The Installation

Lets proceed with removal of the old processor if you are doing an upgrade. If you are doing a first-time install, you can skip these first few steps. 

1. Locate the processor on your board. It is likely hidden beneath a heat sink and fan.


2. Remove the cooling device. You will need to disconnect the CPU fan from its power source. It is either connected to the motherboard itself or a power supply lead. Once that is done, you need to press in the latches on either side of the heat sink so as to loosen it from the tabs on either side of the socket. Once these latches are free from the socket, you can lift the heat sink and fan right off of the processor. If you are using a slot processor, your CPU fan is attached to the side of the chip by being fastened into little holes on the processor casing. you can loosen this and lift the fan right off.


3. Now you need to remove the processor. If the chip is in a LIF socket, use a chip puller to pry the chip out. Do this gently, prying each side little by little, taking care not to bend the little pins on the bottom of the chip. Also, be sure you are actually prying the chip, and not the entire socket. In a ZIF socket, simply raise the lever arm to the 90 degree position. The top of the socket will move over ever-so-slightly, thereby loosing the grip on the processor and allowing you to just life the processor out with your fingers. On a slot, there will be a vertical drive rail on either side of the slot with clips on top of them. Press these clips inward and you should be able to pull the chip from the slot.

Now we will go about installing a new processor. At this point, we will assume that you are either using the same motherboard from which you just pulled out the other chip, or have installed a newer motherboard using our procedure found in this article.

1. With the lever of the ZIF socket in the upright position, gently lower the processor into the slot. You will only be able to fit the processor into the socket in the correct direction. Socket processors have a beveled fourth corner which is usually labeled by a small dot on the top of the processor itself. If you look underneath at the pins, you will see one or two corners slightly beveled. Align these corners with the corresponding corners on the socket and drop it into place. Next, lower the lever arm down to a fully closed position, securing the processor into place.


2. For slot processors, you must align the chip correctly over the slot. It is keyed so the chip will only go in the right direction. Press the CPU into the slot until the clips on top of the vertical drive rails clip into place securing the CPU. If this is a brand new board, you may need to actually install the drive rails before you can do this. Some motherboards have the rails pre-installed, and all you have to do is unfold them into an upright position. On others, you will need to screw the rails into place on both ends of the slot using your crosspoint screwdriver.


3. Set up the heat transfer medium. If your heat sink has a piece of thermal tape underneath it, this is used for heat conduction from the CPU core to the heat sink and will take the place of heat sink compound. Simply remove the thermal tape, exposing the putty that is below it. If the bottom of your heat sink is simply bare metal, then we will need to use compouund. First, dab a small amount of compound onto the processor core. Very little is needed - a small spot about the size of a pea or a BB. Then, spread the compound out evenly across the surface of the processor core. Do not use your fingers to spread the compound around. The oil from your fingers will not be helpful to the situation. Instead, use something with a clean, flat surface such as the edge of a credit card or whatever else you can find. When it is done, you should have a smooth surface of compound acorss the chip, free of high spots, bubbles or any debris. Lastly, take a small dab of compound and place it on the bottom of the heat sink at the point where the CPU core will contact. Then, spread the compound around a little bit and then wipe off the excess. The point of this is to fill in any small pits in the bottom of the heat sink that are not visible to you.


4. Place the heat sink onto the processor and fasten it to the motherboard. On a socket processor (except for the Pentium IV which is a bit different), you will use the latching mechanism on the heat sink to fasten down onto the small clips on either side of the processor socket. you may need to work it in order to successfully latch onto the clips. Sometimes it is helpful to use a flat head screwdriver, stick it into the small hole on the latch itself, and use it to pry the latch back and assist you in securing it. When doing this, be careful not to slip off and jab the motherboard with your screwdriver. Also, try not to move the heat sink around while you are doing this so that the heat sink compound is not smeared off of the core.
   On slot processors, you will need to align the four support pins on the fan with the four holes on the processor casing. Push the assembly up into the processor casing and secure it into place.
   On the Pentium IV, there will be a plastic retention mechanism on the motherboard onto which you fasten the cooling assembly. In most cases, the motherboard will have the retention mechanism pre-installed, but in other cases you will need to secure it to the board with your screwdriver. The specific procedure for doing so will be covered in your motherboard’s manual. To install the assembly, place the heat sink on top of the processor, ensuring it lines up with the retention mechanism. Snap down and clip onto the retention mechanism with the clips on the cooling assembly, fastening it into place. The actual procedure for this varies depending on the fan being used. With some fans, you need to install the clips onto the assembly before mounting it onto the processor. Some others have their own retention mechanism that goes up and over the fan and screws into the motherboard unit. So, the overriding instructions here are the ones that come with your CPU fan.


5. Connect the CPU fan to its power source.


6. If your motherboard requires you to set jumpers to determine processor speed, now is the time to do this. You need to yank out the motherboard manuals or refer to the printed jumper settings on the motherboard PCB. You need to adjust the multiplier and bus speed settings for the new CPU you just installed. If you are using a board with software adjustment capabilities, such as Abit’s SoftMenu, then you will proceed to the next step, making a point to go into the configuration utility and make necessary adjustments to these settings. In most cases on today’s hardware, the board will automatically set the processor speed without you doing anything.


7. Turn the computer on. Pay attention to the Boot screen as it boots to make sure it lists the new CPU. If all is well, it will. If it lists the right CPU, but at a speed you know is not right, then double-check the jumper settings in Step 7. They are probably wrong. In the case of a motherboard that does not require jumper settings for this, ensure that the board’s BIOS has support for the chip you are trying to use. If it does not, you may be able to do a BIOS flash to handle the problem.


8. If you got this far, you are pretty much done. Install any extra parts that came with your upgrade kit, or re-install any parts you may have had to remove to make the chip accessible