HaGGardSmurf

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Oct 16, 2009
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I'm going to go buy a Phenom II x4 810 (2.6 ghz) in a few days, and I'm wondering a few things...

I have either a Zalman CNPS9500 or 9700, I'm not sure I'll need to go look at the box, anyways would that fan fit on the phenom? It works nicely on my mobo, and I currently have an athlon processor... Both fan's say they work on athlon's etc and nothing about phenom's. So will this fan work for the phenom, or will I need to buy a new fan also?

Another note, would this fan be adequate cooling to OC from 2.6 - 3.0?

Also, how do I apply the thermal paste? Should I do the pea method, or just spread the paste out? I have fixed many xbox 360's and reapplied thermal compound to I dont know how many, but ive always just spread the paste, then put the heatsink on.

Lots of people have been saying to do the pea method, but the chip doesnt seem to get fully covered in paste... So not having full coverage is still better than a couple air bubbles?
 
1. If the newer CPU is compatible with your motherboard then your current cooler (9500 or 9700) will surely be compatible to it..

2. A 2.6 GHz to 3.0 GHz overclock is quite generous.. Your cooler will nicely handle it..

3. I personally use and prefer the spread method over the pea method.. Have never garnered a problem because of it.. You just need to make sure that you spread it evenly and generously to cover the whole metal top..
 

HaGGardSmurf

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Oct 16, 2009
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I'll likely use the spread method, I have lots of practise at it. Thanks for the input though, it sounded to me like the pea method is the the best and spread is terrible due to the air bubbles...

The CPU does work in my mobo (with a bios upgrade) Ive looked into that ;)

I figured the fan compatibility had more to do with your mobo than your cpu, thanks for confirming that.

Thanks alot for all your help. I need some new thermal paste i used all my AS5, so I'll probably buy some tuniq tx3 or 4, any experience with them? I've heard they are harder to spread, but are the best on the market.