1st Athlon Installation

[Skirmash]

Hello everyone - I am seeking some advice.

I have installed all sorts of new components in a PC, but never installed a new processor ( an Athlon in this case ) and set up the BIOS.

I am worried about putting the CPU installation in general, eg putting compound on the kernel and then installing the HSF. I hear horror stories about people breaking their CPUs because of the pressure that needs to be applied to the HSF to get it fastened correctly.

To be honest, I have not yet fully understood how the HSF does fasten onto the CPU. I have had a look at the pictures on the How To guide here, but a little advice would go a long way to re-assuring me that I can do it.

I am also hoping that the motherboard manual will be clear about setting up the bios. Am I right in thinking that with a 133 FSB and a 900 Athlon, the multiplier should be 900/133 which is approx 6.7. Therefore I set the multiplier to 7. Doesn't this imply that the processor will be running at 931 Mhz ?

Eventually, I would like to overclock, but I need to walk before I can run.

The system I am setting up is as follows:

Abit KT7A
900 Ahtlon
256 Mb PC133 Cas 2 Ram
ATI 32Mb DDR Radeon
IBM ATA 100 46.1GB

Some expert advice would really be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

sit the HSF flat onto the CPU carefully hook the plain metal hook onto one side of the socket then use a flat blade screwdriver to the other side of the clip and carefully push it down onto it's hook on the socket all of teh time holding the HSF flat to the MB, as for OC'ing wait until you have everything stable before you even bother thinking about it and of your fan is a standard one either buy another now or forget OC'ing....
Good luck

M

UK Prices are <font color=red>toooooooooo</font color=red> high , keep competition going to bring em down

 

[Guest]

I put together my first socket A combo and had no probs putting the HSF on, without screwdriver, dont' know if that means anything or not, though it was a very tight fit and I did practice it a couple of times. You DON'T need a better HSF if you don't intend to OC. If you do, I believe it's a must, read the review here at Tom's for good HSF's.


The Abit kt7a is just great to use, one of the easiest out there and if you do a little research on what you do YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY PROBS, keyword=research.......


Looks like a solid rig you will have running, I wouldn't think twice about any purchase you made, well done.

 

[cellbiogeek]

Can't help you with your Bios set-up, I have an A7V. I can tell you that when I installed my CPU I was a brand spankin' new newbie (still am) and I still managed not to F*** it up.
When you put the thermal compound on the die you don't need very much. Once you spread it out (a razor blade works to spread it) you'll only need a paper thin layer (literally the thickness of two sheets of paper). If you're using stuff that's opaque then the layer should be thick enough that you can't see through it.
Putting the processor on the mobo is simple enough, it only fits in one orientation and the lever locks it down. The only hard part is the heat sink clamp. It has a square catch on one side and a hook on the other. Hook the catch on the square nub on one side before trying to attach the hook on the other side. Pushing that hook down to grab on to the other side takes LOTS of force but, because of the little rubber feet on the processor it won't break. Really. I used a screw driver to push the hook down since my fingers weren't strong enough but in retrospect, one little slip would have killed my mobo. Just be carefull. There's no real trick, just brute force. Its much easier if you don't put the mobo in the case till after you've put the processor and heat sink on first. Alright I'll shut up now. Hope that helped.

 

[Guest]

I set up the RAID version of the same motherboard with a T-bird 750 with no problems at all. Default BIOS and autodetect settings worked just fine. I can understand your concern with the Heatsink Mounting procedure. I was nervous too, but it went without a hitch. They key is just a little care and patience. The most important thing in mounting the Heatsink to the core is to make sure that the plate on the bottom of the heatsink if FLAT. DO NOT rock the heatsink into position because the corner can damage the die. Only apply force to the second clip when you have the heatsink positioned firmly against the core. The other thing that I did was to work the clip a bit before I mounted it. This loosens the tension just a bit and makes it easier to mount with the flathead. Other than that, you should be good to go!

 

[Guest]

Check out this video demonstration of HS removal/installation: <A HREF="http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/heatsink_install_and_removal.asf" target="_new">http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/heatsink_install_and_removal.asf</A>
It should answer any questions you've got.

 

[Sojourn]

Your heat sink should have a groove where the piece of flexible metal with the mounting clasps goes through. Just get a flat head that will fit into this space, and use the fan to brace it. This should eliminate the chances of slippage and still give you enough force to bring the second clasp down far enough to hook into place. Also, as was said, don't put a lot of paste on the CPU. Excess paste actually acts as an insulator, and can possibly squirt out the edges and close the L bridges around the core. I don't think most paste is conductive, but these bridges don't need much. Also, the ONLY part of the CPU unit that needs paste is the core, the square bump in the middle of the CPU. If you're planning on OCing it, be sure to take a pencil and close all the L1 bridges before mounting the heat sink. It will save you from having to remove it and put it back on later. Once you've got the system up, monitor your CPU temp and system stability. If everything looks good, go ahead and start OCing. For 133*7 (933MHz) you shouldn't have to change anything but your front side bus and multiplier. No voltage tweaking required. Monitor the system for a few days, if everything is still stable feel free to bump it up another notch. Keep a close eye on your temp. You don't want to go above 55C, possibly even 50C, or you'll begin to run into heat related stability issues. I had my Athlon 1.2GHz running at 1333MHz@43C for several days, but windowsupdate was giving me trouble last night so I brought it back down to 1266MHz. Now I'm having problems with the site from my work PC, so maybe it wasn't my OCing afterall. I'll give it another go tonight. Good luck with yours!

/Athlon-1.2GHz@1266MHz(133MHz*9.5)/Asus_A7V133/

 

[Guest]

so for applying the thermal paste, you only put enough to cover the little center square of the chip? Do you not want it overflowing onto the L1 bridges?

thanks

-AMD's are not for the faint of heart... Intels? those are for newbies )-

 

[Guest]

You absolutely do not want the paste anywhere but on the core ("the little center square"), and in as thin a coating as possible. The purpose of the paste is to fill in microscopic pits in the top of the processor and the bottom of the Heatsink to enhance contact and heat conduction. But the comment in the previous post is 100% correct. If applied to heavily, thermal pastes will act as an insulator and actually degrade the heatsinks performance.

 

[Guest]

Here's another video on closing the L1 bridges and spreading thermal paste:
<A HREF="http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/penciltrick_pastespreading.asf" target="_new">http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/penciltrick_pastespreading.asf</A>

I also forgot to mention these came from <A HREF="http://www.thevideogeek.com" target="_new">http://www.thevideogeek.com</A>

There's all sorts of different videos on there: reviews, tweaking, OC tips, etc. Check it out.