Swapping out Athlons

[Heinrich]

Computer 1:
Abit NF7-S 2.0, Athlon 1900XP retail, Kingston 3500 HyperX from Best Buy (30 days up soon)

Computer 2:
Abit Nf7-S 2.0, AThlon 2500XP Barton (in the mail), 512MB PC2100. Case is BACKORDERED

So I need to essentially swap out the 1900XP with the 2500XP when it shows up. The 1900 is mounted with an SLK7 I think, whatever was the hot cooler last year for its 15 minutes of fame. I remember I did use those four special holes in the motherboard. Can I easily swap in the Retail 2500 and leave the 4 screws sitting there ? I can't remember exactly how all that mounted in my brain...

 

[Swanny]

I'm not sure I understand your question. As for heatsink mounting, you yourself would know best how easy it'll be.

As for swapping out CPUs, you should have no problems replacing a 1900+ with a 2500+. Just make sure you go into the BIOS and tell it to use the 333Mhz FSB.

 

[Heinrich]

Sorry if that wasn't clear. I'm waiting for the shuttle on Star Wars Galaxies and selling some bone armor and typing a message all at once. Guess it didn't work so well.

I have a PC now and I was going to build a second one. But the case is backordered. Because I'm suspicious of whether the RAM I just bought from Best Buy is going to work well or not, I am against a deadline to try it soon. Instead of waiting for the case, then, I'm going to have to swap out athlons. I don't want to go through the hassle of removing the motherboard and everything else from the case in computer 1. I'd like to unplug the 1900 and plug the 2500 in. the 1900 is mounted with one of those huge copper heatsinks with the 4 holes. The retail Barton has the retail heatsinc and fan. Will it be an easy swap or will I have to remove the motherboard?

 

[dew042]

the retail hsf won't extend over the edges of the socket - so no probelms with the other mounting hw.... be sure to reset the cmos when you swap.


dew.

 

[Swanny]

You probably should be able to leave the mounting hardware on the motherboard. As far as mounting/unmounting a heatsink, I find that it's much easier to do if you pull the motherboard out. It really depends on your case layout though. If you've got a lot of room around the socket then you might be able to get it done in the case.

From my own experience; cables, other installed hardware, and case parts usually get in the way. You could spend 30 minutes to take out the components and put the heatsink on outside the case or you could spend 30 minutes jockeying for the right angle and position with everything in the case. Bottom line: I always take everything out of the case to remount a heatsink or CPU.