MaximumPC 2006 04

48 MA XIMUMPC APRIL 2006

should be able to push the card in about an

eighth of an inch. Once it’s in place, tilt the

card toward the notebook until the reten-

tion arms on either side of the card lock it in

place. We now technically have a “Centrino.”

Step 8: Remove the Heat Pipe

A heat pipe and fan will cool your CPU.

Unscrew the four screws holding the heat

pipe down over the socket (image a). You

should now be able to slide the heat pipe

out of the way (image b). If you want to

completely remove the heat pipe, you have

to unplug the cooling fan, but that’s not

necessary. You can simply move the cool-

ing assembly out of the way, and rest it on

top of the keyboard. Make sure you don’t

smudge or dent the thermal pad on the

bottom of the heat pipe, though.

Step 9: Install the CPU

Intel’s Pentium M processor can be dif-

fi cult to fi nd, but online vendors such as

Newegg.com carry the proc. The Pentium

M 770 we selected (the fastest this note-

book’s chassis and cooling mechanism

are rated for) is clocked at 2.13GHz on

a 533MHz front-side bus and has 2MB

of L2 cache. Align the CPU’s gold arrow

with the arrow on the socket (image a). It

should drop right into the socket, without

requiring any force. If it doesn’t, the socket

might be in the closed position. Use a slot-

ted screwdriver to unlock the socket and

try again. Then use the slotted screwdriver

to lock the CPU in place (image b).

Step 10: Open the Port

Our bare-bones notebook came with plas-

tic tape blocking the intake port for the

CPU heat pipe. Make sure you remove the

tape, or the notebook will overheat.

Step 11: Reinstall the Heat Pipe

When you screw down the heat pipe,

make sure the screw heads are fl ush with

the heat pipe, or the heads might bump

into the back of the keyboard.

Step 12: Remount the Keyboard

Reinstall the keyboard by hooking it under

the lower palm rest. In our picture, it’s the

little metal tab just under the right cursor

key. Gently tilt the keyboard back into place

while applying fi rm but gentle pressure

along the sides to push the keyboard past

the plastic tabs on the side of the keyboard

tray that hold it in place. Make sure the rib-

bon cable along the bottom of the keyboard

is fl at and not being pinched. Also make

sure the two wires for Wi-Fi are out of the

way, so they won’t be pinched.

Step 13: The Battle for the Middle Panel

Reinstall the middle panel by snapping it

into place from right to left. It should snap

right into place. If the keyboard or middle

panel shows any bulging, something might

not be aligned properly or a wire could be

in the way. If that happens, gently remove

the middle panel and keyboard and check

that everything was properly installed.

Step 14: Install the RAM

The 915-chipset supports dual-channel

RAM, which requires you to install a pair of

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