Removing heatsink and fan assembly from a reference 8800 GTX board

Removing heatsink and fan assembly from a reference 8800 GTX board.

Put simply, how is this done? I have removed all the screws from the rear of the PCB and the two screws that attach the assembly to the PCI bracket. It does not feel like it wants to budge and I don't want to do any irreversible damage...

Thanks.

Carefully "swivel" the heatsink from left to right to lossen the air-tight bond between the GPU and the copper cooling plate. DO NOT MOVE the heatsinks more thne a FEW Milimeters from left to right because you might just bend or break of capacitors or other SMDs. Holding the heatsink from above just "pivot" the heatsink on the GPU a few mm until it begins to loosen.

This may take time but better to be pateint then to ruin your card. The memory has thermal tape but you certainly do not want to lift directly up (although that would seem logical) because that might pull the memory chips right off the board.

Some people place the card in their PC run it for about 10-minutes and then remove it and immediately begin swiveling the heatsink from lef to right as the thermal paste is heated and easier to work with.

After your feel the heatsink begin to swivel more easily on the card, you can gently begin to lift the back of the card, or rather the end opposite the DVI connectors and closest to the external 12V connectors. Gnetly lift this end of the card upwards while still swiveling only rotate the heatsink even less and lift a little more. This will allow air to get under that heatsink paste and break the air-tight bond. Just remember side to side a little bit and pateince.