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Step 1: Locate thermal pad and remove plastic

Under the heat sink there should be a thermal pad. Simply pull away and remove the plastic film or cover.

DO NOT TOUCH the thermal paste

Step 2: Place heat sink on processor.

Heatsinks sit differently on processors depending on brand and socket type. Read the instructions before proceeding.

Our heatsink lines up with two "tabs" on the side of the outer socket wall as shown below marked with green circles:

Step 3: Install the heat sink

Some heatsinks come with a locking lever, unlock it by pulling up on it. Read the instructions if you are unsure if it's in the locked or unlocked position.

Once aligned with the tabs, if one side does not have a locking lever, start by clipping in the other heatsink clip into the socket tab:

Then clip in the other side:

Step 4: Lock the heatsink into place

Depending on how your heatsink is setup, you may need to lock the heatsink into place by closing a lever. Some heatsinks can lock right in with little effort while others are extremely tight to the point you feel like you're going to break something. Just take your time and you will eventually get it closed. Don't force it.

Step 5: Plug the fan into the motherboard

Ok so we have the heatsink installed, but we still need to plug it in. On the motherboard near the CPU socket there should be some pins labeled "CPU_FAN" or similar.

Now just plug the fan into it. There's only one way it can plug in.

Next Lesson: Installing RAM

Well that wasn't so bad now was it? It gets a lot easier from here. Time to install the RAM: Lesson 5: Installing RAM Memory.