Modding Zalman 7700 Cu with Panaflo 120mm U1A

Modding Zalman 7700 Cu with Panaflo 120mm U1A

Yes...that's the plan. I have modded my existing Zalman 7700 AlCu and pulled out that 5 volter and cut out the Panaflo 120mm U1A beast from its frame. Then I carefully drilled holes in it to stick the Zalman Fan holder. The problem I am facing now is that the bottom of the heatsink has my fingerprints on it. A total mistake that I simply can't get rid of by cleaning it with Articlean 2. I used my camera's lens cleaning cloth to wipe the prints off. Did not work to my satisfaction. It is a lint free cloth from Pentax. How do I get rid of the fingerprints?

Now, the weight of the Panaflo out of the frame is at least two times the weight of the Zalman stock fan. I am not planning to play soccer or basketball with my pc but, my worry is that with the weight of 7700 Cu or AlCu on the MoBo alongwith a high-rpm fan attached to it, am I looking at a total destruction of my pc before its even born?

Has anyone tried this before? Please be kind and help me out here with your recomendations and suggestions as always...

- Rex

If alcohol doesn't remove the fingerprints, you may have to lap it a little bit.

I don't believe the fan itself is a problem. Why don't you weigh the whole heatsink just to make sure? As long as it's not like 2 pounds or something.

IWasHungry said:

If alcohol doesn't remove the fingerprints, you may have to lap it a little bit.

I don't believe the fan itself is a problem. Why don't you weigh the whole heatsink just to make sure? As long as it's not like 2 pounds or something.

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"lap it a little bit" -- what do you mean by that? sorry could not catch the phrase.

The weight of the 7700Cu is 918g with stock fan, 77AlCu is 600g with stock fan. So, with Pure Cu version I am looking at a kilo sitting on the chip and tearing into the mobo.

Can my DFI board resist this load/pull? That's the question. I have made a trip to the local pharmacy and the best they got is 91% isopropyl. I guess that will be cool right? Or, do I need to get 99%?

- Rex

There's no need to worry - this mounting can handle pretty much. AMD says max to be around 400g, but if you read what mobo has to survive with 400g heatsink, you'll know that even kicking your case shouldn't result in problems with 1 kilo heatsink.
extraction naphtha might eventually help with removing fingerprints. You can always lap it or leave as is.

Lapping - using sanding paper to remove a bit of base of heatsink, usually for flattening. Check lapping gudes.

you ALWAYS need to clean your heatsink with alcohol after every time you dismount it, as well as the CPU.

91% alcohol is fine. the weight of the fan shouldn't do much, but i'm not sure with the 7700Cu... I have a 7000Cu (uses 92mm fans) with a 3 blade delta.. I lapped mine, and changed my case fans' configuration to accommodate my new Heatsink

SolidxSnake said:

you ALWAYS need to clean your heatsink with alcohol after every time you dismount it, as well as the CPU.

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Yeppers..I was looking at the bottle of 99% on Amazon. Bottle is 5 bucks but the darn shipping is 11 bucks.. So, I will pick up the 91% tomorrow.

SolidxSnake said:

91% alcohol is fine. the weight of the fan shouldn't do much, but i'm not sure with the 7700Cu... I have a 7000Cu (uses 92mm fans) with a 3 blade delta.. I lapped mine, and changed my case fans' configuration to accommodate my new Heatsink

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My Li-Li case has a very nice cooling config with case fans. The top one blows out and the rear one blows in and with adjustable air guide you can let it blow mostly on the HSF and partly on the first RAM slot of DFI mobo.

I don't like to mod anything unless it adds to the value...looks come later to me. I felt the fan mod with a panaflo will push all the hot air around the case away from the CPU and RAM. The top fan will pull out more air and the side blower will pull out the hot air from the video cards. I have a 5'25" slot free. I am gonna make an intake mesh in it. That slot sits next to the RAMs. I am thinking of simply drilling holes in it with 9/64" bits. I don't have filter like aluminium mesh in my house unless I cut the balcony door net. If I had a mesh available I would have poked a rectangle shape in it or 3 circles of 1" diameter. Any idea where I can pick up some little bit of mesh. Home Depot?

- Rex

drilling the holes into the fan base was THE hardest part....obviously . The base of the fan is so big, I had only 5mm or so of the drill bit exposed from the chuck and used extremely low speed so that I don't hit the PCB under the base accidentally. I am sure its fine. I am a bit worried about the vibration that the fan has endured from cutting it out and from sanding the rough edges with my dremel.

In any case, that fan looks pretty much a happy fat fan so, we will see how it behaves when the show really starts.

- Rex

Pics?!

no digicam...only an F100 from Nikon.

Too Poor to buy one right now...why? Signature will prove...and my website will elaborate. I will try and get hold of a digicam soon from a friend.

dire said:

no digicam...only an F100 from Nikon.

Too Poor to buy one right now...why? Signature will prove...and my website will elaborate. I will try and get hold of a digicam soon from a friend.

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get a digicam. Its a requirement to come to these forums..

anyway, read my guide on 7000/7700 tips... evaseeker found that having rear fans intake cold air, it works better.

SolidxSnake said:

get a digicam. Its a requirement to come to these forums..

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Yes Sir! I am on it. Will jump to buy Powershot S60 from DELL tomorrow when the coupons are released.

SolidxSnake said:

anyway, read my guide on 7000/7700 tips... evaseeker found that having rear fans intake cold air, it works better.

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I read your guide already. And yes, Lian-Li's 60Plus cases are designed to allow rear intake of fresh air. Here's Anandtech's review on the case. If I did not mess up in drilling...which I strongly doubt...I will be able to see some storm inside my Li-Li pretty soon.

Thanks,

Rex

as promised....






I need to test and see if this guy is doing the job as intended..will update once I do it.

Sick, you have a dremel XPR, how is it?

btw, that fan has a huge deadspot. still a good performer

SolidxSnake said:

Sick, you have a dremel XPR, how is it?

btw, that fan has a huge deadspot. still a good performer

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Considering how the Zalman is built I can't see that a dead spot would even affect performance of this heatsink. After all, the design draws air down and pushes it out to every side through the fins to achieve cooling.