Zalman VF900 Screws

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PigCorpse

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 4, 2005
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For those of you who have a VF900Cu, how much do you tighten the thumbscrews in the back of the card?
 
just finger tight....in other words I didn't apply too much pressure once it tightened up. Be sure and do a 'cross tightening' like you would lug nuts on a wheel and just tighten each screw a little at a time.
 
Okay

What will happen if I tighten them too much? Is it better than too loose?
 
The first time, I tightened until I couldn't do it anymore. Then I realized and earlier today I redid the whole thing but it's still pretty tight. I just don't know how much it has to be.
 
So I rescrewed it.

I basically turned the screws about 3 turns at a time in the beginning, and in a criss-cross motion. When things got tighter, I turned until I couldn't turn them anymore (without applying strength).
 
PigCorpse said:
So I rescrewed it.

I basically turned the screws about 3 turns at a time in the beginning, and in a criss-cross motion. When things got tighter, I turned until I couldn't turn them anymore (without applying strength).
Click to expand...
Perfect..just hold it up to a light and make sure the cooler is making good contact with the gpu and then you're good to go.
 
Well, I'm kinda retarded a little amount.

I didn't take the card out while doing it. So when the screws were all taken off, I held the fan to the card with my hand. Well, I wasn't holding it over the contact area so I think I might've tilted it because now the temps are 2-3'C higher. I might reapply but I have no AS5 left.
 
PigCorpse said:
Well, I'm kinda retarded a little amount.

I didn't take the card out while doing it. So when the screws were all taken off, I held the fan to the card with my hand. Well, I wasn't holding it over the contact area so I think I might've tilted it because now the temps are 2-3'C higher. I might reapply but I have no AS5 left.
Click to expand...
No, it's ok...AS5 takes a while to "cure" so your temps should improve in a day or two.
 
Heh, I wish lol.

I didn't actually reseat it. I had to do it quickly before my parents come and tell me to stop working with computers. So I did it while the card was still in the computer. I held the cooler in place and took off the screws and put them back on, but while I was doing that, I think I felt the fan tilt a little, meaning air probably got in.
 
PigCorpse said:
Heh, I wish lol.

I didn't actually reseat it. I had to do it quickly before my parents come and tell me to stop working with computers. So I did it while the card was still in the computer. I held the cooler in place and took off the screws and put them back on, but while I was doing that, I think I felt the fan tilt a little, meaning air probably got in.
Click to expand...


Just take the damn card out. I mean it's only one screw and a plug from the PS. :p

It's not like you had to remove the whole mobo or anything.
 
Okay, so here's the dilemma:

I like fixing things that aren't broken and that tends to make them broken.

So my temps are 46/53'C idle/load.

I THINK that when I was reseating the heatsink (yes, I reseated), I tilted it again and let air bubbles in.

But the temps are fine.

So do I reseat or just stop worrying?
 
If all 4 screws are tight on the back just leave it alone....if you think the temps are too high then you might want to look into the airflow in your case. Maybe a stronger fan in the front and back. 46c idle is about average and not too high for that vidcard considering the stock sink usually produces higher temps.
 
Your temps are fine. My stock 7900GT is 68 under load with the stock cooler so just leave it alone.

The thermal compound is designed to fill TINY air pockets between the heatsink and core. Even if you picked it up 2 seconds after you sit it down it will be fine.
 
I found that the VF900 bends the card waaaay too much IMO when it's tightened all the way. I mean not only does it bend the card but it actually bends the friggin' OPGA part of the GPU itself! That simply cannot be a good thing.



^^^ Thats with the screws tightened 'finger tight' ^^^

So I ended up backing off each screw 1 complete turn. It's still bending the card some, but not as much as before.

I'm even thinking of backing off another full turn each screw.
 
Seems that if the bend was too much you would have difficulty putting it in the pcie slot. Both of my cards have VF-900's and both slipped in smooth as silk so I'm not gonna worry about it.
 
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