Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (
More info?)
Isaac,
I am trying to install the fanless heatsink, and
what has stumped me is how to get the existing
heatsink separated from my PentuimIII. I was
able to separate the fan assembly by just snapping
out while squeezing the clips. Now I have the
PIII out with the silver-colored heatsink and
the four clip-like plastic prongs going from the
heatsink all the way through to the black
plastic cover. I am stumped as to how to separate
this heatsink so I can install the zalman fanless
heatpipe heatsink. Do you remember how you got
the factory supplied heatsink (with your Pentium III)
separated from the CPU itself?
I see that my capacitors on the board are low, so I
am pretty sure this zalman fanless heatsink will fit
ok, and I am looking forward to solving my noise
problem. If you have any advice on getting this
dang factory heatsink off, please advise.
Thanks,
Littleberry
mechdan@yahoo.com (Isaac Kuo) wrote in message
>
> I got this one (from NewEgg), because it was a bit
> cheaper and looked better--more surface area. I've
> since figured out that the extra surface area comes
> from an extra bit of height. If you examine the
> pictures at NewEgg, you can see the ZM80A has small
> "fingers" at the top that the ZM80C doesn't have.
>
> This difference in height may be important for
> getting a comfortable fit. The ZM80A rises up from
> the motherboard almost as much as a full height
> PCI card. My scratchbuilt case has a low ceiling
> with the lid simply resting on top of the PCI/AGP
> card "lips". The ZM80A heatsink goes almost as
> high as this--but there's still a comfortable
> amount of clearance.
>
> > b) ZM80C-HP, aluminum w/gold-plated copper heat pipes,
> > (325g, 1200 sq.cm, $30)
>
> This one has also been used by someone in Finland;
> but his page was in Finnish. I couldn't read it,
> so I couldn't read any warnings (if any) about
> issues with orientation or fitting.
>
> > I assume you are using the all aluminum one - right?
>
> Actually, I think the construction of these two
> models is identical, except for some details of
> the shape (most importantly, the extra fingers
> at the top of the ZM80A heatsinks).
>
> > I think my mboard layout is the same as yours, except,
> > the pictures from your website seem to have the PSU
> > taken away - is that right?
>
> It's not that the PSU was taken away, the PSU wasn't
> there at all. The pictures were of the motherboard
> by itself, along with the CPU/Heatsink, of course.
> The RAM is there only because I didn't bother
> removing it. You can see the motherboard plug for
> the ATX power connector in the pictures next to the
> CPU slot--nothing's plugged in.
>
> > Are you using the zalman ZM300A-APF power supply?
>
> No, but this doesn't matter. Standard form factor
> ATX power supplies all have the same external
> dimensions.
>
> > I am very curious as to how you get this fanless
> > heat sink to make solid thorough contact with the
> > CPU so as to truly dissapate the heat. Did you
> > use some kind of sealant? Or is it just firmly
> > and tightly held mechanically via screws or something?
>
> The Zalman VGA heatsink comes with all of the parts
> needed, including thermal paste. The installation
> is actually rather involved, because it is designed
> to accomidate a wide variety of VGA cards--there's
> no standard location for the GPU of a VGA card.
> There are a lot of little adjustable fiddly bits
> to ensure a tight fit. The main requirement is the
> existence of at least two mounting holes diagonally
> located around the processor chip--slot 1 CPUs have
> the necessary mounting holes.
>
> > On my desktop, from behind, facing the ports and open
> > expansion slots, I see the power supply on the left,
> > the expansion slots on the right, and the ports in
> > the center and leftways a bit, with the CPU right
> > behind the ports longways from left to right.
> > There appears to be a bit less than one inch
> > from the power supply to the left most edge
> > of the CPU, and a bit more than one inch from
> > the rightmost edge of the CPU to the VGA card
> > (no fan, just the nvidia geforce2). Do you
> > think that is enough room?
>
> Yes, definitely. HOWEVER, watch out for tall
> capacitors or other obstructions next to the CPU
> slot.
>
> The ZM80A fits so well to a slot 1 processor it
> almost seems like it was designed for it. Mounted
> tight, the way I have it, it extendes only a
> fraction of an inch beyond the card on either side.
>
> Height can be a concern for cases where the PSU is
> directly above the CPU, or for slim cases where the
> expansion slots are turned sideways. However, if
> a full height card can fit and there's nothing
> above the CPU, there's no problem--UNLESS there are
> tall capacitors or other tall components adjacent
> to the CPU slot.
>
> The pictures I posted show where the problem with
> tall capacitors can be. Look at your motherboard
> to make sure. Note that you only have to look at
> the "back" side. The "front" side is where bulky
> standard CPU heatsinks are expected to go, so
> there won't be any tall components in the way on
> that side.
>
> Also, note that you'll have to remove the existing
> slot 1 brackets.
>
> > I am really tempted
> > to just go ahead and order this device because
> > the dream of fanless CPU operation is very
> > appealing. Mine is 1ghz - do you think that
> > might be too much? It has to sometimes run
> > for hours (converting avi to mpeg) and with
> > really heavy duty processing and only moderate
> > hd access. I wonder if it would overheat - ???
>
> I don't think you're in any danger of overheating.
> The surface area is huge, and the relatively
> nearby PSU will provide enough airflow. If you
> are concerned, you could kill two birds with one
> stone and order a Fortron PSU from NewEgg; either
> a Fortron 300 or 350 with 120mm fan. Make sure
> you get one of the Fortrons with a 120mm fan.
> This fan is on the inside, and will pull air
> straight from the CPU area. These Fortrons are
> pretty quiet--not the absolute quietest but they
> provide plenty of airflow compared quieter PSUs.
> I have two computers which rely entirely on the
> modest amount of Fortron airflow to cool
> everything, including the CPU. One of those is
> a P4Celeron 2.5Ghz, which I guarantee generates
> a LOT more heat than any 1Ghz PIII ever will.
>
> > Please reply as to the model number of your PSU -
> > it sounds like you got your pc to be quiet - any
> > pointers about attaching the h/s to the cpu will
> > be greatly apprectiated - I think I am going to
> > go ahead and order it. Do I need any kind of
> > sealants? screws?
>
> The instructions that come with the Zalman ZM80A
> are very thorough. I had never installed any
> heat sink of any type before, and the instructions
> got me through (even though this is a very complex
> install, compared to most heat sink installs).
>
> If you have further questions, I highly recommend:
>
> http://www.silentpcreview.com/
>
> Go to the forums, and look in the CPU section.
> There are a couple threads on this topic, which I
> had participated in.
>
> Isaac Kuo