Legit Reviews

It has arrived!!

I got off work from Fry's Electronics at 4 and was all like omg it's not here yet.. so I was about to go out and check the mail and maybe see if it was at the office and BOOM the moment I opened the door there was the UPS guy about to knock. It was lovely. It was magical.

So ya! Now to put 'er together and wait for my software to arrive..

Okay so I am somewhat confused about Thermal paste (really just don't want to screw anything up as this is my first time). On the directions for installing the CPU it shows nothing about the use of this. However, in the cautionary part it says "Thermal interface material is required for all AMD processors". Then in a guide in PC Gaming I am using it says.. "now you need to add thermal paste to the CPU (if you're using a stock intel or AMD heatsink use the thermal pad that's provided instead.) (which btw I am..). So my guess here is that I don't need to go out and buy any thermal paste, or that I am applying the paste to the heatsink and not the CPU?

So... your heatsink has a foam-like thermal pad on the bottom? If so, just peel away the protective sheet and install it onto the CPU, no thermal paste needed.

Either that or the heatsink may already have a square of thermal paste on the bottom, same as above.

Here is how a brand new Intel Core 2 Duo processors comes...



The grey stuff is the thermal compound and this heat sink is ready to be installed. AMD processors usually have a square of thermal compound on the bottom of theirs.

So is the new rig the 4200+ AM2 that is in your sig?

Doesn't thermal paste, such as Arctic Silver, provide better thermal protection than the stuff that is on the bottom of the HSF?

If you choose to use the thermal paste (Arctic Silver) then all you need to apply is a beebee size amount to the top center section of the cpu. I also used alcohol to clean the paste that had been applied to the bottom of my HSF to ensure a clean surface prior to installation.

It does provide better temperatures, but the stock stuff is good enough for stock setups. That's why it's stock.

Any OC'ing in the future? Then get AS5.

ahh got it. Well thanks for the input for everything I've asked about ^^
I've got the computer built and been able to enter the bios.
I only have one current problem..




awaiting the arrival of OS/software that I ordered free from school.

so the total price so far came out to $665

and yes, what's in my sig now is what I have.

The stock thermal paste really doesnt get you much even on stock. I would still go and spend the extra ~$5 on AS5 because it has silver compund in it that has the best thermal conductivity besides diamonds. It is totally worth it.

The stock paste is okay if you don't overclock. My stock 3800+ X2 never goes above 40 degrees.

I was watching it and it was idling between 32-35

fenriswolfr wrote:awaiting the arrival of OS/software that I ordered free from school.

so the total price so far came out to $665

and yes, what's in my sig now is what I have.

Ok, so whats the tip for getting the free software from colleges?

Step-daughter can always use free stuff to do her homework!!

Mike

ask them if they have a student software bundle. That's what I did, they said you can order it on the site here @ ______ . Just needed a username and password to access it. Then I ordered it. It was pretty easy. But that's for my school.