Removing heatsinks safely

[synthecypher]

I currently have a NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti which I has a ARTIC Accelero Xtreme III aftermarket cooler installed on it.

 

The cooler had me attach various small aluminum heat sinks to the board's chips with Thermal Glue TG-003.

 

I now want to remove this cooler and put back its original stock cooler.

However, I'm struggling to remove the aluminum heat sinks on the chips. My attempts to gently twist or prying them off the chips has not worked and I fear applying more force may rip the chips off the PCB.

Any suggestions on how to remove these heat sinks safely?

I was thinking some kind of flossing tool with a thin metal thread? Not sure if such a thing exists.

 

[TetraSky]

Any reason why you want to remove them? if it is to resell the card, you might as well sell it with the artic cooler. Because trying to remove those without breaking it could be a PITA. But basically, you need to heat it up, with a hair drier (careful with static) and gently pry them off by slowly but surely twisting them.

[synthecypher]

3 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Any reason why you want to remove them? if it is to resell the card, you might as well sell it with the artic cooler. Because trying to remove those without breaking it could be a PITA. But basically, you need to heat it up, with a hair drier (careful with static) and gently pry them off by slowly but surely twisting them.

I'll give it ago but I wouldn't expect thermal glue to get looser with heat as its expected to hold up in hot conditions. I read online some pastes harden when heated.

[Mick Naughty]

My luck was to squeeze them with vice grips just slightly. Good thing about that side of the card, it’s saturated with the grease from the pads. Had mine adhered on both sides and managed to get them off cleanly. Got the Artic ones off just as easy. 

[synthecypher]

2 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

My luck was to squeeze them with vice grips just slightly. Good thing about that side of the card, it’s saturated with the grease from the pads. Had mine adhered on both sides and managed to get them off cleanly. Got the Artic ones off just as easy. 

Could you explain a little more what your technique with the vice grips was and provide a picture of the kind you used?

I'm guessing you dripped the heat sink with them and gently twisted it but with more leverage and torque had better results?

[Mick Naughty]

2 hours ago, synthecypher said:

Could you explain a little more what your technique with the vice grips was and provide a picture of the kind you used?

I'm guessing you dripped the heat sink with them and gently twisted it but with more leverage and torque had better results?

Regular grips.

 

I place them over the heat sink, as in if the card is flat on the table I bring the grips straight down and grab the base with them, closest to the chips. Only slight pressure to deform the metal. They just popped off, no twisting obviously.