About to replace Core Duo with T7600 in M90

Greets,

I've got a boxed T7600 that I want to install in my M90 laptop (see my signature below). The laptop has BIOS version 2 installed.

I've never replaced a CPU in my life and I'd appreciate some help from you guys.

(a) Any recommendations on removing the old processor (like should I clear the heatsink),
(b) What paste to use and the way to apply it (most of the guides here talk about the GPU, not CPU, and I still find them confusing)?
(c) Anything else I should pay attention to?

Cheers,
Alex

Thanks guys,

I've just ordered Zalman STG-1. Also got myself ArctiClean that people say does wonders for cleaning the heatsink. This means I'll have to wait until they're here.

What worries me a bit is that if thermal paste was thicker before and I'll be putting a very thin layer, how to make sure I'm not leaving any gap between the heat source (CPU/GPU) and the heatsink?

Alex

OK, guys, couldn't wait until fancy thermal paste arrives so went ahead and put a cheap one.

Here are some first benchmarks with the Quadro FX 2500 overclocked to 591 core/771 memory--these are in fact the original recommended settings that the driver reports. The driver used is 92.91 X2.

Core Duo 2.00 GHz
============

3DMark 2006 1.0.2 score 5405
SM 2.0 Score 2313
GT1 - Return to Proxycon 18.617
GT2 - Firefly Forest 19.935
HDR/SM3.0 Score 2287
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 20.377
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 25.386
CPU Score 1613
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.523
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.797

3DMark 2005 1.20 score 9493 (30 processes total, no security alerts, always 2GHz CPU)
GT1 - Return to Proxycon 38.2
GT2 - Firefly Forest 29.4
GT3 - Canyon Flight 48.7
CPU Score 5570
CPU Test 1 - 2.9
CPU Test 2 - 4.8

Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz
============

3DMark 2006 1.0.2 score 5628
SM 2.0 Score 2322
GT1 - Return to Proxycon 18.764
GT2 - Firefly Forest 19.945
HDR/SM3.0 Score 2298
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 20.547
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 25.403
CPU Score 1966
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.620
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.998

3DMark 2005 1.20 score 10272 (32 processes total, no security alerts, always 2.33GHz CPU)
GT1 - Return to Proxycon 44.8
GT2 - Firefly Forest 31.0
GT3 - Canyon Flight 50.0
CPU Score 8306
CPU Test 1 - 4.5
CPU Test 2 - 6.9

What we can see from here. In 3DMark 2005, the CPU score goes through the roof. I don't understand why. This score has increased by just over 8 percent.

In 3DMark 2006, the CPU score has increased somewhat but the overall score has improved by 4.1 percent.

I haven't really run anything CPU-intensive before the change so I can't compare. I'll do other benchmarks if people are interested.

Running around the town in Oblivion with HDR ON, all pretty snappy, CPU is +47 C. I have received ArctiClean and Zalman STG-1 today so I'm planning to find time to resit the processor and possibly GPU if I find a TORX. I'm off to US early Friday so I may not find time to do it.