Attempting to remove a heatsink from some manner of AMD processor.
So far I've tried some judicious mechanical leverage, submerging it in boiling hot water (and letting it sit), soaking it in acetone overnight...
I'm starting to think this isn't so much a processor and heatsink as it is a single block of aluminum cleverly machined into the shape of a processor and heatsink.
The fit is so perfect I can't get anything under the edge, including tiny fibers, not to mention a tool.
I got an HP a732n, which is kind of tragic as just about every capacitor in it is bad (but it boots). Unless the motherboard turns out to be special (unlikely as it's an HP part), it will probably pass on, but I got a 3.4 GHz Northwood out of it. The FX 5200's a question mark as it has bad caps but fewer of them. The case is nice, though... few dings.
There's also the Dimension 4500 clamshell tower - which is "iconic" like the influencers say, and relatively well-equipped, but apparently doesn't support the 3.4 Northwood I just got. Also, it weighs approximately the same as a 15 kilowatt diesel generator.
Got an i7 920 (slower than my 870) on another badcaps special with, get this, *four* sticks of DDR3 - all 1Gb sticks (ARRRGH).
And a 1Tb drive, as yet untested, from a DVR. And some small laptop and other device PSUs.
I thought the Radeon 4850 was dead, but after I put the machine away I realized I hadn't plugged in the 6pin power... so I have to test that again. Brilliant!
I have three optical drives that needed drive belts, I got a package of random drive belts - and not a single one of them fits any of the three drives! There must be a better way!
So as it turns out, I *did* get up to some retro activity this weekend after all. Still need to re-test the 4850, and, if a miracle occurs, remove that AMD unknown (I think it's an Athlon 64 or X2) from its heatsink. And test a few HDDs. And maybe clean a case or two.