Zalman 9500 not centered on CPU/HFS

[samik83]

Hi,

Having some problems getting the Zalman 9500 centerer on HFS.
It is off about 3mm to one side. I dont understand what i'm doing wrong here.
is it even possible to install it incorrectly? I mean once you get the clips
in place it should be centered?

First time installed it looked somewhat off center, but didnt think much about it, thought i was looking at it from a funny angle or something. Now I took the fan off since the temps were the same as with the stock cooler.



Took a picture of the base of the cooler and here you can see how the thermal paste is spread out. It comes off from the side and clearly isn't centered. Any suggestion?? I'm running a E6600 on Asus P5W DH Deluxe

 

[Priv]

It doesnt have to be centered to perform well, as long as the heatsink is covering the entire heatspreader of the processor.

 

[Cranky1970]

^ +1

 

[einstein4pres]

^+2 The heat is generated in the center of the chip, covering the entire heatspreader is even unnecessary.

 

[curnel_D]

I've honestly never seen that before, but by the picture you showed us, it's nothing to worry about. It looks like the hs is covering the entire procc, so it will dissipate the heat either way.

And your post is kind of confusing. If your temps arent getting better compared to stock, make sure you've got it seated correctly. Make a very thin even coat of thermal paste across the bottom of the heatsink, and make sure the clips are all tightly secured.

If it's still not working correctly after that, just RMA for a better cooler, or quit overclocking to to moon.

 

[samik83]

Thanks for the quick reply guys. Now that think about it(if i remeber correctly), the paste on the HFS was smooth all the way, so it should be fine.

I think the main reason why i'm getting high temps is bad air flow and a concave HFS / cooler. I'm just in the process of lapping them both.

 

[Jim_L9]

Don't use too much thermal compound as that is as bad as using too little.