How to Install a CPU
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
2,439 words · ~12 min read
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Linus tech tips is over 10 years old now so it's easy for us to forget that many
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viewers may be encountering the world of pc building for the first time and while
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there's lots of great pc building tutorials out there there are also some
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that verge on misinformation so in this
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video we are going back to basics with
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episode 2 of how to basics
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installing a CPU
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ugh
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the hex gears impulse mechanical keyboard comes with RGB lighting and
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ip56 water resistance so in the event
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that you do spill on your keyboard you shouldn't even need to interrupt your
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game check it out at the link below so let's start then from the very beginning
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it's a good place to start what do you install the CPU into
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the CPU socket where's the socket on the motherboard where's the motherboard well
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here's where we get to step one on top of a non-metal non-conductive surface
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like the box that it came in now if you don't have the motherboard you're going
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to want to go back a few steps and pick one of those up first that's pretty
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important now there are two main types of CPU sockets that you should probably
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know about in 2019 and actually for years to come
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lga style sockets and pga style sockets
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Intel primarily uses land grid array or
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lgas meaning that the socket itself is
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made up of a grid of pins so these touch gold-plated flat contacts
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or pads on the bottom of the CPU and
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that is what allows your pc to run all of your spreadsheet simulators
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AMD on the other hand uses more commonly
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a pin grid array or pga configuration
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that means that the pins are on the CPU instead of on the socket so pga sockets
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are simply a grid of holes that the CPU drops into with no force required now
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this makes it much safer to handle the motherboard without worrying about
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damaging the pins which can be pretty much the end of your CPU installation
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endeavor but it also means that you have to be extra careful with the CPU Intel
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actually originally used pgas but they
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switched to lga around 2002
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presumably because processors are generally more expensive than
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motherboards and if you're gonna accidentally bend or break a pin you
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want your new paperweight to be as cheap as possible with that said it's not
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impossible to repair socket pins it's
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just extremely difficult and extremely
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easy to cause even further damage to other pins while you try to fix the one
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that's bent so your best bet is to send
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it to an experienced technician if you run into this no pressure
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but anyway you aren't just concerned with the type of socket but also the
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number of pins so Intel's main consumer socket lga 1151 has
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1151 pins while their 2066 socket which
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is geared more towards enthusiasts has 2066 pins
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on the AMD side am4 has 1 331 so if AMD
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was using the same naming scheme as Intel it would be pga 1331 i guess and
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then their tr4 socket which is actually an lga well that one has 4094 pins which
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is where things get pretty confusing because sometimes AMD does use lgas
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now some of these sockets have been around for a few years and may continue
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to be used by Intel and AMD so something you need to note is that
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just because a CPU physically fits into
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a particular socket does not necessarily mean it will be compatible
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and this was a lesson that riley who prepared this episode learned all too
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well in our cheapest amazon pc video now
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sockets are different from chipsets a specific configuration of hardware and
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software that allows the processor memory and the peripherals in a system
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to communicate with each other processors often launch alongside
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compatible chipsets but sometimes they'll be forwards or backwards
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compatible with the next or previous generation the thing though is this
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might require a BIOS update in order to work so you will need to consult your
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motherboard manufacturer's website in order to know 100 for sure which cpus
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work and which motherboards and if a BIOS update is required
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okay so now that we've done our homework we know our processor is compatible with
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our motherboard it's time to drop that sucker in except don't actually drop it
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because as i said the pins regardless of what they're attached to are extremely
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fragile and susceptible to damage now these following steps apply broadly
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to both of Intel sockets and to AMD's am4 socket while tr4 AMD's enthusiast
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socket for Threadripper does do things a little bit differently before you
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begin you're going to want to grab an anti-static wrist strap that's connected
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to a ground or you're going to want to keep your feet stationary and touch a
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metal part of your case or power supply with your power supply plugged into the
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wall to discharge any static buildup on your body now if you're upgrading your
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CPU on an existing system the first thing you're going to need to do is
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unplug your CPU's cooler so find where the fan cable plugs into the header on
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the motherboard and just pull it off
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for Intel systems it's pretty common to see these tool-less plastic pins
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installed around the socket simply rotate them in the direction indicated
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pop them open and pull the CPU cooler off
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on the AMD side of things you should find a little lever like this on one
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side of the processor socket pull it up and the latches on either
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side of your CPU should loosen so you can pull them off the little hooks on
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the side and remove the cooler be careful though it's not uncommon for the
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CPU to get pulled off with the heatsink
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exposing its fragile pins it's not a huge problem as long as you don't bend
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anything though if you're doing a new installation rather than upgrading
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though Intel lga sockets will have a socket cover in place
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leave this where it is as it will come off by itself when you lock in the CPU
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instead lift up the retention ARM or arms on the side of the socket this will
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allow you to lift up the socket lid next hold your processor being careful
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to only touch the edges if you touch the contacts on the bottom not only can this
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interfere with electrical contact but it can actually cause corrosion over the
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long term next look for an arrow in one
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corner of the CPU this will line up with a similar marking
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on one of the corners of the socket
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there may also by the way be notches on the sides of the CPU these should line
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up with tiny nubbins in the side of the socket if you're not a hundred percent
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sure about your arrows once you've determined the correct
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orientation lower the CPU into the socket gently there's no need to push or
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apply any force though i do recommend giving it a tiny
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wiggle just to make sure that it's seated properly
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and to let it know that you still love it no matter what
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next lower the socket lid over the CPU
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making sure that it fits back under the screw or bracket that held it in
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originally then push the retention ARM down and under the hook so it stays into
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place if you've got two arms they'll be designed so that one goes down first and
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then the other just like this
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now that process is pretty similar for most consumer boards and cpus for the
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last 10 almost 20 years
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but AMD's tr4 socket that one's a little more involved your threadripper CPU will
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actually come with the torx screwdriver
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that you need to install it first loosen the three screws holding down the socket
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lid it'll say which order to loosen them in so don't just unscrew them all
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willy-nilly once you've got them loosened those screws will stay inside
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the socket lid which will pop up on its own because it's spring-loaded so that's
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pretty fun under the lid you will find another lid
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which has a plastic tray inside lift this lid up holding it by the sides then
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slide the plastic tray upward and then put it away to the side
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next is the actual socket cover which protects the pins we're just going to
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leave that there for the moment now threadripper cpus come pre-installed
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into an orange plastic housing do not
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try to remove it it is supposed to be there holding it by the tab on one side
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slide the CPU into the rails in that
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second lid with the bottom facing the socket until it kind of clicks into
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place then you can remove the socket cover
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from the actual pins by pinching the grab points in the middle and then lower
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the second lid containing the CPU now onto the socket
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gently push and it will secure itself into place at which point you can then
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lower the first lid and start screwing the screws back into place
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now that torx screwdriver that's included is designed specifically for
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these screws so once they're threaded in a little you can tighten them in the
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order that's specified on the socket lid until the tool clicks and that's it your
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CPU is installed but it won't last very long without a CPU
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cooler now if you have a third-party cooler that's probably going to come
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with its own instructions detailing how exactly to mount it if it has no
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pre-applied thermal paste you're going to need to add your own to the top of
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the CPU before installing just remember guys that when it comes to
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thermal paste less is more you only need to fill the small imperfections between
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the CPU and the heatsink there's no
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mystical pentagram of thermal paste required to
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summon the pc gamer gods that's only going to end up with a whole bunch of
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thermal compound all over your motherboard which probably won't damage
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it but it'll be really messy to clean up gamer's nexus's modmat actually has a
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great guide for how to apply thermal compound to most modern cpus so consumer
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chips just the small ones a simple line down the middle is perfect for Intel
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enthusiast cpus four smaller dots in each corner will do your wonders and for
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Threadripper you want to make an x with four dots in between the lines to help
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fill in the gaps the thing is that the larger the actual CPU die
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under the heat spreader on top is the more thermal compound you need to make
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sure that you get full coverage because any dye area that doesn't have thermal
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compound is going to result in hot spots on your CPU which at the very least can
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limit your overclocking potential now mainline processors usually come with a
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cooler while enthusiast ones sometimes do not
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now many coolers come with pre-installed thermal paste on the bottom in which
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case there's no need for extra if you do
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have a stock cooler simply line up the four mounting pins with the four holes
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on the motherboard socket if you're reusing it by the way you will need to
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reset those pins back to their original location and then push down on the
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opposing sets of pins until they click into place
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as for AMD it's the same process in reverse from removal where we simply
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hook the side of the cooler without the latch first
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then the latch side and close the ARM
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now it can sometimes take a little bit of force but if you feel like you're
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overdoing it then you should probably check the bottom side and make sure that
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nothing's interfering after your cooler is secured you can
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connect your fan plug into the closest 4-pin header on your motherboard which
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will usually be clearly labeled CPU fan
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now that we've got our CPU installed we could just say
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ah that's great let's call it a day but we won't because we're professional
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technicians it's good practice to make sure that your CPU is actually seated
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correctly and just because the system boots doesn't mean that it is so you're
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going to want to go into your motherboard's BIOS which is normally
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accessed by pressing delete or f2 when you first power on your system to make
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sure that all of your RAM sticks show up
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it is very common especially on Threadripper cpus for some of the pins to not
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make perfect contact which can cause one or more of your memory slots not to
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function correctly if you do run into this it's okay probably nothing is
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damaged just go ahead and take it out reinstall it and try again
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and then that's really it your CPU is installed the brain of your system some
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might call it treat it well my friends
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treat it well normally these sponsor spots are pretty
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for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was
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awesome share it with a friend get subscribed hit that like button or check
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out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description
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maybe we could put a couple good CPU motherboard recommendations down there
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also linked in the description is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum which
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you should totally join if you have any more questions any deeper questions that
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is a great place to go for your diy pc
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needs