Zalman ZM-WB2 Waterblock Review - Installation
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Due to the ZM-WB2's plethora of attachments and connections installation was mostly a breeze. I did have one problem with one of the installation screws snapping in half, but thanks to Home Depot that problem was quickly fixed. Here you can see the Home Depot fix, an attachment screw, and the broken screw. I used #6-32 x 1-1/2" machine bolt with two nuts to make the length of the exposed threading to match that of the provided attachment screws.
I installed the ZM-WB2 on my Koolance Exos system. The Exos is an excellent out of the box water cooling setup but it's one overwhelming flaw is the cheapo water block (not so cheap in price) that is designed to be used with it. The Zalman ZM-WB2 water block is great for this setup thanks to the small 10mm compression hose fittings. Most water blocks come with 1/2" or 13mm connections for the tubing and would require an adapter to accommodate the smaller tubing the Exos uses.
The first step was to connect compression fittings to the Exos' tubing. This is pretty easy first attach the compression fittings to the water block. Then remove the outer part of the compression fitting, slide the tubing threw the outer (removed) part of the compression fitting. Next slide the hose over the nipple on the inner part of the compression fitting that is attached to the water block. Finally screw the outer of the compression fitting back on to the inner part, locking the tubing in place. I would suggest using a pair of pliers or vise-grips to tighten the compression fitting, it may help to prevent leaks.
Now all you need to do is mount the water block to the motherboard. I used the Pentium IV socket 478 hardware. The first thing you need to do is connect the two anodized pieces of metal included in the kit to the heatsink retention clip on the motherboard. Note that the bumps in the strip of metal needs to point downward towards the motherboard.
Next you need to use the two attachment screw to connect the water block to the socket. The screws screw into the threading in the middle of the two anodized pieces of metal installed in the previous step, they hold the retaining clip firmly against the water block as shown below.
And that's it. The new water block is installed and ready to go.
NOTE: As with all water cooling hardware I suggest running the water cooling components outside of the case for 24 hours to make sure there are no leaks.
Next: Performance and Conclusion >>
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