]

Yes, however I would like confirmation before you do this...I was always told to twist it till the paste cracks and simply lift off...Don't pull it straight up or you could damage the CPU/Board.

[litespeed14]

If the pc still functions. You might try letting it run for just a bit, but you have to be very carefull not to let it get hot. Just warm it up a bit.  I have used this method with twisting the heat sink (carefull you don't run it hot) successfully in the past.