Firing Squad has reviewed the Zalman CNPS9500 AM2 cooler. You can pick up this cooler here starting at $55.
Now let?s look at the new cooler from Zalman, the CNPS9500 AM2. The CNPS9500 AM2 is largely based on Zalman?s CNPS9500 LED, sporting an all-copper design, only it ships with a new clip that offers native support for AMD?s new AM2 socket.
Now you are going to want to prepare your motherboard. You are going to need to remove all fittings around your CPU socket and the AM2 backplate as well. Usually the stock backplate will work with other CPU coolers, but the Amanda is different. You will be screwing it in from the back of the motherboard not the front. So once you have everything removed from the CPU socket take the included AM2 backplate, 4 screws and 4 washers. Ok now this is the hard part you are to hold the Amanda cooler over the CPU socket while screwing the backplate into the holes on the bottom of the AM2 clips. It would have been nice to have an extra set of hands. It is really hard to explain the installation, but here is a close-up of the AM2 clips when installed to give you an idea of how things went.
Zalman Reserator 1 Plus WaterCooling Kit Review
Written by Chris Tom
Friday, 15 September 2006 06:15
Virtual Hideout has reviewed the Zalman Reserator 1 Plus water cooling kit. They tested it out on a Socket 939 Athlon. You can grab this watercooling monster here starting at $220.
After going through the motherboard removal ritual I began installing all the water blocks. Starting with the CPU Water Block (ZM-WB3 Gold), I opted to remove the stock heat sink mounting bracket to attach the socket 939 back plate included with the CPU block accessories. After attaching two thumb screws to the plate through the motherboard, I then assembled the CPU retention bracket. There were two screws to finally screw the bracket down on top of the water block. They must be fully and evenly tightened down a turn at a time, that way the block centers and seats evenly.
Being able to use your own 92mm fan is a big plus for enthusiast users. This allows you to fine tune cooling performance vs. fan noise, giving you the optimum solution. On the other hand first-time users may want to have a fan included, just to save the extra hassle of finding a suitable one.
Motherboard Chipset Cooler Roundup
Written by Chris Tom
Saturday, 12 August 2006 05:44
Mad Shrimps has a comparison of several chipset coolers that they test out on a nForce 4 SLI board.
Choosing a decent chipset cooler that fits your needs is not only a matter of knowing if it's worth your money, the overall design of the cooler will most likely be a crucial factor in the equation. Having two cards running in SLI or simply using a card that's an inch too big could interfere with your brand new cooler and ruining rendering it useless. In this roundup, we take a look at both performance of the coolers and whether SLI can still be used.
