Just looking before I leap...new PC final thoughts.

I just looked at the several Big Shuriken videos on you tube. Ignore how they apply thermal paste. Instead go to arcticsilver.com and follow their instructions.

One of the vids made a good point. Since you have heat spreader ram, you should install the heatsink before the ram because the heatspreaders will make it even more difficult to get your fingers under the cooler overhand well enough to apply pressure down on the push pins. Install the ram after the heatsink is secure.

Thanks. I downloaded the pdf from Arctic Silver & it looks straight forward but leaves me with a dumb question. I believe the illustration QP3 is to show why it isn't necessary to cover from corner to corner but looks to be on the underside of the CPU as well as on the top. Just the top, right?

GARoss said:

Thanks. I downloaded the pdf from Arctic Silver & it looks straight forward but leaves me with a dumb question. I believe the illustration QP3 is to show why it isn't necessary to cover from corner to corner but looks to be on the underside of the CPU as well as on the top. Just the top, right?

Yes, just the top.

The left and right pic are the same view. The middle pic is just to demonstrate where the goop lies with respect to the underlying cores. The goop is actually applied to a backing plate, which is shown in the first and third pic. The second pic is as if the backplate were removed to give you a point of reference. After the heatsink is mounted, the pressure forces it outwards as shown in the third pic. So the first and third pics are the ones you need to understand.

You only need the one thin line down the middle, about like uncooked spaghetti.

The RAM mounting thing is a tough call and you probably should judge it yourself after you eyeball things.

If you mount RAM before the heatsink, the RAM interferes with your ability to exert downforce on the pins. If you mount RAM afterward, you may find it difficult to wedge it into the innermost slot due to heatsink overhang. You may have to make a judgment at the time.

This video isn't bad, either. YouTube - Scythe Big Shuriken unboxing & installation

Looks like the hard part is getting fat fingers, like mine, under the overhanging fan to apply enough pressure to fasten securely.

GARoss said:

This video isn't bad, either. YouTube - Scythe Big Shuriken unboxing & installation

Looks like the hard part is getting fat fingers, like mine, under the overhanging fan to apply enough pressure to fasten securely.

Exactly right. But you may be better with fat strong fingers than slender weak fingers.

The problem with that vid is that at 4'20" it magically edits out the important part--applying pressure to the pushpins, swearing, etc. He doesn't show it and probably for good reason.

You should for sure attack the toughest pin first. That will likely be the one at 11 oclock that is partially obstructed by the 2 black heatsinks that form an L-shape. Then do the one diagonally from it. Then the other pair, hard one first.

I was planning on installing the RAM in the white slots only, see photo.

The Solo case has a front iEEE 1394 port but it looks like this can only be connected if I have a separate iEEE 1394 card. MB instructions warn against this. This isn't a biggie as I haven't used iEEE for years.

Yeah, white slots. The only question is the degree of overhang and the height of your particular heat spreaders.

Do you have that CPU mount mechanism figured out? The processor is keyed and will fit in only 1 way. Then you latch it down.

ignatzatsonic said:

GARoss said:

This video isn't bad, either. YouTube - Scythe Big Shuriken unboxing & installation

Looks like the hard part is getting fat fingers, like mine, under the overhanging fan to apply enough pressure to fasten securely.

Exactly right. But you may be better with fat strong fingers than slender weak fingers.

The problem with that vid is that at 4'20" it magically edits out the important part--applying pressure to the pushpins, swearing, etc. He doesn't show it and probably for good reason.

ignatzatsonic said:

You should for sure attack the toughest pin first. That will likely be the one at 11 oclock that is partially obstructed by the 2 black heatsinks that form an L-shape. Then do the one diagonally from it. Then the other pair, hard one first.

He left out the best part; not the swearing but the actual install! He did indicate 2 different speeds. Are these preset or auto as the CPU gets hotter?

The diagonal method would seem the best. Can't go wrong with diagonal.

ignatzatsonic said:

Yeah, white slots. The only question is the degree of overhang and the height of your particular heat spreaders.

Do you have that CPU mount mechanism figured out? The processor is keyed and will fit in only 1 way. Then you latch it down.

I don't think I have a problem there. What might be a problem, as a 1st timer, is knowing how much down pressure to apply before flipping the latch to fasten. My impression is it's best to aline 1st, then allow the latch to seat the CPU.