Help quick: installing Xeon passive heatsink

[mleonard]

I'm installing two new LGA 775 Intel Xeon chips with passive heatsinks into a Supermicro X7DAE motherboard. I got the CPU's installed a-okay but I'm putting these large copper sinks on top and there are 4 screws (with springy resistance) and the hole & metal bracket on backside of MB are both too large for the screw to tap into. I checked the MB box and CPU boxes and didn't see any thing extra. What's goin' on? I'd like to get it together tonite.

 

[mleonard]

Swell... now I fck'd the thermal grease. Damn %^($!@!@?#?#$%#&)(^%^*$.

 

[mleonard]

So I found the needed piece... a plate with 8 bolt heads that came with the Lian-Li 1200 case. I've been trying to figure out what it was for since I got the case, since it was the only piece not on the installation guide. They've just gone down a notch in my book.

Further, the installation instructions that came with the Xeon CPU's look like Ikea directions. I don't think installing a CPU properly has the same level of dumbness as slapping together modular furniture. Their "diagrams" made no mention of anything being mounted on the backside of the CEK Spring. I checked the Intel support pages for installation, which mentioned the CEK Spring, but little more.

Now I've ruined the thermal grease on one of the processors (got the second one right), so I'm going to need to clean and reapply new stuff, right? From what I've read, there is an exact ammount of grease that needs to be applied, know much? I've got half a tube of this "Vantec Thermal Paste" in a tiny syringe (cam with an older system a few years ago), can I use this?

 

[myocardia]

Yes, you can use that Vantec paste. Here is instructions on applying it: Arctic Silver instruction page.

 

[MichaelD]

You want a thin layer of paste over the entire heatspreader (top of the CPU). "Thin" meaning less than the thickness of a dime.

Anytime you remove the heatsink, you need to reapply the TIM. (Thermal Interface Material)

The plate with the 8 bolt holes is indeed the piece you need. Make sure to secure it to the case properly and securely.