The computer that's sick is an HP Compaq. It's their motherboard and case. The CPU setup is unusual. Instead of the heatsink fan being on the heatsink, it's off to the side. A plastic funnel attaches to the fan and funnels air over the heatsink. The normal way it's done is to attach the fan directly to the heatsink either on the side or the top. I've never had a fan that wasn't attached to the top of the heatsink. To accommodate the HP design, their motherboard is clear of obstructions between the fan and the heatsink.
I thought I had everything to put the new parts together in a new case to get the computer working again, but the HP heatsink won't work, because I can't connect the funnel to it. The memory is in the way on one side. The video card is in the way on the other. The other two sides are the walls of the case. I had to order a heatsink/fan combo that fits the motherboard. It's not expensive. There's some good news. It was supposed to get here Tuesday. Amazon is telling me now it'll be here tomorrow.
If I can get it up and running with no more problems, I'll be able to check my main email for the first time in two and a half weeks.
After all the problems already, what could possibly go wrong? Windows might freak out at the new motherboard. I had that happen a long time ago and can't remember what I did. I think I had to reinstall in the end. But that's been a while. Let's hope the new Windows is smarter.
Did I mention I had to use a metal cutter to make the small form factor video card fit the new regular size case? I didn't? Yes, that's what I had to do. I had to cut out this strip of metal. It worked. The video card fits just fine. Oh sure, I can't screw it in place, but it fits perfectly.
No comments:
Post a Comment