The shim is purely to stabilize the heatsink, so don't apply anything to it.
Make sure that it has the proper cut outs for your processor and doesn't
touch any of the exposed components on top of the chip.  You'll also want to
make sure that it doesn't hold your heatsink off the CPU core, due to bad
fit.  You can check how well the heat sink and processor fit together by
putting a tiny dab of heatsink goo (about the size of the head of a pin) on
the processor and then placing the heatsink in place.  No need to clip it at
this point, though you may need to gently press down against the resistance
of those little spacers on the CPU.  Lift the heatsink back off, and if
everything is matched up well, you should see that the goo has spread out
over a relatively wide area.  This will also help give you an idea of how
little of this compound is necessary.

The directions that the following link takes you to are a bit obsessive and
specifically tuned to the use of the Artic Silver product, but they can give
a good idea of how to go about things.
http://www.articsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

John

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Dias" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 12:53 PM
Subject: Athlon Shim/Heatsink


> Do I need to apply heat sink paste to both sides of the shim, just one, or
> none at all?

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