Heatsink Installation

This content was originally featured on Amdmb.com and has been converted to PC Perspective’s website. Some color changes and flaws may appear.

As the Opteron and Athlon 64 processors are using a complete new setup and form factor, I thought I would go ahead and share with any who are unfamiliar with how the heatsink installation process works. In some ways it is similar to the P4 heatsinks, and different in others.

The heatsink we used was the Ajigo MF043 cooler. Ajigo is the company that makes the new cooler that AMD chose to use in their quieter Athlon XP processor-in a box retail packaging. The Ajigo K8 cooler is also of the same quality and is very quiet compared to other heatsinks on the K7 or K8 platforms.

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The Opteron processors attach to the motherboard via mounts and clips that are not installed on the motherboard when you receive it. The clips consist of a metal back plate that will go on the back of the motherboard with an adhesive pad to make contact with the PCB, and a black colored plastic mounting mechanism for the top of the motherboard. The two pieces are screwed together through holes on the motherboard.

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The heatsinks then sit inside the black mounts and there is a metal stabilizer bar that goes over the heatsink and has two clip openings on each end. These are placed over the appropriate clips on the mount. An arm on the Ajigo heatsink then rotates 90 degrees and locks into the mounting clip on the motherboard making the contact with the processor tight and stable.

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