Just purchased a new motherboard

saintdefender · 11 Mar 2011 at 16:54

Hi guys, I have a "Asus Rampage III Extreme X58 Socket 1366 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard " hopefully arriving tomorrow. I have bought it to replace my Gigabyte UD7A X58 Motherboard. First I will explain my reasons for doing this.

If you look back through my posts you will see the horrendous heat problems iv been having with 2 580s running SLI. I have tried more fans, I have tried angling my cards for more airflow by stretching them apart. I have even tried purchasing a new case, going from my Antec 1200 to a Coolermaster Cosmos 1000. Nothing has worked, I had 2 other options left, either go water cooling which means of course physcially taking my cards part (No thankyou) or buy a new motherboard. I opted for the latter.

I KNOW for a FACT because my friend has the EXACT same specs as me only with a motherboard with more spaced out PCI-E slots that all I need to do is just not sit my cards so close to each other, but because the UD7A is totaily useless at doing this (being an high-end motherboard, I am shocked by this, what the hell do I need 2 PCIx1 slots next to each other for) so I have bought one that I know allows more spacing : )

Now I do have a question I would like to ask of you guys, I have never installed or swapped out a processor before, is it easy? I am assumeing its just a case of cleaning it up and then slotting it into my new board and then just attach the heatsink as normal.. this is the case right? Nothing special I am missing? Whats best to clean it with? Can you name a product?

Thanks guys : ) Hopefully I have chosen a good motherboard, cost me enough : ( But for the money thats in this machine, I can't afford to keep having to mess around with it, doing my nut in.

farmer · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:02

Your old board is an X58 and your new one is P55?

I thought they were for different sockets altogether?

EDIT
They are indeed for different sockets; your current processor will not work in that new board so there will be no processor swapping at all for you!

kalvindeane · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:03

First line, says the Rampage III x58 and the Gigabyte UD7A X58? Same socket..

I've used this before, works a treat.

Just take your CPU out of the old board, clean it, pop it in the new one, and reinstall the cooler (you'll need to clean the cooler too, and reapply thermal paste to the cpu before putting the cooler back on).

saintdefender · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:05

Yeah sorry I linked wrong one : ) it is X58.

farmer · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:06

kalvindeane said:
First line, says the Rampage III x58 and the Gigabyte UD7A X58? Same socket..

OP has edited his original post now, he did originally say maximus III P55....

kalvindeane · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:07

farmer said:
OP has edited his original post now, he did originally say maximus III P55....

Had edited it before I replied, never saw it

farmer · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:09

Anyway, yes its simple enough to swap a processor over.

Clean all the thermal gunk off with a TIM cleaner if you have some or if not then some Nail varnish remover (preferably unperfumed).

Chip will just drop into the socket and just make sure its in correctly before you flip the 'lid' to the socket shut.

I presume you have new TIM to re-mount your heatsink with?

saintdefender · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:28

farmer said:
Anyway, yes its simple enough to swap a processor over.

Clean all the thermal gunk off with a TIM cleaner if you have some or if not then some Nail varnish remover (preferably unperfumed).

Chip will just drop into the socket and just make sure its in correctly before you flip the 'lid' to the socket shut.

I presume you have new TIM to re-mount your heatsink with?

Nah I don't I was gonna use the same stuff to clean my processor to also clean my heatsink. Will have to use some nail varnish remover, If the one my mrs has IS perfumed, will it make a huge difference? If so I will have to go out and buy some cleaner. What can I go out and buy in town that will do the job? Where do I get TIM from?

spleenharvester · 11 Mar 2011 at 17:31

I never used TIM cleaner until recently, decent loo roll wipe always did the trick, it helps if you have some on hand though

farmer · 11 Mar 2011 at 18:05

If its perfumed then when it evaporates then it will probably leave a trace on the chip.

What your basically looking for is pure alcohol that will evaporate without any trace being left behind.

OCUK sell 2 different types of TIM cleaner, the Akasa one and the Articlean kit. If you can wait until they turn up that is.
If you cant wait, then there is a popular electronics shop in most towns that sells the Akasa cleaner.

You will need new TIM to re-apply to the processor once the old crap is cleaned off, again if you can wait then order some from OCUK, they have a decent selection. I use AS5 but many people now rave about MX3/4.

saintdefender · 11 Mar 2011 at 18:20

farmer said:
If its perfumed then when it evaporates then it will probably leave a trace on the chip.

What your basically looking for is pure alcohol that will evaporate without any trace being left behind.

OCUK sell 2 different types of TIM cleaner, the Akasa one and the Articlean kit. If you can wait until they turn up that is.
If you cant wait, then there is a popular electronics shop in most towns that sells the Akasa cleaner.

You will need new TIM to re-apply to the processor once the old crap is cleaned off, again if you can wait then order some from OCUK, they have a decent selection. I use AS5 but many people now rave about MX3/4.

Sorry by TIM you mean thermal compound? In which yes, I have plenty of that thanks : ) I will use the same one I did last time, which is a decent one I ordred off here. Its just cleaning it I was mainly conceded about.

redfist · 11 Mar 2011 at 18:34

Also before you remove your chip, make sure you run your PC for 10 minutes. This warms up the thermal paste which makes it easier to get the heatsink off

Ray.uk · 11 Mar 2011 at 18:50

Isopropyl Alcohol from the local chemists

pastymuncher · 11 Mar 2011 at 18:54

When you take the cpu out for gods sake don't let it slip out of your fingers onto the motherboard socket. Likewise when you put it in the new board. The pins in the motherboard socket are extremely fine and are easily bent. We have had some real horror stories on here about people with bent pins.

Also, the cpu has to be placed into the socket a certain way around. If you look at the socket there are two "pegs" that locate into a slot on either side of the cpu to ensure that the cpu is correctly aligned. Just make sure that the cpu is located correctly before clamping down the retention bracket. Do not be afraid to use some pressure as Intels retention mechanism needs quite a lot of pressure.

saintdefender · 11 Mar 2011 at 19:05

Installing the processor does sound really simple, sorry if this is a seriously silly question (it is) I don't beed to put thermal paste on the CPU before slotting it in the socket do I? In otherwords, on the back where the pins are.

pastymuncher · 11 Mar 2011 at 19:06

Whatever you do don't do that!! Just paste on the cpu heatspreader, the silver plate on the top.

ohhbass · 11 Mar 2011 at 19:13

saintdefender said:
Installing the processor does sound really simple, sorry if this is a seriously silly question (it is) I don't beed to put thermal paste on the CPU before slotting it in the socket do I? In otherwords, on the back where the pins are.

No, you dont need it on the back. Just slot the cpu into the socket, making sure it is correctly alligned, then close the clamping mechanism. Then you can put the TIM onto the cpu and install the heatsink ontop of it.

saintdefender · 11 Mar 2011 at 20:22

Thanks guys, so simply inserting the processor into its slow is relatively simple? At least your making it sound simple : )

P.S Ordered some Tim Cleaner, arriving tomorrow with the motherboard

olivier renault · 11 Mar 2011 at 20:23

Yeah, just make sure you have it oriented right. Don't force it. If it's not going in easy, double check