Cooling Systems

When you install a heat sink on a processor, you must do three critical things:

1. Insert the thermocouple in the middle of the CPU between it and the heat sink.

2. Use just a tiny dab of silver oxide. (Consider how little actual space exists between the CPU and the heat sink.)

3. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling silver oxide.

There can be many fans on a computer. Case fans blow or pull air though the whole PC. Make sure there are no missing “blanks” if an expansion card is removed, because it will change the airflow in the case. Individual components often have fans (for example, CPU, video cards, HDDs, and heat pipes). For exactly the same reasons, make absolutely sure that the fans are connected to the correct motherboard pins, aligned correctly, and are securely connected.