Hybrid eXtreme X-Clamp Fix Tutorial(Repair Kits)

Step 2: Preparing & Cleaning the Mainboard

Then proceed to the next leg.

After removing the heatsinks it should look like that.

Now take the two heatsinks and use a wrench to unscrew all the old bolts since you will replace them with the machine screws later.

Take something you can use to scrape off the paste, like a plastic card or something similar

Then you gently scrape off most of the old thermal compound(dont use metal objects like a knife it will scratch the heatsink).

You wont be able to scrape everything off with the phone/credit card.

So get some alcohol + a wipe(or you can use the alcohol wipes if you bought a tools kit) and clean the heatsink from the rest(if something really doesnt get off you can also use sand paper).

Do the same for the CPU heatsink until both look like that.

Now cut a piece out of a plastic card or use a toothpick or something similar and scrape off as much thermal compound as you can from the chip dies.(Careful with all the tiny parts on top of the chips)

After that remove the rest with alcohol and Q-tips (or alcohol wipes) until you can mirror yourself in the chip dies

Installing the shims

Now take the two foam shims that come with the kit, the bigger one that looks like a U is for the GPU, the square one for the CPU.

This is the CPU.

First you take of the protection layer of the square like shim for the CPU off it got an adhesive glue side so you can easily install it on the chip.

Thats what it should look like when done

Now proceed with the GPU, take the U-like shim and also remove the protection layer

Then install it on the chip this is what it looks when done

Then apply thermal compound of the size of a small pea

We used to advise spreading it all out, apparently air bubbles develop when you do, so just put the little blob of paste in the centre of the die so that it can spread by itself.

Here you can read up a bit on it:

http://www.overclockers.com/applying-thermal-grease/(Thanks to Randybear for the hint!)

Installing the Top Ram Pads

Now take the two thin Thermal Pads that come with the kit, first take off the protective layer on the bottom(it says 3M printed over it and is made from paper)

Then stick the RAM Pads on the 2 Top RAM Chips(the ones hidden under the GPU heatsink), finally, remove the top layer, it is a thin plastic foil(like shown in the picture above)

Installing the Bottom Ram Pads(eXtra from the Tools Kit)

First peel off the protective layer, the bottom ones are the thicker 2.5mm Thermal Pads.

Then stick the 4 on the bottom RAM, there should be 4, some newer boards dont have RAM there so if thats the case, congrats!

Then in the end take off the thin plastic layer and you are done, try to not get dirt on them until you put the mainboard back in the case.

Installing the RAM Heatsinks(eXtra from the Tools Kit)

The Tools kits also come with small RAM heatsinks for testing, you apply them like this(if you got an upgraded heatsink cut the right one in half or leave it away)

First take off the protective layer.

Then stick it on.

Repeat for the second one, it should look like this in the end, Congrats :)