Topic: Cooling
Date: December 8, 2004
Product: Swiftech MCX775-V Heatsink (LGA 775)
Provided by: Swiftech
Author: Kevin Elliott

The finish on the MCX775-V is as close to perfect as I have ever seen in a heatsink, please do not judge the finish by the picture above, my camera was unable to able to cope with shine off the base of heatsink, everything in the room reflected back off of it giving the appearance that the finish is dull and drab, when it is actually completely the opposite of that.

Can anyone tell me the last company that offered a heatsink that promised you a base with a flatness of better than 0.0003"?  I didn't think you could.  One other thing while we're talking about the finish of the base of the unit, all MCX775-V heatsinks have a micro-finish of 8 or better.  This means if you even think about lapping this heatsink someone needs to slap you.

Installation

Installation of the MCX775-V is a project anyone comfortable removing a motherboard can do and with the small number of parts only a small amount of time is required before you're ready to install the heatsink.  You will of course have to remove the heatsink you currently have on your motherboard and remove as much of the thermal paste as possible that remains on your processor.

Once you have the heatsink removed it's time to remove the motherboard and get started preparing the motherboard for MCX775-V installation.  Before you can install the heatsink itself you need some means to attach it to the motherboard.

The MCX775-V mounts directly onto the motherboard using the four holes that are now vacant after you removed your heatsink.  The mounting hardware is composed of 4 - standoffs, 8 - fiber washers and 4 - lock nuts.  (Each standoff required the use of two fiber washers that serve as insulators, so make sure you install them as instructed.)  One fiber washer is placed on the standoff prior to installing it through the motherboard and the other is slid on to the standoff before attaching the lock nuts.

Use of a 1/4" socket of nut driver is advisable for tightening these standoffs and lock nuts thereby reducing the risk of damage to your motherboard.  If you look closely at the picture of the lock nut above you can see that it has a nylon insert in it which does away with the chance of the standoff coming loose due to vibration.