Installation
Since I will be using an AMD Athlon 64 CPU and motherboard for testing, I installed a standard Athlon AMD 64 retention mechanism first, which includes the steel backing plate and plastic K8 retention frame.
As noted before, the MCX64-V heatsink is designed to work with the K8 retention frame, while the larger MCX6400-V heatsink requires the retention frame to be removed prior to installation.
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Each heatsink base and the Athlon 64 IHS were cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol before applying a tiny amount of Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound. Heatsinks were mounted at least three times during the testing period to insure no errors occurred during installation.
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Both heatsinks are securely mounted using two 6-32 screws with heavy springs. The actual installation proved very straightforward. Once the cooler is carefully set into position on top of the processor, the two screws are turned in a little at a time to compress each spring equally. I held the cooler firmly in position with one hand while installing the screws with the other. Be careful to tighten the two screws equally, a little at a time. Small aluminum spacers inside each spring limit the spring compression and help insure the final spring pressure is equal.
A word of caution: the MCX6400-V weighs a hefty 750g (26.4 oz), which is well over the recommended Intel and AMD spec of 450g. Be careful transporting a PC with this heatsink installed or to be safe, remove it first.
