We’ve been buying the Opteron Quad Core Barcelona 8350′s for quite some time now…they are the foundation for our 32 CPU Core Servers. These are the AMD 2nd Generation Opteron chips and are based on Socket F (aka Socket 1207). We recently got in a bunch of Opteron 8350′s in an OEM bulk package without Heatsinks and fans.
We were about to go and purchase specific Socket F/1207 heatsinks and fans when we noticed the AMD Opteron 1st Generation Socket 940 Opteron heatsink mounting patterns looked extremely similar.
We did some precise measurements on the heatsink/backplates and lo and behold, the mounting pitches are exactly identical at “3.5″. The other consideration is the thermal envelope of the new chips versus the old socket 940 chips and that isn’t an issue. Socket F also came out with a 4.1″ mounting pitch (which is NOT compatible with Socket 940 heatsinks) but it is pretty rare…only motherboard we know of that uses the odd 4.1″ mounting pitch is the Tyan S2912G2NR.
So, YES, you can use most of the Socket 940 CPU’s with the newer Opteron Socket F/Socket 1207 as their mounting, thermal envelope and pitch are virtually identical. Just make sure you use a high quality fan, as this is usually the PC component that breaks down first.
By re-using these high quality copper heatsinks instead of throwing them out, we’ll be recycling a ton of copper!
#1 by James Duran on July 17th, 2009
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Thanks for the information, I was looking for this exact same question since I have many of the Socket 940 fans and wasn’t sure if I needed to buy new ones.
You’re a lifesaver.
#2 by Jung on July 25th, 2009
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I also have trouble finding right coolers for my cpu.
my motherboard is k9nd which uses 3.5″ mounting pitch.
I never had experience with socket 940 but from what i understand, socket 940 has this mounting clip which you just clip on to. my mobo does not have such clip but instead has 2 screws on 2 of the sides. i do see 4 holes around the socket and thought i could you that to mount the fan but the holes werent drilled.
sorry if i sound too ambiguous. just that i never ran into this problem before and its hard to find a solution on the web.
could you recommend me few fans based on my description?
thanks.
#3 by Mark Ingersoll on September 20th, 2009
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Great information. I’ve been wondering how to fit sinks to my Socket F processors and getting direct confirmation of the 940 sinks is very helpful. Thanks for posting!!!
#4 by beefeater on November 10th, 2009
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thx for this great info
that saved us a bunch of money, since the socket 940 heatsinks are available at ebay for low prices compared to those for socket F
thnx a bunch