CPU | assembling cpu

Installing the CPU, and the CPU’s heat-sink and fan, are by far the most difficult steps you’ll have to complete during your build. Here, more than anywhere else, it will pay to read the instructions carefully, look at the parts, study the diagrams that came with your CPU and/or third party cooling solution, and make sure you thoroughly understand what you are going to do before you try to do it. During the process, if anything does not seem to fit or make sense, put the parts down and look things over carefully before you proceed. Some operations, especially installing the heat-sink/fan combination, can require pretty firm pressure, so don’t be afraid to push a little harder if you’re sure everything is set up correctly.

The details of the installation process differ in slight but important ways for each manufacturer’s processors, and even within a manufacturer's product line. Therefore, for these details, you should rely on the instructions that are provided with the CPU.

If you buy a third party cooling solution for your CPU make sure you get one that is compatible with the CPU you have. Most brands come with multiple mounting brackets that will suit many different chipsets, but it is best to check for compatibility just in case.

If using thermal paste, apply it only to the CPU die (the square piece of silicon in the middle of the CPU) and do so sparingly -- most modern CPUs take no more than a dab of thermal paste the size of a grain of rice. Some people do like to wipe some onto the heat-sink's surface and then wipe it smoothly off so that bits of it may get into tiny holes for better heat transfer.

One option you may consider, before installing the heat-sink, is to "lap" the heat-sink, which means to smooth out the bottom surface. To do this, you will need a very flat surface; a piece of thick window glass will work. Fasten your sandpaper on the flat surface, invert the heat-sink on the sandpaper and sand in small circles, applying minimum pressure. If you get it right, you should have a surface which feels completely smooth to the touch with a mirror finish. Some companies producing heat-sinks lap the surface themselves, so if the surface already looks like a perfect mirror, leave it alone. A lapped heat-sink is more effective as it will have better surface contact with the chip.

Tighten the cooler using only the specified holding devices - if you did everything right, they will fit. If they do not fit, check your setup - most likely something is wrong. After mounting the cooler, connect any power cables for the fan that is attached to the cooler.

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