Next, the stay bars for the screw fastenings have to be inserted and screwed tight. In earlier versions, the bars were just pushed in between the locking holes. Now, VapoChill systems are supplied with counterscrews for securing the stay bars. This is particularly helpful during installation, since it used to take quite an effort to get the fastening screws to catch in the threads.
There is also a foam insulating pad for the middle of the CPU socket.
Before inserting the processor, the entire pin surface of the socket should be covered with thermal grease. This ensures that all the pins are covered with grease when the CPU is inserted so that no condensation can form here, either.
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Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.
