Not sure what to do

[pabzOr]

Hey everyone. I am currently (like right now) in the process of building my first home build. I have watched a few videos and am fairly confident about doing this but I am stuck in a really early stage lol. I just installed my CPU and I am not sure what to do. Do I need to install the heatsink on my CPU to see if the system will post? And if so should I go ahead and install the aftermarket heatsink?

 

[jonnycatz1990]

Did you buy an aftermarket CPU cooler? Thats what you should use if you are proficient enough to install it.. If not find a computer shop in your area to help if you feel you need help.

 

[thesnappyfingers]

the aftermarket cooler should have instructions for installation, i assume you know how to apply thermal paste. It is not very hard and there are plenty of videos and guides all over the internet. there is probably even instructions for your particular cpu/heatsink.

 

[pabzOr]

I'm a noob. It turns out the aftermarket CPU cooler I purchased will not fit onto my motherboard. The installation was quite simple but the motherboard(heatsink i think) was too tall and in the way. I went with the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 and the Zalman CNPS11x. Because of the Triangular shape of the Zalman CNPS11x it won't fit. I ended up cleaning the thermal paste off the bottom of the Zalman and cleaning the thermal paste off the factory heatsink and using the bit that I applied to the processor in the first place.

I will either have to sell or try and sell it or return it and get a square shaped one.

 

[thesnappyfingers]

It happens, At least you didn't break anything.