I need to know how I can go about getting a new mount. Has anyone ever bought a heatsink before? If so, do you know if the mount comes with it? Or (worse case) will I need to buy a new motherboard? Oh, and just in case it matters, it's an AM2 motherboard.
Retention frame - that's the official name for the part you borked -
usually does not come with heatsinks - especially so with AM2. It seems that many heatsink manufacturers have thought that large copper heatsinks in excess of 500 grams can just be attached to the original and more or less weak frame, which is madness. It will break sooner or later, if you happen to bump the computer for example.
That being said, certain heatsinks
do use their own frames, or different kinds of bolt-thru kits, and for some you have to get them as accessories, like some
Thermalright products. Do note that at least some of these - probably most, if not all - are proprietary and can be used to mount only heatsinks from the company that made them. And usually only particular model even then.
And you can get just the retention frame as a spare too, if you look
hard enough. Then again, I haven't seen AM2 frame sold separately yet, but that's probably just a question of time. These should be generic, allowing mounting of any heatsink, but then again, with computers generic just means something that fits
most things, there's always at least one manufacturer that has managed to come up with a "bright" idea of some kind, breaking compatibility.
Or you could salvage a frame from a borked AM2 motherboard, if you happen to know anyone who has one of those. Probably the most effective solution, especially if you can get one for free.
So, most likely you don't need to buy a new motherboard, but at least some of the fixes I described will probably cost more than a cheap motherboard. :/
