Zalman CNPS 7700 ALCU, Zalman VF700 review - Installation
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Installation of the heatsink is very simple. Honestly I think the most difficult part is removing your original cooler. Most videocards now come with elaborate cooling systems. These types of coolers usually use extra mounting points which may be difficult to find, so be sure to look over your card thoroughly and make certain that you have removed all of the mounting screws or clips before attempting to remove the original cooler.
Once you have removed your original cooler you will need to remove any thermal paste or thermal tape from the graphics processor to ensure that the VF700 makes full contact with the GPU.
Like the CNPS 7700 AlCu, the assembly instructions in the user manual are simple to follow. Attach rubber washers (which prevent the metal nipples from shorting anything on the card) onto the nipple with the thread, and place it through the back side of the card so that it sticks through the side with the GPU. Mount another rubber washer, attach the other nipple, and finger tighten it all together.
The rubber washer prevents the nipple from making contact with any resistors or traces on the card.
Now would be a good time to install your RAM heatsinks. Simply remove the plastic backing off of the heatsinks and apply onto your memory modules. A fair amount of pressure may be needed to permanently mount them onto the card. You may want to use a few layers of paper towels to save your fingers when applying pressure. Now add a nice, even coat of thermal paste onto the GPU. You will need signicantly less thermal paste than with your CPU, since most GPUs do not have an Integrated Heatspreader. Upgrading to Arctic Silver will also yield better cooling results. Place the heatsink centered over the heatsink, with the mounting clips over the nipples. Install the correct bolts.
The bolts line up onto the nipple and easily mount onto the card.
Zalman also provides a Backplate with the VF700. I don’t believe it’s absolutely necessary for the AlCu version, but why not install it anyway? It looks very cool
The backplate uses a larger bolt than is used to mount the heatsink.
Now that the heatsink is installed, check to make sure it is making full contact with the GPU and isn’t making contact with any other critical component on the graphics card. Once you see that everything is good, all you need to do is install it on your motherboard, plug in the fan and turn on your system. I chose to not use the Multi connector on the VF700 since I could not see whether it was on.
The heatsink is finally installed onto the card.
Zalman also provides RAM heatsinks for cooling memory. Although they are BGA format, they can still be placed onto the longer memory chips.
The fan will also blow air onto the RAM heatsinks, and clear all capacitors on the card.
Now that just looks cool.
Next: Results: VF700 vs. Stock Cooling >>
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