I am setting up a new Asus M3a79-T Deluxe, Phenom II 940 with a Zalman CNPS9700, weight of the fan is a whopping 700+ gms. In the manual it states AM2 sockets were only rated to 450 gms. I have a zalman 9500 on my old board now and it's been o.k. The new cooler is quite a bit heavier. I'm sure people have used the 9700 without extra support. Any problems or recommendations for taking stress off of the mobo/mounting bracket? Thanks. ---Chikn
I can't vouch for AM2 boards but i do have the same cooler. It is a little heavy but it is more than well enough supported via the bracket that screws thru the mobo from the back
edit- was just reading up a little, it seems different brackets from the kit are used with AMD CPU's, from the little i've read so far it could be that the AMD CPU's aren't supported with the bracket from behind the mobo. Still reading...
No, your right. I don't think the brackets for the back of the bosrd are used with the AMD's unfortunately.If the mounting is the same as my 9500 they just snap into place.
Edited to clarify what the hell I was talking about!
I have had one of these running in the office for over a year with no issues, using that standard AM2 clip that came with the mainboard.
700 Grams sounds big...but it is less than 1.6LBS. When you consider the massive clamping force of the heatsinks that come with AM2 chips, 1.6lbs is nothing.
...I think the 450Gram weight is based on shipping for OEMs; I would not put the system into UPS/FedEx/USPS with a larger cooler attached.
