Zalman 7000A-AlCu Help

[eVaoVe]

Hey guys, my Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu backplate just keeps falling off from under the motherboard no matter what I do. I emailed Zalman about a week ago and still no reply. I'm wondering If I can use no backplate at all, or the stock backplate that came with my motherboard. Here are my specs

DFI Lanparty nForce 3
AMD Athlon64 3000+

oh yeah btw, up to what temperature should I stop O/C my cpu? Currently it runs at 45C and I was thinking of maybe O/Cing it to 2.2-2.5.

 

[Squally Leonharty]

You should use the Zalman backplate. Screw the standoffs onto the motherboard, into the backplate. Then mount the HSF on the standoffs and tighten it with screws. Simple as that, because that's what I did and it's working perfectly fine. I got revision B, though, but there shouldn't be much difference.

 

[klah]

How can the backplate fall off when the two nipples are screwed directly to it from the front of the mobo?

 

[eVaoVe]

Thats what I'm saying... When I lift it up the backplate falls off, but the threads are stuck into the nipples.

 

[Gnoad]

Happened to me too. I was worried at first, but when you put the HS on it, it tightens.

 

[eVaoVe]

Heres what happens exactly. I screw the nipples onto the board, and it looks good from there, then i put the heatsink on and then screw the screws into the nipples, then i lift the board off and the backplate falls off, but the threads are stuck to the screws...

 

[Squally Leonharty]

Maybe you got a dodgy version of the backplate? The whole thing is basically like this:

- Position the backplate behind the motherboard such that the holes line up (so you can insert screws properly )
- Insert the (gold colour for me) standoffs/nipples in the holes, into the backplate itself. This completely attachs the backplate to the motherboard, so it can't fall off.
- Attach the HSF onto the standoffs/nipples and use screws to tighten it up.

So what could be wrong according to this "manual" is that the standoffs/nipples don't fit in the backplate properly, causing it to fall off. That means either the backplate is faulty, or your standoffs/nipples simply don't fit. I'm not sure, but I think I've read that revision A has some problems regarding the backplate. Dunno if that's what you described. Revision B was supposed to solve that problem.

 

[eVaoVe]

Squally Leonharty, i follow that exactly, and my backplate still falls off. Should I RMA?

 

[Squally Leonharty]

RMA it such that you get a refund and get the B revision instead. You might have more luck with revision B.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: eVaoVe
Squally Leonharty, i follow that exactly, and my backplate still falls off. Should I RMA?

Yeah, RMA everything.............then buy a Dell.

 

[Numan]

Stupid question - what side of that backplate is the side making contant with the mobo? the side with the brownish paper?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Numan
Stupid question - what side of that backplate is the side making contant with the mobo? the side with the brownish paper?

Yes