T
Ted
I posted not long ago asking for advice on the combination of the Zalman
ZM80C-HP and Hercules Radeon 9800 Pro combination. Well, I finally purchased
the cooler, and I can say I'm more than happy.
Installation was a bit difficult. Removal of the GPU heatsink was fairly
painless and just involved removing a couple of screws and gently persuading
the heatsink off the GPU.
However, the Hercules also has a GPU heatsink on the bottom side of the card
which was stuck on with epoxy. This was very difficult to remove, as there
are components under the spots where I could have used a screwdriver to
lever it off. Instead, I had to gently rotate the sink by a couple of
degrees in easy direction until it was loose enough to pull off.
I then proceeded to clean the existing thermal grease off, and applied some
Artic Silver 5 to the GPU before attaching the Zalman heatsink. What I
didn't realise is that the bottom heatsink doesn't actually touch the card
at all, which isn't made clear in the Zalman instructions.
Then it came to attaching the heat pipe. This is where the main problem
occurred as the Hercules has RAM heatsinks on both sides of the card. It's
no problem on the GPU side, as the heat pipe clears the RAM sinks by a few
millimetres, but on the bottom side the RAM sinks obstruct the heat pipe
from being installed correctly.
I did a little research on the web, and came to the conclusion that RAM
sinks are primarily for overclockers, and are pretty much just eye candy on
graphics cards. So I went about removing them from the bottom side of the
card only - and in any case, I still have them on the top of the card.
If anyone else has to do this, get a piece of paper and slide it under the
corners between the RAM and the RAM sinks - it shows corners that are not
attached by epoxy. You can then get a Stanley knive in the gap, and leaver
the RAM sinks off. Again, this is not for the faint of heart, especially on
a £250 card.
Once removed, the heat pipe and rest of the assembly went like a dream. I
think I have removed the sinks in such a way that I could get away with
putting the components back on if I ever have to return the card, so maybe I
haven't invalidated my warranty after all.
Having got it all up and running (including Zalman CPNS7000-Cu CPU cooler
for my P4 3Ghz 800 FSB), all I can say is wow. My machine is so much
quieter, and I especially appreciate that there is no volume difference when
I fire a game up. I've also plugged a case fan into the 5v adaptor that you
get with the optional ZM-OP1, which has also substantially reduced noise. I
can say it's actually bearable now. The loudest component on my machine is
now the power supply (Antec True Power 330w), and even that's quiet.
I want to go about replacing the case fans now. I have a Lian-Li PC60, which
has two fans on the front set at low speed, one on the back of the case and
one on the top. I'm not sure of the quality of the fans, but would like to
replace them with some silent models. Any suggestions?
Cheers,
Ted.
ZM80C-HP and Hercules Radeon 9800 Pro combination. Well, I finally purchased
the cooler, and I can say I'm more than happy.
Installation was a bit difficult. Removal of the GPU heatsink was fairly
painless and just involved removing a couple of screws and gently persuading
the heatsink off the GPU.
However, the Hercules also has a GPU heatsink on the bottom side of the card
which was stuck on with epoxy. This was very difficult to remove, as there
are components under the spots where I could have used a screwdriver to
lever it off. Instead, I had to gently rotate the sink by a couple of
degrees in easy direction until it was loose enough to pull off.
I then proceeded to clean the existing thermal grease off, and applied some
Artic Silver 5 to the GPU before attaching the Zalman heatsink. What I
didn't realise is that the bottom heatsink doesn't actually touch the card
at all, which isn't made clear in the Zalman instructions.
Then it came to attaching the heat pipe. This is where the main problem
occurred as the Hercules has RAM heatsinks on both sides of the card. It's
no problem on the GPU side, as the heat pipe clears the RAM sinks by a few
millimetres, but on the bottom side the RAM sinks obstruct the heat pipe
from being installed correctly.
I did a little research on the web, and came to the conclusion that RAM
sinks are primarily for overclockers, and are pretty much just eye candy on
graphics cards. So I went about removing them from the bottom side of the
card only - and in any case, I still have them on the top of the card.
If anyone else has to do this, get a piece of paper and slide it under the
corners between the RAM and the RAM sinks - it shows corners that are not
attached by epoxy. You can then get a Stanley knive in the gap, and leaver
the RAM sinks off. Again, this is not for the faint of heart, especially on
a £250 card.
Once removed, the heat pipe and rest of the assembly went like a dream. I
think I have removed the sinks in such a way that I could get away with
putting the components back on if I ever have to return the card, so maybe I
haven't invalidated my warranty after all.
Having got it all up and running (including Zalman CPNS7000-Cu CPU cooler
for my P4 3Ghz 800 FSB), all I can say is wow. My machine is so much
quieter, and I especially appreciate that there is no volume difference when
I fire a game up. I've also plugged a case fan into the 5v adaptor that you
get with the optional ZM-OP1, which has also substantially reduced noise. I
can say it's actually bearable now. The loudest component on my machine is
now the power supply (Antec True Power 330w), and even that's quiet.
I want to go about replacing the case fans now. I have a Lian-Li PC60, which
has two fans on the front set at low speed, one on the back of the case and
one on the top. I'm not sure of the quality of the fans, but would like to
replace them with some silent models. Any suggestions?
Cheers,
Ted.
