if its an epoxy they glued with you need something alot stronger but not sure what would be safe to use, I know nail polish remover would break down the epoxy but it might also destroy the chip. Easier solution go to ebay and buy another Pentium 133, they are a dime a dozen

you can remove the heatsink from an overdrive? 😮 are you absolutely sure about that?

I've removed a few epoxy glued heatsinks in Xboxes using a heat gun back in the days. A hair dryer just won't reach the temperatures needed to weaken the glue sufficiently.

Begin with heating the heatsink up to ~80deg C. Try twisting rather than prying it off. If it doesn't come loose, heat it up another 10 degrees to 90 deg C and try again. Keep raising the temperature in increments of 10 degrees and trying to twist it off until it comes loose. If it won't come loose before 150 deg C, I'd given up and just ebayed a new CPU, it's not like Pentiums are expensive.

Of course you don't do this with the CPU mounted in the socket. Clamp it in a vice, or perhaps use an adjustable spanner large enough to grip the CPU. Remember to protect the CPU from mechanical damage, put some copper or aluminum sheet or something between the jaws and the CPU.

I use a flathead screwdriver to remove Intel heatsinks from Pentium CPUs. The glue isnt that strong but its best to be careful with MMX/P200 CPUs as its easy to damage the components on top.

Removing the heatsink is not as easy with the Pentium Classic ceramic package as with P200 and MXX CPUs though as its harder to get something in between the heatsink and the CPU package.

considering its epoxy, use a razer blade and go in circles until you cut through it, then clean the stuff remaining with an epoxy remover, be careful to not let it sit to long of course

The epoxy Intel used on the OverDrive line of CPU's is among the toughest I have ever encountered. That goes from the 486's through the Pentium line. Normally I would suggest a heat gun or solder reflow gun, but that type of thermal epoxy is so tough it doesn't help that much. If you live in an area that you can still get some freon then I suggest that. Yeah, the cold temps help make the epoxy brittle, but the freon will also breakdown many types of epoxy (like a low grade acid), and won't hurt the chip. However, getting freon nowadays is both hard and expensive so that's probably not an option. If you do manage it, make sure you do the work outside to avoid the toxic fumes that will build up in a normally ventilated room.

I really can't think of to many options when it comes to the OverDrive chips as they are a real pain in the butt with that super epoxy Intel used. One or two of OD chips had a heatsink that was built into the chip package and couldn't be removed, but yours is not one of those. It can be removed, but it's going to take time, effort, and patience. Careful use of a thin bread knife can provide uniform pressure when trying to separate the heatsink from the package. Thin razors are a danger and a pain with normal epoxy, but almost useless with the Intel stuff. I would just recommend many trips to the freezer and carefully prying with the bread knife. As soon as the chips starts to feel warmer in your hands, stick it back in the freezer for an hour and try again. Might take a few days of doing it that way, but it will work.

You'll have to man handle it a bit, but pay attention and you shouldn't do any damage. When the heatsink finally pops off, then hopefully most of the epoxy will be on the heatsink and not the chip package. If you still have a large amount on the package, you will have to carefully remove it with a fresh razor while not scratching the surface of the package. Again, patience is key. Good luck.

The freezer method sounds good.

Wedging things in between seems almost impossible, razors fit but they are not strong enough to put any major prying force. Anything stronger just doesnt have any space to fit it.

I agree this stuff they used to glue it, is unbelievably tough for such a thin layer, must be like that stuff they use to glue chassis pieces on cars 🤣.

I always put my vga cards on the freezer to remove glued heatsinks. It works perfectly.

In my case, I had a P133 with... heat-conductive, double-sided duct tape? How do you call those? The stuff was sticky on both sides. But it wasn't glue.

It took a lot of force to get off.

Okay its off, I let it get cold like Kodai said, then put in on top of some sofa foam (so i can exert force to pry with bending pins badly) and pried with the biggest flat i could get, a tiny corner gave way then i shoved a smaller chrome vanadium flat screwdriver in that gap. Even after that i had to pry so hard the chrome chipped off the screwdriver but it came off.

Its a wierd glue, dark pink in color almost the same color as the CPU, feels rubbery but its actually fairly hard, if you try and scrape it off with a razer under its top surface it sparkles. I have no idea what this is, never seen a glue like this before but im hugely impressed with its strength. This is some old school industrial sh!t.

Take some pics if you have yet to clean it off. I'm curious about this odd TIM. 99% of the time, the pink stuff is a pre-made strip of of TIM that seems to be tough but its only due surface tension. What you are describing doesn't sound like epoxy, but it doesn't match the standard pink stuff either. I hope the core didn't crack from all that pressure or any SMD's that many of the OverDrives tended to have on top get knocked off.

Kodai wrote:

Take some pics if you have yet to clean it off. I'm curious about this odd TIM. 99% of the time, the pink stuff is a pre-made strip of of TIM that seems to be tough but its only due surface tension. What you are describing doesn't sound like epoxy, but it doesn't match the standard pink stuff either. I hope the core didn't crack from all that pressure or any SMD's that many of the OverDrives tended to have on top get knocked off.

Argh, i should have taken a picture, ive already cleaned it off 😒. I was so happy when it came off i just started cleaning it immediately.

This chip wasnt an overdrive, it had an overdrive style cooler but its a normal P1 133 so nothing on the surface to damage, BP80502133 SU073. But the cooler was definately stock, and I pretty certain this is the factory glue.

Though its different from other 133s ive seen, it doesnt have the stylised Intel font on it like the other ones, just the serial numbers and icomp rating. My guess is it was never meant to have the cooler removed so they didnt bother printing the intel lettering on it. Probably an OEM chip of some kind.

SuperHanSolo wrote:

Argh, i should have taken a picture, ive already cleaned it off :/. I was so happy when it came off i just started cleaning it i […]
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Kodai wrote:

Take some pics if you have yet to clean it off. I'm curious about this odd TIM. 99% of the time, the pink stuff is a pre-made strip of of TIM that seems to be tough but its only due surface tension. What you are describing doesn't sound like epoxy, but it doesn't match the standard pink stuff either. I hope the core didn't crack from all that pressure or any SMD's that many of the OverDrives tended to have on top get knocked off.

Argh, i should have taken a picture, ive already cleaned it off 😒. I was so happy when it came off i just started cleaning it immediately.

This chip wasnt an overdrive, it had an overdrive style cooler but its a normal P1 133 so nothing on the surface to damage, BP80502133 SU073. But the cooler was definately stock, and I pretty certain this is the factory glue.

Though its different from other 133s ive seen, it doesnt have the stylised Intel font on it like the other ones, just the serial numbers and icomp rating. My guess is it was never meant to have the cooler removed so they didnt bother printing the intel lettering on it. Probably an OEM chip of some kind.

No OEM chips didn't come with coolers attached, only retail chips did. The OEMS where responsible for cooling the cpu down themselves.

Those are a real PITA. Mine came on a normal 233MHz MMX, all marks on it. Lighting and a crappy pic from mobile don't really help, but part of the CPU mirrored on the glue is still visible.
Not pink at all although the rest of the description (rubbery but stiff etc) fits well. I went through the same adventures to remove it of course... SuperHanSolo, how did you clean it off the heatsink? Razor?

So this is what it looks like:

Heatsink was very similar and yeah its the same kind of glue stuff you describe but the color was dark pink. It sparkled a bit as well in the light, maybe some kind of metal or ceramics in it to improve the thermal conductivity.

To clean it i had to scrap it off with a very sharp fillet knife, razers were flexing too much trying to scrape the glue off so i was worried they might snap. Tried softening it with 70% ethanol and then 100% acetone and neither had any effect.

why not just get a black sander and go to work on the sink, you know these pentium 1's they need that mirror finish as well 🤣

I have a p1 200 MMX I am trying to get the heat sink off as well. I will have to try the freezing method....