Computer processors slip into and out of the motherboard easily.
Making a computer smarter and faster usually centers around two component upgrades: memory and the processor. While upgrading the memory may give a needed boost, there are limits to the improvement it can bring. Upgrading the processor, on the other hand, has great potential to accelerate your world. The Pentium 3 processor at first used the Slot 1 interface, and later the Socket 370 interface. While removing either processor type can seem daunting, it is a straightforward process.
Instructions
Pentium III Socket 370 Processors
1. Remove the screws in the desktop case. The case is secured by at least one, but possibly up to six screws in the back. Use a Philips screwdriver to remove each and set them safely aside.
2. Locate the processor by looking for the cooling fan and heat sink. The heat sink with attached fan will be significantly larger than the waferlike processor itself and generally square in shape, and black, gold or silver in color.
3. Unplug and unhook the processor fan from the motherboard. There are two primary ways that processor fans and heat sinks are attached to motherboards, you may want to check your documentation to see which applies. The first method is through a balance-latch system in which case you lift a latch on one side of the fan in order to be able to unhook the entire assembly from the other side. In the second type, the fan is attached to the motherboard by a single, large driver in one corner of the fan. Gently turn this driver counter-clockwise and then lift it to release it from the motherboard. Typically the heat sink will be attached to the fan in a semi-permanent unit and they will both come away together. If the heat sink separates from the fan, gently pull it away from the processor.
4. Unsecure and then unseat the processor. There is a small lever to the side of the processor that lies flat against the motherboard. Gently pull it out slightly away from the processor and then lift it until it is perpendicular with the motherboard. This releases the processor.
5. Gently grip the processor by the edges and pull it out of the socket. Place it somewhere safe and completely static free, with the pins facing up.
Slot 1 Processors
6. Follow the first two steps in section 1 to open the case and locate the upright, cartridge-like Slot 1 processor and attached heat sink/fan. The fan and heat sink (which may be encased in a black housing and not very visible), will be attached to one side of the processor.
7. Remove the fan/heat sink by first unplugging it from its power supply on the motherboard, then gently unlatching it from the processor and pulling it away. Set it aside.
8. Grab the processor firmly with one hand and lift it straight out of its slot. The processor for a Slot 1 setup is less fragile than the Socket 370 processors but you should still use extreme care not to touch the contacts at the end of it or brush them against anything but a static-free rest.
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