Moving house - do I need to remove cooler in my PC?

[spudbynight]

I'm moving house tomorrow and my PC is going to be boxed up and moved by the removals company.

It is going to be going into the box the case came in with styrofoam bits around it to hold it in place in the box.

Do I need to remove the cooler? It is an aluminium tower cooler

 

[andy_mk3]

It would be a good idea especially if it's a big cooler. GPU needs to be packed in too.

Personally I would have it in the back of my car laid on its back if that was an option.

 

[Zeebedy]

Yeah, better transporting yourself if possible.

 

[spudbynight]

Yeah, better transporting yourself if possible.

I'm moving country so not unfotunately.

 

[simc1978]

I'd have thought that if you have a decent GPU that would be more of an issue. The cooler is quite well attached whereas the GPU places quite a strain on the slot. Like others have said packing it on it's side seems sensible

 

[spudbynight]

I’m trying to get the cooler off and it won’t budge. I’m actually terrified of breaking the motherboard with the force required to get it off.

How bad an idea would it be to just leave it on?

 

[doyll]

As others have said, best to remove cooler and GPU from case. Might want to remove PSU as well because it's only mounted to back of case. So if case is bounced around it can be torn loose, then damage other components.

Is it safe to assume you have an AMD AM4 CPU? Start system, run a heavy load for a few minutes, shutdown and then try removing cooler. Gently twist clockwise/anticlockwise, maybe gently tilt / angle cooler so there is slightly less pressure on one corner than others to get it to release. Heating old TIM often looses lockup.

I've used dental floss to cut TIM loose a time or 2. Cut a long piece and get it under the cooler base. Make sure it's between IHS and cooler base, not CPU PCB and IHS, then pull ends back and forth in a sawing action to get it to cut it's way in. Really need to remove mobo from case to do this.

Video link review below shows how to get CPU off of cooler if it comes out of socket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCSatTjwdzE

 

[whitecrook]

leave cooler on, but pack inside the PC with strofoam/carboard you could probably make some snug braces from decent cardboard and a knife and some tape and other packing to support the unit snugly. That's what I'd do. unless you can remove it and want to take the opportunity to refit it all again, that's cool too.

 

[spudbynight]

The issue is I can’t release the clip on the cooler. It is AM4.

I’m going to pack inside the case

 

[andy_mk3]

I'm moving country so not unfotunately.

In which case get it packed up properly. Watch this for how it should be done.

 

[freddie64]

The issue is I can’t release the clip on the cooler. It is AM4.

I’m going to pack inside the case

What cooler is it?

I would keep trying to remove it and the GPU and also the RAM just to be sure.

 

[Quartz]

I'm moving house tomorrow and my PC is going to be boxed up and moved by the removals company.

Then remove the CPU cooler and GPU and any hard drives.

I’m trying to get the cooler off and it won’t budge

THe trick is to have the PC on beforehand so the thermal compound warms up then you remove the cooler with a twist so you don't pull out the CPU.

 

[spudbynight]

What cooler is it?

I would keep trying to remove it and the GPU and also the RAM just to be sure.

it is a silverstone cooler. I don’t have the model to hand now. I’ve packed it up now. I placed packing inside the case in case of it falling off. Hopefully it won’t. It is also now in its box with styrofoam packing to hold it in place.

Fingers crossed now. Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[Grim5]

You should absolutely put it in your car, on its side and drive slowly. Do not give it to the stupid movers.

But if you have no choice, then remove the CPU cooler and the graphics cards

 

[khull]

Like others have mentioned whatever you do, don't pull the cooler upwards without loosening the cooler first. I personally would remove for transport

 

[KompuKare]

A bit late now, but...
... I would have made sure if packing the inside with stuff so things can't actually move, that any stuff was inside anti static bags.
More so if the packing material was any kind of foam. Taking out any GPU or HDDs and packing it separately would also be a good idea. Our at a minimum don't rely on any fancy screwless case gizmos and at least screw drives and expansion cards down with actual screws.

 

[HangTime]

You should absolutely put it in your car, on its side and drive slowly. Do not give it to the stupid movers.

I was going to suggest this until I read he was moving overseas, might not have travelled by car. When moving I've always had the computer, TV and monitor in the car due to fears about damage, although since we last moved in 2008 screen sizes have gone up a lot, current TV is 4x the size of that one!

 

[TheRandomGuy7]

Do NOT ship your PC with any third party with a heavy GPU and CPU cooler inside, it's asking for trouble, just take those 2 parts out and it'll probably be fine.

Driving it yourself is another story, I move my PC frequently 1-2 hours in the car on its side in the boot. I leave my NH-D15 installed and it's fine.

 

[steveliddle]

have had a pc "delivered" by a now out of business courier company, the case damage was as if they dropped it out of a first floor window as the internal chassis had bent by 5mm and all the secured drives were bouncing around the chassis.

old underwear and the like is an alternative packing medium

 

[Terminal_Boy]

My PC survived being packed by the movers and transported by road (via ferry) from London to SW France, but it has an H60 and the GPU has a brace bracket. 24” monitor was in its original box.