Help to install new processor

Hi, I recently purchased a brand new processor for christmas and have decided to try and install it myself. The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 which I am going to put in an ASUS P5N-MX MOBO Socket 775. On the heatsink there are 3 silvery/grey strips,is this thermal paste…or will I need to apply any paste myself before installing? My current BIOS is 0907 which is the latest for my MOBO,will the current BIOS be ok for my new processor? Can anyone point me to a good step by step guide on removing the old processor and installing the new one and also give me some advice as this will be my first time and I really don't want to wreck my PC. Any help appreciated,thanks!

Hi,I have installed my new processor.I am slightly worried thoiugh that I may have damaged the processor or my motherboard.When installing. Everything was fine until I began pushing the heatsink pins in.When pushing in pin2 on the top left,it was already in and when I was pressing thinking it was not in,I heard a small cracking noise. I continued and after installing booted my PC.When booting it came up with a Warning! CPU has been changed would you like to keep settings.I just continued and ran PC Wizard. I found out that the processor was only running a 2mhz and so re-flashed my Bios.After re-flashing I re-booted and ran PC Wizard and it now shows the correct 3mhz The thing that has me worried is that on idle my core temps are Core 1 : 32 C and Core 2 : 39 C. and 30C and 37C Could I have damaged the second core of the processor?as it is running much hotter than core 1 for some reason. How can I check to make sure I have not done any damage to my motherboard or more importantly the processor? Any help is appreciated.

Hi and sorry to hear of the possible problem with your computer "cracking noise" when inserting a new CPU is never a good sign………….. it generally means something has broken….. the question remains though is the something that broke likely to badly affect the computer…….? It certainly is unlikely to improve it…but it may not have a bad effect…… the best way to find out is just to run with it, and use the computer normally if it continues to run Ok for a week or two then you may be OK. The temps are not unusual..many quad cores show a marked degree of temp differential, and the figs you quoted are nothing too out of the ordinary….. I have had a few machines in the workshop with a greater temp differential and these have all functioned satisfactorily…. Regards paws

Hi Paws, The PC has been running fine so far other than a 7 degree difference between the cores. When I pressed on the second pin there was more pressure applied to one side. I ran a stress test with a program called orthos prime for one hour and used core temp to monitor the temps. Both cores were at 100% load with no errors,core 0 never went above 59,core 1 never went above 61. I have read though that you really need to run for a full 24 hours for a good test. I was going to invest in a better cooler and get my local tech guy to install it for me,that way I could ask him to look at the processor aswell. If the processor was damaged do you think Intel might replace it,afterall the 2nd heatsink pin locked itself in place which it is not supposed to do. I will come back in a week or so and let you know how it is running. Thanks.

there's a temp difference between core's on all cpu's mine are around 5C, so nothing to worry about there, also it sounds to me like there's nothing physically wrong with your cpu either, you wouldn't have been able to run prime for even 1 minute if there was, without it crashing, again nothing to worry about. so forget about the noise you heard until/unless you do actually find yourself having any real problems, which i doubt, just enjoy the speed benefits of your new installed and working cpu. i wouldn't waste time/money replacing your heatsink unless you are overclocking either.

Hi Terry, It seems to be running fine with no problems. I won't be overclocking so have decided not to bother with a new heatsink like you said. I can notice a huge speed difference with it using some of my software. If I can get a year out of my current set-up I'll be more than pleased. Thanks to yourself and Paws for taking the time to help.