Installing Zlaman...

[Mk97]

Ok, I just bought a Zalman for my temporary comp, mild OC's, and to be quiet.

I just want to be sure of some basics...
I use alcohol to remove the thermal crap left from the stock cooler right? I have 70% rubbing alcohol, I've seen reviews say to use 90% is this ok?

What other things should I look out for/do? How should I apply the thermal paste? (using the included zalman paste, AS5 was too much to buy.

Thanks

 

[Elbatrop1]

I find it ok to use less-pure isopropyl. I think the reason that they call for high-purity is for it to evaporate quickly. The lower-purity stuff has more water, and evaporates less quickly. I dip a Q-Tip in alcohol and wipe the HS or CPU completely. THen I let it air-dry for a couple minutes to make sure there is no water/alcohol left.

I know for AS5, you put a blob the size of a grain of rice on the CPU and put the HS on top. There is no smearing needed nor recommended. I'm sure it will be the same for the Zalman stuff.

 

[Mk97]

Well, Thanks to those that helped. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to do something terribly wrong or forgot something. I'm going to put it on so hopefully I don;t jack it up

 

[Mk97]

Woo Hooo! Hurray for low temps!

Got it all in and on pretty easy. Plugged my comp in and... Error loading OS... I freaked out messed w/ cables, to no avail. Messed round in bios and turns out the mobo reset the boot order

Up and running now and it's already 35* tops in load. Temps should go lower after the paste settles.
Sweetness.

Thing is silent... my freakin HD is wayyyy louder than the cooler even when fan's maxed!

 

[Elbatrop1]

Glad to hear the install worked out for you!

 

[HAVOC]

For future reference, keep this product in mind.
Zalman Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier. (PIC Below) It's relatively in expensive and it's 1000 times better the alcohol.

It quickly emulsifies and dissolves the existing thermal grease or pad from the CPU and/or heatsink so that it can easily be removed with a clean cloth or paper towel. A few drops of ArctiClean 2 Thermal Surface Purifier and some gentle wiping then removes the remaining residue and inhibits flash corrosion on copper or aluminum.

The ingredients in the remover are all natural. They actually use citrus oils, that instantly break down the thermal material. The purifier makes the surfaces clean enough to eat off of.

You can go from nasty surfaces to clean as a whistle in under a 30 seconds. It's that good.

 

[adam02]

nail polish remover works just fine. IN FACT i had that exact same stuff.

and the temps were exactly the same, save yourself the money and by some nail polish remover

 

[SomethingWicked]

I'm using the Zalman 9500LED and I love it. Very quiet at full out. Now if I can just get my OS loaded I'll be all set :S

=SW=

 

[Mk97]

For future reference, keep this product in mind.
Zalman Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier. (PIC Below) It's relatively in expensive and it's 1000 times better the alcohol.

Ya.. if it wasn't for tax I woulda had the few extra dollars to buy that or AS5, but I didn't so I used the poor man's alternative. I'll be going all out on my super build tho, so I'll be sure to nab some and some AS5 so I'm 100% ready.

 

[HAVOC]

nail polish remover works just fine. IN FACT i had that exact same stuff. and the temps were exactly the same, save yourself the money and by some nail polish remover

You don't use the product I listed above to do anything for temps. It's purely a cleaning and purifying agent. It just gets the cleaning job done super quick and easy.

Alcohol does the job, but it takes awhile to losen up the thermal material. The stuff I listed above does it in seconds. It wipes off super clean and the purifier removes left over residue.

"Nail Polish Remover" which contains acetone, is a very dangerous chemical. Yes, it works... But extreme caution should be used.

I'd rather use a natural product. One that doesn't burn skin and melt your eye balls....