Does anyone have any idea why these would have NO heatsink, though? They are brand new, and there is no residue of any heatsink ever having been installed. The seller on eBay says that his whole stock doesn't have any heat sinks. He suggested that maybe this particular revision of the board didn't require a heat sink on the GPU. I'm not too sure about that; GPUs get pretty hot, especially a 3D one, ancient as it may be.

I don't know what to think I guess. These clearly never had a heat sink, and it's impossible to remove the one that's already stuck onto the bad board. I have 2 of these. I tried to remove one (nothing to lose) and it instantly shattered. Impossible to remove in one piece without some solvent or heat gun.

I thought maybe the heat sinks shipped separately and were adhered on site to avoid weakening during shipment?

I just want to know what the heck happened here if anyone has any ideas.