Guide to installing a computer processor

Installing your Processor

This is a guide for inserting your processor onto the motherboard and connecting up the processor cooling fan.

Having touched the inside of the case to ground yourself, place your motherboard on the antistatic bag as described in the preparation guidelines. If you have a socketed motherboard lift the leaver on the side of the socket into the vertical position.

Socket A' socket

Exaggeration of socket footprint

You will notice that socket is square but it has a couple of corners missing like the exaggerated footprint (left). If you looked at the processor (don't get it out of it's packaging quite yet) you would see that it was a similar shape. These missing corners are to help you align the processor correctly.

OK, again carefully following your antistatic procedures let's get the processor out of the packaging. Be exceedingly careful, only holding the processor by the edges and try not to touch the pins. Try not to touch anything on the motherboard either. The pins on the processor are easy to bend, but difficult to straighten and you've paid good money for this processor. Rotate the processor until the cut off corners of the processor and the socket align and set the processor on the socket, it should drop into place. Don't force it. If it doesn't drop into place it may be that one of the pins is slightly misaligned. Again lifting the socket by the edges check underneath for a bent pin. Although there are a lot of pins, it should be quite easy to see if one is bent. If they are fine, replace the processor on the socket and apply a small amount of pressure, perhaps proportional to the weight of a coin(. These sockets are known as ZIF for Zero Insertion Force sockets, so you really shouldn't need to apply any pressure). Applying more force will bend pins.

Assuming the processor has fallen into place,look around the edges of the socket/processor interface. It may help to get down and look at eye level. You are checking to ensure that the processor is sitting flush and is not raised at any corner.

Now replace the lever down flush with the processor. This locks the legs of the processor into place.

In theory the cooling fan should now just clip onto the top of the processor. See the specific instructions that come with it as each one is different. You may need to apply thermal gel if there is no thermal pad supplied. The fan plug should then plug into some labeled CPU FAN or something equally helpful on your motherboard.