Cpu + Cooler

Hi, I have a question here, I have a AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Thoroughbred CPU and a Thermaltake HSF with speed control. I want to set up this unit on a Socket A Board, my question is how do I fix the Heat sink (fan is attached already) to the CPU it is a fairly big alloy heat sink but on the bottom the part that goes over the chip there is a square approx. 3mm thick copper plate attached to it with 4 little soft pads on the outer edges of the alloy base. Is this what is called a heat spreader und means that I will not be using any thermal compound between the CPU and the heat sink
My choice of Mobo would be: (If available)
ASUS A7N8-E Deluxe
MSI K7N2G-ILSR
ABIT NF7-S V2.0
DFI Lan Party NFII Ultra B
Any advice greatly appreciated
Hawk22

 

You will still need to use thermal paste. The only time that thermal paste isn't necessary is if the heatsink has a putty like thermal pad attached to it. You would need to peel off a thin pastic film off a thermal pad before putting the heatsink on the cpu. I always do away with thermal pads and clean the heatsink completely of any residue left behind and apply thermal paste. That heatsink doesn't have a thermal pad.

 

Is this what you're referring to? If not, I'm not sure what it is you're talking about. The four foam pads are attached to the cpu. The copper shim is some sort of heat spreader but it shouldn't be required and could add a little risk if you don't have some experience with them.

They need to be oriented in the exact correct fashion or they could short the bridges on top of the cpu. There have also been some stories of them dislodging during install and interfering with hsf and cpu contact. I haven't used one in years and when I did I'm not really sure why I did.

Gary

 

Read through the instructions here:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
It will explain some of the ways to avoid trapped air, etc.

Those models of Athlons generate a lot of heat, you need to be careful to use the thermal paste correctly. After you start up, go into the BIOS settings and check the CPU temperature, if it is in the high 50s+, reapply the thermal paste until you find a good "technique ".

Matt

 

Thanks Guys, Gary no what you referring to is a Shim I think, this is a Copper plate ******* onto the Aluminum base of the Heat Sink it is not as big as the Base. Thermaltake just call it "Copper Base *******" it is to help for better cooling. Thanks Matt I printed out them instructions from Arctic Silver as that is the best paste. This is quite different to what I had just read last week where it said not to put thermal paste onto the chip to leave that small area clean. But Arctic say the you must and I think I believe them.
I have spent quite some time to polish the copper base to a mirror finish, so I will need only a very thin layer of paste.
It is a 'Thermaltake TR2-M3 SE' for Pentium and AMD up to 3400+ mine is 2600+ so that should cover it.
If anyone has any good suggestions in regards to mounting the HSF onto the CPU and Motherboard I would love to hear about as this is my first one, the last time I build a system I got someone to do it for me as I Chickened out
hawk22

 

I have used the shim twice. Both times it actully held heat in and damaged one CPU. I now toss them. The little rubber feet are supposed to help by protecting the processor from cracking if too much pressure is applied by incorrectly installing the heatsink. Just take your time when installing the heatsink. Don't force it. I use a thin screwdriver to insert in the slot of the heatsink clip to slip it on the latch. Be careful of having it slip and gouge the board.

Socket A AMD Processor Installation Guide
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/23986.pdf

Socket A AMD Processor and Heatsink Installation Guide
http://www.mightymicro.com/pdf/amdcpurma.pdf