Upgrading your Mass-Market System, Part 1 - Putting in the New Motherboard
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Time to get out the new motherboard, which should come in an anti-static bag that you can use for the old one if you want. This will go in just as the other one came out and the screws of course will be used to attach it to the case. The most difficult part of this will probably be getting the connections to line up properly with the new I/O shield. There’s no secret to this, just mess with it till it fits and all the screw holes line up.
Now that the mother board is in get out your brand new CPU be it AMD or Intel the installation is pretty much the same. Make sure to be extremely careful with this chip as it is quite delicate and should be handled a bit like a freshly printed picture; that is by the sides or corners.
As you can see, there’s only one spot where this is going to fit in your motherboard, known as the socket. If you decided on using an Intel processor, then more than likely it’s a “socket 478 motherboard.” If you chose AMD, then you probably have a “socket A motherboard.” Not that you have to know this name, but it helps to be familiar with what you’re working with. As I said it will only fit in one spot but how it fits is another story.
First of all the pins you see above will be facing down towards the mother board. On the lower right corner of the processor above you can that there are pins missing, this doesn’t mean you have a defective processor. In fact you use this to line up the correct positioning on your socket. If you look closely you will notice the corners of your socket don’t have holes in one or more corners. Before you put it in the socket you will need to lift up the small lever seen in the picture below. Sometimes they are metal and sometimes they are plastic as shown here.
Just make sure that when you set the CPU in the socket that you notice it sort of drop down into place, this will let you know that you’ve aligned it correctly (it might need a slight nudge but it should be very slight). Once you feel or see it drop a bit, make sure it’s level and then slowly lower the lever to lock the CPU in place. You should see the CPU drop further down but stay level as you lower the lever.
Next: Applying the TIM >>
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