2
GRAB YOUR MOTHERBOARD and put it on top of its box, or
on your workbench. Don’t let the board touch the outside
of the antistatic bag it comes in—only the interior of the
bag dispels static, the exterior can have the opposite
effect. Install the CPU by lifting the metal retention arm,
carefully dropping the chip into the socket, and lowering
the arm to lock it into place. Remember to align the little
gold triangle on the corner of the chip with the triangle
on the bracket. Next up is memory; there’s a little printed
direction on the board highlighting which two DIMM slots
you should be using, in this case A2 and B2, the second
and fourth slots away from the CPU socket. Simply open
the clasps at either end and slot the RAM into place,
making sure that both clasps click shut.PROCESSOR PRIMED 3
IT’S TIME TO DEAL WITH our drives. First up is the HDD.
Remove the two screws from one side of the drive tray
(it doesn’t matter which side) and release the plastic
clasp beneath. That lets you slide one side out to widen
the tray, at which point you can insert the drive, making
sure to align the holes on the side of the drive with the
two blunt screwheads. Then reset the plastic clasp and
return the two screws you removed, screwing them in to
secure the drive, then return the tray to the cage. Next:
the M.2 SSD. Remove the heatsink from the MP600 drive
by unclipping it on each side and extracting the drive.
Unscrew the mobo’s heatsink and slot your drive into
place, then remove the cover on the sticky heat pad, and
push it down over the drive to screw it back into place.DRIVE DILEMMA
5
POP OFF THE TOP panel if you didn’t earlier, then check
the fan casings for arrows indicating airflow; the 140mm
fans should draw air in, and the 120mm fans should
expel it from the case. We started with the rear fan first,
using one of the 120mm Prismas, holding it in place, and
affixing the screws from outside the case. Be sure not
to overtighten them, as it can warp the aluminum frame
of the case. Move on to the front, fitting the two 140mm
fans so they are both clear of the PSU shroud. Lastly,
install the two 120mm fans to the case ceiling. Be sure to
feed through the cables from all the fans, installing them
so the cables are closest to the hole you’re going to feed
them through. Leave them bundled for now, though, or
they’ll get in your way during the PSU installation.FAN FOLLY 6
YOU’LL LIKELY WANT the MA610P’s manual here. You
need to use the AMD side of the backplate, fitting the
square-headed screws and locking them in place with
plastic caps. Make sure the backplate fits through the
four holes around the CPU socket, then push it through
from beneath, and screw on the standoffs. Next, attach
the AMD brackets to the base of the heatsink tower, then
remove the two fans, before screwing it down over the
CPU with a small glob of thermal paste between the chip
and the copp er pl ate. P lug the f an s b ack in and snap them
on to the heatsink, then connect their power cables to the
mobo on the CPU fan and pump headers. Check the fans
are the right way around, to feed air toward the back.
Feed the RGB cable through to the back of the case.COOLING CRISIS
maximumpc.com MAR 2020 MAXIMUMPC 31