Alpha Novatech has come up with a novel way of attaching Northbridge heatsinks that use those springy wire clips, without the risk of pulling out a soldered-in tab. The Alpha Solderless Z-clip Anchor can be used to attach heat sinks to the PCB with standard wire Z-Clips.
The Solderless anchor functions identically to the existing solder anchors, but offers these benefits:
Inserted/locked through slot in the backside of board greatly improving pullout strength over solder joint
Snap in mechanical attachment does not require soldering
Three different sizes are currently available to cover standard PCB thickness ranges of ~ 1.6mm, 2.6mm, and 3.4mm.
