Upgrade an Intel CPU

Let's begin by taking a step-by-step walk through the process of upgrading an Intel CPU. You should be aware of two general points before we start. First, Intel CPUs have no pins; instead, the pins are in the socket. It's very easy to accidentally bend a pin in the CPU socket when you're installing or re­­moving an Intel processor, so you need to handle the CPU very carefully. Second, we'll be using the Intel reference cooler that ships in­­side Intel CPU retail packages. The sizes of the relevant parts may vary for different socket formats, but the in­­stallation and removal procedures are the same for each.

1. Rotate all four mounting pushpin caps to the left.

Soket LGA775

2. Gently pull one of the pushpins straight up until you feel it release. Use minimal force to accomplish this. Repeat the operation for all four pushpin latches.

3. The CPU is often stuck to the heat sink with thermal compound, which helps transmit accumulated heat from the CPU heat spreader surface to the heat sink. Gently rotate the processor back and forth (you're rocking it around the vertical axis). As you do this, the CPU will gradually loosen. Eventually the heat sink will come free, and you can lift it up.

4. You'll see a latching lever on the side of the CPU. Push down on the lever, pull it slightly to the outside, and release it upward.

Lever On The Side of The CPU

5. The socket cover will now lift up. Note that the socket cover for LGA775 swings in a different direction than it does for other Intel CPU sockets.

Soket LGA775

6. Once the latch cover is open, gently grasp the CPU by the edges. Lift it straight up. Do not slide it to one side. You may have to angle it a bit to get it out from under the latch cover, but try not to do this until the CPU is clear of all the pins in the socket.

7. Place the CPU in an anti­static container for storage.

8. Handling the new CPU only by the edges, align the notches on the two op­­posing edges of the CPU with the tabs on the socket. Gently lower the processor straight down into the socket. Do not press it.