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As we mentioned earlier, we were slightly disappointed to see that ARCTIC didn't include any installation instructions in the box. This means the customer has to head over to ARCTIC's website, locate the product then locate the PDF download from the support/download section of their website. It really isn't ideal.
The first step is to remove all the screws from the back of the HD7970 as shown above. We are using a reference, engineering sample AMD HD7970 for this review today.
Don't forget to remove any screws on the I/O panel, which may hold the reference cooler in place.
When all the screws are removed, carefully pull the PCB away from the cooler. Don't apply too much pressure on one corner of PCB, or it could snap. Its highly unlikely, but I suggest pulling apart gently from the center, then prising the ends apart if the card is unwilling to separate.
Clean the thermal paste from the GPU core with a soft cloth, or tissue.
The following step can be important, because later we need to adhere heatsinks to various parts of the card. if all of the previous ‘gunk' is not removed from the surface, then the glue won't adhere properly. We suggest using an eraser to clean the components, as shown above. It can take 10 minutes or so, but is well worth the time. Try not to rub your finger over all the components unnecessarily as static could (in theory) damage some of the components.
