Hate to use a worn out line from a fantastic television series in the 1980s, but I will do anyway. I love it when a plan comes together. I had discovered the problem and now needed a solution, a workable solution that I could implement before the weekend. This was pushing the boundaries but I knew a man that could help. A colleague on the helpdesk. Have looked at a couple of forums, where this chipset had been replaced by a heat sink, I opted to go for the same approach. After all, it was tried and tested. What could possibly go wrong? I called up Peter on Wednesday evening requested (okay, pegging) for his help. He duly replied and so I went off over to Komplett and ordered the part. The Zalman ZM-NB47J. Bargain at £3.50. I placed my order on the site quite late on Wednesday evening and planned my hopes on the part arriving at the office on Friday ready for me to install in the afternoon. It was worth paying the little extra for the DHL Next Working Day option. I was slightly concerned on Thursday afternoon around 5pm, when I got an e-mail confirming despatch of the order but from Amsterdam. It would be a push but hopefully the part would arrive for tomorrow lunchtime. In a series of moments, the plan came together. I arrived earlier than normal to the office. Around 8.20am, (when I am usually there around 8.40am) with my machine but still doubtful as to whether or not the heat sink would arrive. Success, overnight the package had been flown in London Heathrow and just over an hour ago (07:08, ‘Departed from DHL facility in London-Heathrow – UK’) Fantastic, I would expect delivery later that day. When I checked the tracking page again later this morning, at 10:27 the package was with the delivery courier, on the van and on it’s way. Great. I was pleased. This was going to make or break my weekend. I was on the phone to one of the managers when I noticed an email arrive from reception, a package had arrived. Within a few seconds the clock on Windows tripped over to 1pm. It was lunchtime, I got off the phone and headed for the main building grabbed the box, noting the words ‘Komplett’ on the label to fully confirm it was what I was expecting and headed back. Right, that was the easy part, the waiting. Now was down to the difficult job of the transplant. Chris, while was helpful in letting me work on my machine over lunch, did not help with comments on the death of my machine if I made a wrong move. Which although perfectly true did not give me the confidence to get the job done in the allotted hour. Peter was supervising. Sitting in his chair and smiling as I quickly ripped apart my machine. I had taken a photograph of the jumper switches but opted to leave them connecting, remember how difficult they were to set in the first place. The original chipset fan was difficult to remove and Pete helped unclip the pins so that it would release from the motherboard. Part A complete. Now installing the new heat sink.

Strange to think, such a small fan was causing all the noise and irritation to me for the past few months. The heat sink would make the world of difference. On the Zalman web site there was quicktime movie showing how to build the pin holders that attach underneath the block which support the structure as it sits onto the motherboard. This was straight forward enough and once we had them in place it was a case of getting the block to sit nicely on the Northbridge Chip. Not an easy job I can tell you. Particularly if you have not yet applied the thermal grease. Even considering this minor oversight, the heat sink sat at an awkward angel to fit in place. Then it was a countdown of a few minutes remaining from Chris as I put the computer back together. Easy. All in all, it took me an hour and fourteen minutes from start to finish to complete. Although I must admit Peter did most of the fiddly work. Chris also helped changed the mounting sliders on my DVD drive from middle to bottom. I also decided it was the perfect time to switch on the grooving psychedelic lighting on the Antec Sonata.

Away from all the computer talk, I went to see Borat tonight at Vue, Reading. What can I say? Completely outrageous and in places completely tasteless. A fantastic movie that you just have to go and see. You look forward to most the reaction of the people he sqeaks to rather than just what he says and does, which is a unique experience. The movie goes under the full title, even for British Board of Film Certification of Borat: Cultural Learning’s of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. While the television version was really just a bunch of interviews, the movie does loosely have a storyline, which I will not reveal to not spoil the ending. There is a review on the biggest UK fan site, from an early preview screening. Sacha is an excellent talent and has here surpassed his original creation of Ali G. A movie I also saw at the cinema but the exaggerated story ruined the character in my opinion. He is a comedian willing to sacrifice himself for his art and in places pushes his luck to the extreme, even with Americans. Many take it on the chin but some are offended, which is understandable, you cannot please everyone but this movie does go places that other comedies just would not risk. Two years ago, when I was working in the City, I worked with a great guy called Simon and he used to do a killer impersonation of Borat and looking back, you knew that it was only a matter of time for the man with so many crazy catchphrases would make it onto the big screen. Not long before his final character Bruno, gets the same Hollywood treatment.