guys.. i have CNPS9500 on my A8N32. in the manual it is said that u should screw the retention clip til it properly touched the retention frame on the motherboard... im just wandering did all of u who got this cooler pushed the clip all the way? because i feel it wil be way to tight and maight caused damage to the CPU....



Cheers

I have one on my A8N-E mobo, on top of a rather nice 4200+...

Don't worry about it, screw it in nicely, so the cooler stays in place, but make sure not too tightly so to crush the cpu. The retention clip will go down all the way, and it won't get too tight. Just get on with setting up that nice cooler onto whatever cpu it's going to cool! Enjoy seeing idle temps around mid-high twenties!

mid-high twenties?? my X2 goes ard 45 when idle and up to 55 under load! could that be anything wrong with the cooler...? i thought it was not really good so i tried leaving the case open... but still no signs of change... i am using Cooler Master Centurion 5 with one 80mm silenx in front (intake) and one 120mm silenx at the back (exhaust) my room temp is average 20-25... could it be that the sensor is off? i did not do any overclocking or whatsoever and turned of the ai function...

Hoo boy... could be a case of applying too much thermal paste... i have a case with 2 120mm Akasa fans, one at the front and one at the back, and my cpu is slightly OCed.... well, i have a slightly modded Antec Super Lanboy case... and you haven't OCed your cpu? Dang... I'd say you've either put too much thermal paste (and haven't used third-party thermal compounds like AS5 or MX-1, etc) or maybe the airflow inside the case isn't sufficient enough to exhaust the hot air generated by the other components before it gets circulated into the cooler? I don't know, but remove the cooler and check how much you've spread the thermal paste and if you can see the cpu through it. If the paste is leaking off the sides of the cpu and its too thick to see through it, then the case is you've put too much thermal paste on and its acting like an insulator instead of conducting heat like it should when properly applied.

yup.. i've check on that as well.. but i am using AS5 right now... and it's like paper thin... im sure it's not too much... and about the case circulation... i think it is a bit too cramped... so i tried opening the side panel and leave it like that... still it gives me no signs of dropping... could it be that the senssor is off...? or maybe my motherboard...? my housemate's oc'ed opteron can run as low as 37 under load! darn...

I have no idea what's causing the chip to fry that hot.... i doubt the cooler would be faulty... Have you got a 3pin to 4 pin converter so you can plug your cooler into molex power and see if the motherboard had been giving the fan on the fan too few volts for it to run at decent efficiency? o_O

yeap... tried that as well... it's connected right onton my psu now... and the fan is spinning ard 2400rpm.... id unno what to do man... lolz...

Shhh... don't tell anyone, but I ain't using AS5... I'm using Arctic Cooling MX-1 and its doing a fine job, see if you can find some and try it. It reaches maximum cooling after it hardens a little, being within 200 hours, so run it for a week and then see how the temps stand. If not, there's either 1) Too much voltage going into the cpu (Don't know if its possible), 2) Your pc is possessed by a fire daemon... Hell, i don't know exactly what's wrong. Oh well, i tried to help...

What's the ambiant temp?

My Zalman 9500 runs at 44-49 load depending on the ambiant temp on my 3800 X2. This is a drop from the 50-57 it used to run on my stock cooling however.

My system seems quite susceptable to ambient temp though. A 5 degree F difference outside translates into a 5-7 degree C difference in the case.

Room temp is ard 20-25 C... ive tried leaving the case open as well.. but no signs of change... well.. the thing is... how can an oc'd opteron 175 with Zalman CNPS7700 (running at 2.5) Ghz can stick above 40 even during the most intense use... while my x2 4200 stays above 45 even under load... this is makin me crazy... i've tried replacing the HSF and reapplying the AS5 to see if ive put too much.. or maybe didnt position the HSF properly for a few times.. also it gives no signs of change... checked all the voltage.. and all normal... anyway.. thx for the responses ppl... i know it's quite a weird situation...

I modded my 9500 with a 120MM fan instead of the 92mm default one. According to SISoftware Sandra, both cores on my 4400 (oc to a little over 2.4) sit at 32-34 Degrees C at full load on both cores. It says CPU cooler Thermal Resistance 0.09-0.12 C/W 8) That is with the fan on 12V mode, but I think the fan is still slowed by the mobo which auto reduces cpu fan speed depending on temperature : Still, as this full speed it is much quieter than the stock fan, and on 7V mode it is inaudible.

Stuff before I cut it up I used an Antec 3 speed because I didn't have another 120MM fan about, so that is what I ripped it out of my P180 case.

Fan size comparison

Finished

Installed (tight fit with the power cables, but no problems with the socket itself).

I basicly made a copper plate which I bolted on top of the existing base (below the retention clip) which extended further out than the normal bse, and bolted the fan to the end of that with the normal fan holder thing.


The 120 MM fan is the perfect size for the heatsink. The hole in the middle is exactly the same size as the fan motor, and the fan blades to not extend past the edge of the heatsink. 8)

man.. that is one cool mod... maybe i shld try doin it... try put on some led man!

Any chance you could make step by step instructions with pics? I know people who would love that.

That is pretty kewl lookin. Almost reminds me of those old propeller engines on a plane... hehe

I was thinking could that be done on a 7700? Doh.. it already has a 120mm fan.. Owell.

I have a Zalman 9500 on a P-4 630 3.0gig socket 775 it idles at 28-2c and under full load 41c but if you are having a heat issue, I would ask,. did you check the face of the Heatsink for being perfectly flat. The one I received had a hump in the middle, so it wouldn't of mated flat on the cpu, so I had it machned down by a friend, who has a machine shop and polished before installed using Artic sliver. I have heard of other people finding the same thing not a flat surface on the hs face worth checking for anyone haveing a heat problem.By the way it is overclocked to 3.3 gig . One other thing the retaner clip on mine had so much of a bend in it I couldn't ever push it down enought to get the screw started had to bend it enough on a bench so as to just abut get the screw to start in the holes but it worked perfectly once I got it screwed down. Hope any of this information help someone in the future.

ty

I have some more photos so I should be able to put together some instructions. I got kind of lazy with taking pictures towards the end, but I think I have enough.

Sweet. Much appreciated.

One thing: make sure the clip is properly oriented on the heatsink. see the instructions. I have one on an Asus and it tightened up with little stress - after I got it aligned properly.

Fair enough... but you can never be too careful... I just like to make sure i don't blow my investment....