[mythtv-users] Upgrading CPU

[Brian Wood]

Raphael wrote:

> No it doesn't have to be soldered. You buy the cpu by itself, take off 
> your old heatsink and then remove the old cpu, drop the new cpu into the 
> socket (literally, it should take no pressure to put the cpu pins into 
> the socket), and then replace the heatsink back onto the new cpu. 
> Optionally if you bought the new cpu retail and it came with a heatsink, 
> you can use that one instead of the old one.

You should clean off the old thermal-transfer compound from the
heatsink, and replace it with a fresh, thin layer. If your CPU uses one
of those "thermal pads" it should be replaced with a new one.

Modern CPUs need good thermal transfer to the heatsink, never try and
reuse the old stuff.

If you are upgrading to a faster CPU you may well need a larger and/or
more efficient heatsink.

Some outfits will not honor a CPU warranty unless a proper heatsink was
purchased at the same time, and many retail packages come with one (as
was mentioned).

beww