Installing the 3D Rocket cooler is nearly identical to installing its predecessor, and can be completed in just a few moments. It is not necessary to remove the motherboard from the case, nor is it necessary to install an additional retention module, either. The 3D cooler simply uses available clips on the plastic collar, typical of Socket 939 motherboards.

AMD fasteners: Above is a clip for Socket 7; below, one for Socket 939.

Fasteners for sockets 478 and 775

After fastening metal tabs to the retention module, they're locked into place with a plastic lever; that's all there is to installation.

Floppy power connectors are rare, so the vendor provides an adapter cable to drive the unit from a standard Molex.

After fastening the cooler down, you must also connect power it. This involves the somewhat unorthodox use of a floppy connector. If you want to use the Gigabyte unit's fan controller, you must also hook it up through the potentiometer; if you omit this link-up, the fan runs at maximum speed at all times.

At your option, the controller module may be mounted either in an unused 3.5" drive bay or in an unused expansion card slot.

Connectors: the fan controller attaches in the middle, and the power on the right.

Setting fan speed

All fan control logic is built into the cooler itself; the installable controller consists only of a single potentiometer.