My mpga478b motherboard just died on me. I was going to buy a regular p4 socket 478 motherboard, however, I do not know if the socket 478b processor I have will fit on regular 478 motherboards. Could you explain how to install a socket 478b cpu on a socket 478 motherboard? The CPU has a heatsink attached to it and I do not think it is going to be secure when attached to a regular p4 478 mB.
Thanks

"The CPU has a heatsink attached to it"...let me guess: You lifted the heatsink and the CPU is stuck on it..The heatsink is not attached, is stuck. To separate them, heat up the heatsink and then twist the CPU very carefully -watch out for the pins- to remove it. As for the socket it's the same, but maybe the CPU base enclosure (the part that the Heatsink attaches itself to the mainboard) is different (you can replace that part easily though...

The motherboard that died has the cpu enclosure that will support the large heatsink. Can I take off the enclosure and then put it on a regulare socket 478 motherboard?

The cpu enclosure is plugged into the board. If I attatch it to the new motherboard, will the motherboard be damaged? Or should I just buy a new heatsink and cooling fan that will fit on the regular motherboard?

Also, how to I heat up the heatsink to take off the cpu?

Thank you for your help

Hello Cool88,

I would highly recommend you buy a new heatsink that would fit your new motherboard. You don't want to risk burning out your CPU from a fan that has come loose from being "rigged" on.

The CPU and fan is being held together with thermal greece. I gets a little sticky but with a little care, you can manually separate the CPU from the fan as long as (like georgeks said) you are careful of the pins underneath. I tend to use a small flat head screwdriver!