A warning and advice to Zalman CPU-7700 and 9500 HSF users.

I really like these Zalman coolers.

It is a pain to remove the mobo to install the new Zalman bottom plate.

Also the stock bottom plate is so sticky that when you remove it some
surface mounted
components can come off too. This has happened to me. It is not good
for the motherboard.
Also I'm sure that removing the motherboard bottom plate will void the
warranty.

You don't have to remove the stock bottom plate for these coolers. Just
remove the
the plastic retainer from the top of the motherboard (held on with 2
6/32 screws about 1"long) . Then get some 6/32 screws about 5/8" long
and use those to screw the HSF to the existing bottom plate.

You can also use stock 1" 6/32 screws with a small spring between the
screw head and the Zalman retaining clip. This also secures the HSF
slightly tighter than the Zalman mounting. With the Zalman mounting the
HSF could be moved slighlty over the CPU even when fully tightened.

 

I'll provide another idea seeing as how I just mounted a Zalman 7700 cooler
on an Asus A8N32-SLI motherboard this past weekend. I had made an earlier
post, got some good ideas and had a few of my own on how to try and remove
that bottom plate. At the end of the day - I didn't and was afraid to use
any more force.

Here's how I solved the probem. Left the original base plate attached to the
bottom of the board (obviously..). Removed the top plastic retainer on top.
Next I took the two aluminum knurled knobs (13.5mm spacers) that came with
the Zalman cooler and drilled them out. I have a small drill press so it was
easy but you could do the same thing with a portable drill if you're
careful. I placed the threaded end of the knob into a small hole I drilled
into a sxrap of wood so I could have the knob held upright while I drilled
it. I used a drill the same diameter as the stud on the baseplate that
extends up throught the motherboard. You just drill down slowly and the
drill bit will follow the existing threaded hole and when it drills through
to the end, the threaded end falls off from being drilled. All one neat
operation.

Make sure there are no filings left over on the inside of the aluminum
spacers, Now place the correct size washer (fiber) from the kit provided
and place the drilled spacers over the top of the bracket studs. Now
attache the cooler as per instructions. The spacers provide the proper
height (13.5mm) so when you tighten down the cooler - using the original
6/32 screws that came with the motherboard - there is no danger of
over-tightening the cooler.

You could also use just about any kind of 1/2" (13.5mm = .531") long spacer
from the borg and the washer kit. I purchased some of spacers made from
nylon at Lowes but since I was unsure of how hot things were going to get -
I went with the metal instaed. I beleive I could have used the nylon
spacers since the brackets do not get hot enough to melt anything from what
I've seen. If you don't want to bother drilling out the spacers, you can
also buy 1/2" long steel spacers with an inside diameter large enough to
slip over the bracket studs. As I recall, the studs were .221" in dia.

Just another idea to try that only took a couple of minutes - uses the
original baseplate and you don't have to remove the motherboard from the
chassis. Before you apply any heat sink compound to the CPU - make a dry run
of placing the cooler on the CPU with the washers and spacers in place. Get
the orientation right for the bracket and fan wires and make sure all your
other cables will not interfere. It's a close fit but clears everything
nicely on the A8N32-SLI. Since I didn't take any "Before" temps, I don't
know what difference the cooler makes but anything with that mass and fin
area with a 120mm fan should be able to make a significant delta - provided
the thermal grease is applied correctly. There's a total of 11 fans
spinning in my case so I know it's moving air.

Bob S.