Lay the computer case flat with the motherboard and processor facing you. Remove the heatsink from the processor box and check the bottom to make sure that the thermal interface material on the bottom is undamaged. You don't need to add any additional thermal paste with the stock Intel heatsink.

If the heatsink you have did not come with pre-applied thermal compound, apply a bit to the top of the CPU and bottom of the heatsink and spread it evenly with your finger. Only cover the portion of the heatsink base which will contact the CPU. Never install a heatsink without thermal compound!

Notice the four holes in the motherboard PCB around the LGA1155 CPU and socket? These coincide with the 'legs' of your socket 1155 heatsink.

Step 3. To install the heatsink, lower it down vertically onto the processor so that each of its plastic 'legs' lines up with the four holes in the motherboard. There is no special way the heatsink has to face, as long as the pointy end of each of the 'legs' fits into one of the holes that's what's important.

Most Intel heatsinks use push-to-click plastic retention studs. For these mechanical locks to work correctly, ensure that the black top of each fastener is rotated into the correct locking orientation, with the arrow pointing away from the heatsink , the groove in the top oriented towards the center of the heatsink. This orientation ensures the fastener will lock into place when pressed down.

Once the heatsink is sitting on the processor with one fastener in each motherboard hole, hold it in place with one hand while pressing down firmly on each of the fastener 'legs' in turn.

You should hear a loud click to indicate when each clip is locked in. Ensure that the heatsink is sitting evenly on top of the socket and processor.

What's happening is a little bit of the black plastic is spreading apart two white plastic tabs which lock onto the motherboard PCB when they are open all the way. It's easy to see this by examining the rear of the motherboard.

With all four push-to-click tabs locked in place, it's now time to plug in the CPU heatsink fan power cable to the right 4-pin or 3-pin connector on the motherboard.

Consult your motherboard manual if you are unsure of the location, generally speaking you want to plug the CPU heatsink fan power cable into the fan header marked "CPU_Fan" so the BIOS will report the right RPM levels. Ensure that the fan power cable cannot become snagged in the fan blades. That's it! The processor and heatsink are now installed correctly.

If you need to remove or upgrade the Intel socket LGA1155 processor, PCSTATS covers this procedure next. You'll need a flathead screwdriver as well as the plastic protective covers for both the socket and the processor.