Slider said:
Thanks. I've continued to research since I posted this. Tyan,
thankfully, provides brackets that will allow me to use AM2 coolers w/
this motherboard. That gives me a lot more options. The Zalman 9500 AM2
has been successfully used with this board.
On a side note, I actually bought the Coolermaster Mars for this
implementation. It may technically be usable, but the provided mounting
hardware was poor and did not provide a good fit directly to a Socket F.
I wouldn't recomend it.
That was me who mentioned using the Zalman 9500, but I never really gave it
a thought that it was brackets that came with the motherboard that allowed
the Zalman AM2 to fit the board. I think you're right that that the brackets
were part of the Board parts and did not come with the fan. If I get another
for a second processor, I'll have to make sure that I have another set of
brackets. From the photos on that Coolermaster Mars site, I think that you
are also correct that it looks like poor mounting. The Zalman seems to fit
pretty well. The only thing that I noticed was that the mounting hardware
would allow the fan to rotate slightly when first installed (perhaps 10
degrees). I don't think that this is a big deal, and after I rotated it into
position, the thing seems to be staying in place well despited rolling it
around hallways and up and down an elevator a few times on its way to the
final destination.
If you find another decent hsf that is small (as in diameter, not height)
please post back as my Zalman won't fit on the second processor should I get
one in the future.
Jeff