Author Topic: read my cpu upgrade article (Read 269 times)

eagl · « **on:** February 05, 2007, 07:14:37 AM »

Hey all,

I'm looking for some feedback on a cpu upgrade article I wrote.

http://www.chaosmanorreviews.com/open_archives/sl_20070205.php

It's the first article I've written since a little blurb on flightsim air combat about 10 years ago, so I'm looking for some feedback. The article is on a cpu upgrade for an IBM T41p laptop, so it's just a little different from the usual cpu swap story.

Anyhow, flame on. I know I'm new at it so give me your best "constructive" criticism if you have a few minutes to spare...

deSelys · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:27:05 AM »

Nice job IMO, you have good writing skills.

As constructive criticism, I would have emphasized that it is important to avoid putting AS5 anywhere other than the CPU and the heat dissipator/fan*, but it's a minor remark.

From Atric Silver website

Quote

Not Electrically Conductive:
Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.
(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)

eagl · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:33:38 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by deSelys
Nice job IMO, you have good writing skills.

As constructive criticism, I would have emphasized that it is important to avoid putting AS5 anywhere other than the CPU and the heat dissipator/fan*, but it's a minor remark.

Thanks! You're right, after I submitted it I wished I'd added a few more hyperlinks to companies and products I mentioned, including some more info on AS5 gotchas. At the very least, I should have linked to the same AS5 info you posted. The only thing I could say in my defense is that I figured I was already babbling too much so I left out some info that probably should have been in there. I'll remember your comment next time I try to decide what needs to be included.

Roscoroo · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:46:50 AM »

good write up ... You left out the Insert screwdriver here...and hit with hammer though .

eskimo2 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:54:01 AM »

Great job.

I especially like writing that gravitates towards layman’s terms whenever possible. That kind of writing can be comprehended by the widest audience.

Some of your pictures appeared to be a bit too dark to see what’s there.
Only two "tools"- the [View larger] links to the wrong picture.

eagl · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2007, 07:58:26 AM »

Thx eskimo. One of my "too late" errors, I used my crappy camera instead of my really nice camera with the nuclear powered flash. Oops. Photographing a black laptop against a light colored background without being able to manually set exposure compensation is also a guaranteed underexposure. Some post-processing would have cleaned that up nicely but using a better camera in the first place probably would have made it unnecessary.

I had every light in my room turned on and it still wasn't quite enough ambient light... Oh well.

I've emailed the site owner to fix the picture link, good catch.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2007, 08:12:04 AM »

Most of the big pictures read well enough; it’s just some of the small ones that are hard to see.

eagl · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2007, 08:44:44 AM »

I just realized I forgot to mention that I had to move the wireless lan card out of the way to help remove the heatsink. It's clear in some of the photos that I moved it, but I didn't mention it in the article. Oops.

Eagler · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2007, 09:09:33 AM »

good article
one thing I did not realize before was that arctic silver advises a break in time:
(see #3)
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_amd_dual_wcap.pdf

I read that when I upgraded my cpu this weekend

eagl · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2007, 03:35:02 AM »

I think the AS5 break-in time is only critical if you're overclocking or really stressing things. My main concern was that assembling and disassembling the laptop is so time consuming and "fraught with peril", I had to ensure I had enough paste on there to give some sort of contact. That means I put too much on. Not so much that it will destroy the thermal transfer, but far more than I'd use on a desktop cpu.

I am a little worried it'll warm up and get a little liquidy and spread onto things it shouldn't spread onto, but I don't think I put that much on.

BTW the one broken image link has been fixed.