fan installation help

[maje87c]

okay, this is the first time i'm making my own comp, so, newb alert.

After putting the processor in the socket and putting down the little bar, i started to attach the fan. However, I'd forgotten to remove the tape from the bottom of the heatsink. A small amount of the tape is on the center of the processor. Is this a problem?

[AllGamer]

yes Indeed!!! :eek:

Carefully Un-Hook the FAN, and remove the Tape

then put it back on

BTW, did you made sure you have Pin 1 of the CPU in the Hole 1 of the Socket?

usually noted by the cut of corner, or market corner!!!

[maje87c]

well, i never got the fan all the way on, so removal isn't much of a problem;)

anyway, so, when i remove the tape, bare copper should be what the heatsink connects to right?

[AllGamer]

after you remove the tape, it should have that heat transfer compound under it

that stuff stays

unless you are using Artic Silver

:t

[zybch]

I'm guessing that by 'tape' you mean the thermal pad which most heatsinks come with. These things are useless. The idea is to have the processor and the heatsink/fan (HSF) touching as much as possible. However it is virtually impossible to have 100% contact with no air gaps. Air is a dreadful conductor of heat so a thermal pad or thermal compound/greese is applied to fill up these air gaps and allow the heat to travel more efficiently from the CPU to the HSF.
To idiot proof their HSFs, most manufacturers stick on a thermal pad which is based on parrafin wax and which melts into all of the tiny air gaps between the processor and HSF. The problem is that the parrafin wax isn't a great conductor of heat either (better than air though).
The best thing to do is to carefully remove all traces of the thermal pad/tape from the underside of the HSF and use some Arctic Silver II or 3 instead.
As you might know, silver is probably the best conductor of heat (after gold) available. Arctic Silver is made up of around 98% micronized (ground up) silver which transfers heat really well. A tiny bit of this between the HSF and CPU will really help to keep the temperatures down. Arctic Silver II/3 consistently gets the best reviews for thermal compound and has done so for the last few years. If you can't get any of it just the regular silicon compound from radio shack will do, but try to get some A silver.