A friend of mine bought a Coolermaster CPU cooling fan for his PC and he asked me about installing it. His question was, "Do I tighten to screws down all the way, or leave the last thread or two of the screw showing?" Since I have never built my own computer I didn't know how to answer him so I thought I would ask here. Thank you in advance for any advice.
Jay
Any Afternarket HeatSink Cooler must be Secured all the way
Make sure He uses Thermal paste Artic Silver should be good
When putting on new cooler and Heatsink make sure it is on the CPU properly then tighten screws don't leave anything loose tighten it till you can't get it to go further but not with force go gentle then make sure it is tight and non loose if it is loose it will cause major heat issues
This is my method:
Make sure surfaces are clean and free of grease or previous thermal paste. I use a soft cloth and a little Isopropyl Alcohol for this.
Apply a SMALL bead of thermal paste (about 2mm is plenty) to the surface of the CPU. Don't do as some say, and spread it. it wil spread itself when you place the Cooler assembly and secure it.
Load screws lightly at first, then tighten down little by little, if 4 screws then do it diagonally, across from each other. Don't tighten down too tightly, just "nip" at first, then tighten securely.
The Arctic Silver website recommends "tinting" the cpu and heatsink first by applying the thermal compound and then wiping it off with a lint free cloth. After this is complete, then proceed as Bertison stated.
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