Upgrading ASUS P6T Deluxe with i7 920 to i7 980

[prosthotoothist]

Hello to everyone,

I have just purchased a i7 980 cpu to replace the 920 that I have had for a while now. My question relates to the fact that I do not want to disassemble my computer to install the cpu and its cooler. The 980 cooler is so much larger and heavier than the one for the 920 that I think it will have to be installed differently. As I have examined it, I have the feeling that a major part of the support for the 980 cooler is provided by a part that fits underneath the motherboard. If this is the case, then I see no way to install this cooler without having to take my computer apart. I have a Thermaltake Armor case which has no access to the underneath part of the motherboard so that cooler part could not be used without disassembly of the machine. Does anyone have any suggestions other that "just take the thing apart"? The case is a full tower and is full of components and I dread the thought of disturbing a machine that works and maybe ending up with one that doesn't.

Any kind of information and experiences will be greatly appreciated, such as other coolers that I might use or ways to install the 980 cooler.

Thanks,

Tom

ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard, i7 920 cpu with stock cooler, 48 GB RAM, 4 internal hard drives, MSI Radeon HD 6870 GPU, 1 eSata drive, 1 usb drive

 

[PP Mguire]

Practically any cooler you use will require the motherboard to be taken out. If you haven't replaced the paste and dusted for a year or more then this needs to happen anyways to make sure you don't overheat the hex core CPU. You don't need to take everything out either. Only the expansion cards that are plugged into the slots. THen unplug the cables from the board, unscrew it, and remove it.