Oops! yes the height of the Noctua is a concern. My Antec barely managed. There was about half an inch of clearance. Can't help you with the Ripjaws because I decided to go with the earlier G.Skill NQ series instead.

Thanks....not sure about the RipJaw. It looks like the cases are glued on and are meant to stay on; I am putting one in slot 1 and the other in slot 3 to allow Dual Channel. However if I ever wanted to add two more I don't think I could get one under the Cooler into slot 2 without removing the case.

I am a little confused. For your very first post (point 4) you talk about G-Skill RipJaw RAM that makes me think they are the same thing. When I click on the link you have, the picture looks exactly like what I have, with the black cases with the big black "teeth".

And two more rookie questions.

1. When I put in the CPU and pushed the locking bar back down I heard a bit of a crackling sound....I hope this is normal. I noticed the MB had hundreds of little pins sticking out and the CPU looked like it was covered in gold tin foil. I hope this sound was just the pins "connecting" with the CPU :confused: and not something breaking. :shock:

2. The MB has 1 IDE but the IDE cable supports 2 devices. I am okay with that as I have a HD and a CD-ROM. There is actually a second hard drive but I don't NEED it. Anyway, is there a strict way to connect this cable. Does one end need to go into the MB and then the devices connected to the middle and other end? Or can the devices connect at either end and the MB connect to the middle? I am asking because my devices are far apart and there are limited bays of the correct size so if I don't have to try to get them closer it will be a little easier.

Thanks again.

I was originally going to get the [URL="http://www.memoryc.com/products/description/4GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_Ripjaw_Series-8_8_8_24-Dual_Channel_kit_for_Intel_P55/index.html"]Ripjaw [/URL]but they were out of stock so I went with [URL="http://www.memoryc.com/products/description/4GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_NQ_Series-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html"]these [/URL]instead.

1. I have never heard a crackling sound but maybe my ears aren't sharp enough.

2. I believe you do need to attach one end to the motherboard. Also be sure to set the master/slave jumper pins on the devices themselves.

[QUOTE=garo;196980]I was originally going to get the [URL="http://www.memoryc.com/products/description/4GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_Ripjaw_Series-8_8_8_24-Dual_Channel_kit_for_Intel_P55/index.html"]Ripjaw [/URL]but they were out of stock so I went with [URL="http://www.memoryc.com/products/description/4GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_NQ_Series-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html"]these [/URL]instead.

1. I have never heard a crackling sound but maybe my ears aren't sharp enough.

2. I believe you do need to attach one end to the motherboard. Also be sure to set the master/slave jumper pins on the devices themselves.[/QUOTE]

Your RAM has a RED case. Did you remove it?

1. No Crackling....:down::down:
2. thanks

No I didn;t remove it. From my experience the case is typically made of metal and is useful for heat spreading and should not be removed.

[quote=petrw1;196978]1. When I put in the CPU and pushed the locking bar back down I heard a bit of a crackling sound....I hope this is normal. I noticed the MB had hundreds of little pins sticking out and the CPU looked like it was covered in gold tin foil. I hope this sound was just the pins "connecting" with the CPU :confused: and not something breaking. :shock:[/quote]
I believe that's normal. It may be different with the i7's and i5's (the latest I've dealt with in person is a C2Q Q6600), but as I recall some of a crackling noise is normal as the pins get seated into their very tiny counterpart holes on the CPU. The ZIF lever should take care of positioning; as long as you're using it according to instructions, then any noise produced is probably normal.

I wonder if maybe the i5's (and presumably i7's as well) use a gold tin foil on the bottom that covers the actual holes as a sort of protection, with the idea that the pins will poke through it upon insertion. If so, then that would explain the crackling noise perfectly.
[quote=garo;196980]2. I believe you do need to attach one end to the motherboard. Also be sure to set the master/slave jumper pins on the devices themselves.[/quote]
More specifically, you need to attach the end with only one connector to the motherboard. The end with two connectors is for devices; the one on the very end is the master and the one in the middle (but closer to the master end) is the slave. I don't believe it will work any other way.

Oh, and by the way, as for the metal cases on the RAM: those are heat spreaders and shouldn't be removed.

[QUOTE=mdettweiler;197002]
I wonder if maybe the i5's (and presumably i7's as well) use a gold tin foil on the bottom that covers the actual holes as a sort of protection, with the idea that the pins will poke through it upon insertion. If so, then that would explain the crackling noise perfectly.
[/QUOTE]

This seems unlikely to me since it would imply a single use CPU. You couldn't reliably upgrade your motherboard.

[quote=lfm;197007]This seems unlikely to me since it would imply a single use CPU. You couldn't reliably upgrade your motherboard.[/quote]
It wouldn't necessarily imply single use, just that the CPU would be slightly less well-protected after you take it out. I would imagine it would still work quite well if you then put it in another motherboard (or even back in the same one); the only difference is that the holes would be pre-punched.

[QUOTE=mdettweiler;197002]I wonder if maybe the i5's (and presumably i7's as well) use a gold tin foil on the bottom that covers the actual holes as a sort of protection, with the idea that the pins will poke through it upon insertion. If so, then that would explain the crackling noise perfectly.[/QUOTE]This is certainly not so. The CPU's do not have holes for the pins of the sockets to engage. What happens is that the pins of the socket mark the contact pads of the CPU. [url=http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3661]See for instance the pictures on AnandTech.[/url]

Jacob

[quote=S485122;197057]This is certainly not so. The CPU's do not have holes for the pins of the sockets to engage. What happens is that the pins of the socket mark the contact pads of the CPU. [URL="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3661"]See for instance the pictures on AnandTech.[/URL]

Jacob[/quote]
Hmm, interesting. petrw1, is this what you meant by "covered in gold tin foil"? Because that doesn't look too different than what I'd seen on a Q6600 before, if memory serves.

Intel CPUs since Prescott have used the LGA attachment: the bottom of the processor package has a pattern of gold-plated contact spots, the socket contains hundreds of very small gold-plated springs which make contact with the contact spots. The AMD Socket F for Opteron CPUs is similar.

An advantage to Intel is that installation errors will damage the cheap motherboard which some third party would have to replace, rather than the expensive CPU which is under Intel's warranty; and it's no longer easy to bend pins, because nothing is going into holes: the springs squash flat to make a good contact.

The crackling noise is the sound of the springs squashing flat.