 We're
not quite ready to install the drive bays yet, though. Before we do that,
we need to install the CPU and memory. (The PCI Express graphics card is
best installed after the drive bays are in place.) Prior to
installing the CPU, you need to remove the fan duct and heat sink. The fan
duct latches onto a pair of small hooks in the motherboard. You can just
unlatch them and lift it out.
The CPU cooler is a sideways-mounted
version of Shuttle's ICE heat pipe. It's fastened to the motherboard via
four thumbscrews. Unless your fingers are much smaller than mine, you'll
have to resort to a screwdriver to remove them.
Note that a pair of fans handles the CPU
cooling. Both fans pull air away from the processor. One exhausts through
the air duct, while the other pulls air from the vertically mounted fins
that cool the heat pipes attached to the CPU heat sink.
Socket 939 is a traditional ZIF (zero
insertion force) socket. You lift the lever up and drop in the CPU. You
need to align a small triangle embossed on one corner the CPU package with
a similar triangle embedded on the corner of the ZIF socket. Then it
should just drop in. If it seems to require force, don't push hard.
Check your alignment first: Too much force risks bending some of the pins
in the dense array underneath the CPU package.
Memory pops into the sockets. Ideally, you
want a pair of identical modules, as the nForce4 chipset supports
dual-channel DDR memory, which matches up nicely with the 128-bit-wide
memory controller built into the Athlon 64 die.
Now it's time to get the heat sink and
cooling duct into place. Once you screw down the CPU cooler, it should
nestle neatly against the right side cooling fan. You want to screw down
the heat sink screws "finger tight"—don't crank down too hard
with the screwdriver.
Building a PC around a small-form-factor
chassis can be challenging. The P-series chassis from Shuttle make
assembly much easier, though you still need to do things in a certain
order.
The SN25P offers the following features:
- Support for AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939
CPUs
- Two memory sockets for DDR400 (PC3200)
memory modules
- VIA Envy24 audio chip on the motherboard
- One PCI x16 graphics slot and one PCI x1
expansion slot
- Four USB ports on the back, and two in
the front, under a flip-down door
- Two six-pin, powered FireWire ports, one
in front and one in back
- Connections for 5.1 audio outputs,
including two digital audio outputs (one coax, one optical). An
optical digital audio input port on the back. Auxiliary headphone and
microphone jacks underneath a flip-down door in the front.
- A nifty CMOS reset button recessed into
the back of the chassis. Should you get into trouble fooling around
with the BIOS setup options, you can bail yourself out with this
button. Since it's recessed, you need a pen or other pointy device to
press the button, so you probably won't accidentally press it.
- Gigabit Ethernet
No less than three fans grace the back of
the chassis, though one is from the 350W power supply. In actual
operation, the system is surprisingly quiet.
The CPU cooler is a sideways-mounted
version of Shuttle's ICE heat pipe. It's fastened to the motherboard via
four thumbscrews. Unless your fingers are much smaller than mine, you'll
have to resort to a screwdriver to remove them.
Note that a pair of fans handles the CPU
cooling. Both fans pull air away from the processor. One exhausts through
the air duct, while the other pulls air from the vertically mounted fins
that cool the heat pipes attached to the CPU heat sink. |
