I just recently purchased the same CPU/ MOBO combo. It is now working fantasticly, but upon first installation, things did not go well. Like you, I dont think of myself as computer illiterate as I too have built several systems for myself and others. Although I dont know for fact, your experience is drawing me to this thought. The heatsink and fan are very difficult to install on this particular board. And although it appears that the heatsink is sitting flush on the chip, it may not be. I dont know if the rubber spacers on the chip causes this. As you stated, the thermal gel was uneven which indicates that the chip could have been on crooked, therefore increasing the chance of frying your chip. So, I was suggest taking it back regardless if you can. LOTS of places have no issues with chip replacement, but some places wont take em back. The place you bought it may be able to test both the board and the chip. Good luck. Hope this helps.

I had CPU heat problem as well. My mistake was to disconnect CPU fan' power connection while trying to tuck in other cables and move things. Luckily, I found out soon enough to re-connect the CPU-Fan power.

I agree with Mike on this. Sounds like you fried the processor. If you have access to another Athlon put it in there and find out. I've heard of others having problems with the Volcano7+ on this board fitting right and had to be modded to fit right. Hopefully this has been corrected in the Volcano 8 and 9. Allen

it's almost impossible to fry the processor on any new asus board so why not just get a new AMD approved fan? wouldn't that be easier? i mean, i don't know what you pay for a good cooler in the states but they're so cheap hear in asia that i wouldn't even blink to spend the $5. and since the fans that ship with the retail boxed athlons work fine, is there really any need to buy a third party product? another point worth noting may be that asus have been producing a lot of shoddy boards lately. perhaps yours is just plain fuc***.

alternately, you could save youself the grief and stick with intel. i've not had a single problem with a digidesign approved P4 system yet and the new generation P4's are leaving AMD for dead.

Originally posted by minimoog: it's almost impossible to fry the processor on any new asus board so why not just get a new AMD approved fan? wouldn't that be easier? I thought the Volcano 7 fan was AMD approved. Is that incorrect? In case you misunderstood b/c I kept referring to the heat sink, the heat sink has a fan on top of it. and since the fans that ship with the retail boxed athlons work fine, is there really any need to buy a third party product? Good idea. When I buy the next AMD, I'll get the retail version with the fan and heat sink included so I won't have to doubt my compound-applying skills. another point worth noting may be that asus have been producing a lot of shoddy boards lately. perhaps yours is just plain fuc***. Yeah, I saw on the Asus forums of people just getting bum boards of the same model. I hope it's just the CPU - the mobo is a pain to replace.