What should I do?

[mcrites]

Ok, heres the deal: I have already burnt 2 processors in the venture of watercooling. The first one I take all the blame for letting it stay too hot. But on the second one the waterblock came off. I am using the dangerden block with nylon screws, and nylon washers to secure the board. Since the kg7 I am using has 1/4" holes around the processor, and the screws are 1/8" I believe, I tried to use one washer on the bottom of the kg7, and one on top of the kg7 to mount the waterblock to the motherboard. However, one of the washers on one of the screws came off on the bottom of the kg7, and the waterblock on that side wasnt level on the processor. The temp went up to 53C reported by the bios, but obviously it was higher than that. The processor was subsequently fried. I was lucky and got the place where I bought it to excahnge it for another one. I have a few questions:

How should I mount the water block to the mobo? Since the mobo's holes are too big for the screws, but just right for the waterblock, I cant use a bigger size screw because of the waterblock wont fit. I was thinking of 2 washers on top and bottom, but I want to make sure that this sucker stays on real good.

Also I was told that the processor should never be over 40C. On the second processor I had the temp at 42C for a few minutes until the waterblock got dislodged and fried the proc. What do you guys recommend I do, because I CANNOT FRY THIS PROCESSOR :( I cant dare to leave with more money ;) Because since it can take a few seconds to get into the BIOS to check the temp of the processor, in the meantime the proc could be getting fried. Should I worry about this or should I just hope for the best? The guy at the store said I should not be using artic silver 2 because its too easy to short the proc out. So he gave me some non conductive thermal stuff. What do you guys think of this?

I don't feel too bad cuz I know lots of ppl are burning these athlons up. But I feel like I am having lots of bad luck, and I have tried to research what people take steps to do to make sure what they do to make sure they dont burn the proc, but I cant seem to find much information on this subject. If you have any suggestions to protect my proc, I would be very grateful.

[It_The_Cow]

I don't really have any ideas for you, but you may try testing your idea without the processor. Tug and shake it around for a while to make sure it can't come off. For the temperatures, 42C should be ok. It'd be in your best interest to keep them below 40C, but 42 is by far acceptable. You should also keep the Arctic Silver. According to the company, it can only short something out if it's under extreme pressure. Before that point, though, your processor would be crushed, so don't worry about it conducting any electricity

[Richard]

If I was you I would find a nice sturdy piece of plastic. Something like the thin cutting boards.

Cut it so that it is just about a inch larger all around the socket mounting holes. Now you can drill the holes for the screws and use rubber grommets for washers (between the mobo and plastic.)

This method should displace the pressure more evenly and give a firm platform for the screws to bite into.

[mcrites]

Thanks for your suggestions. Thats what I thought about the as2 as well, from reading it on the website before, but this guy builds pcs for a local store everyday, so thats why I was asking here, I will stay with the as2, but will be very careful. On second hand, is there that much of a difference between using the as2 or the thermal compound he gave me?

I will try the cutting board idea this weekend. Do you think there will be enough pressure by just having a couple of nylon washers on the bottom of the cutting board, or do you think I should have one on top of the motherboard as well?