• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.
  • The forums have been upgraded with support for dark mode. By default it will follow the setting on your system/browser. You may override it by scrolling to the end of the page and clicking the gears icon.

Installing Classic Zalman Flower cooler to a modern system

"Great minds!" We may have been shopping on the internet for Zalmans at the same time :D Thanks for noticing me senpai !!!
 
Bit of an update on mine, too: that Phanteks fan started dying a few weeks ago, barely over 4 years after I bought it. Pretty sure the bearing was failing, as it was sluggish and awfully noisy. So, I replaced it with an Arctic P14 PWM PST A-RGB fan, and this time I made sure to take more pictures. Just like the Phanteks, all the LEDs are in the hub, so you can chop off the square frame without harming anything. It also uses a standard 3-pin ARGB connector, so no need for an adapter like I had to get for the Phanteks. I particularly like the ring enclosing the ends of the fan blades, makes it look really sharp IMO and probably helps channel the airflow a bit. Given Arctic's reputation for quality, this should definitely last me until I finally upgrade my CPU/mobo again, at which point I'll most likely have to ditch it for something boring since Zalman doesn't have compatible mounting brackets for anything newer than AM4 or LGA1200.
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20250430_223824348.jpg
    PXL_20250430_223824348.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 27
  • PXL_20250430_223829464.jpg
    PXL_20250430_223829464.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 27
  • PXL_20250501_000026500.jpg
    PXL_20250501_000026500.jpg
    812 KB · Views: 29
  • PXL_20250501_000037292.jpg
    PXL_20250501_000037292.jpg
    845.1 KB · Views: 26
  • PXL_20250501_001850460.jpg
    PXL_20250501_001850460.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 29
  • PXL_20250521_090433720.jpg
    PXL_20250521_090433720.jpg
    255.8 KB · Views: 30
  • PXL_20250501_030056235.jpg
    PXL_20250501_030056235.jpg
    582.1 KB · Views: 34
  • PXL_20250501_030238051.jpg
    PXL_20250501_030238051.jpg
    448.8 KB · Views: 27
...I'll most likely have to ditch it for something boring since Zalman doesn't have compatible mounting brackets for anything newer than AM4 or LGA1200.
Don't ditch your zalman! OP and I have successfully modded the noctua kit to fit the zalman into our modern mobos. You just need a cheap plug-in drill and step drill bit.

This is the combo that I used for making the hole wider (thatswhatshesaid)
 

Attachments

  • signal-2025-05-21-095720.jpeg
    signal-2025-05-21-095720.jpeg
    155.9 KB · Views: 27
I particularly like the ring enclosing the ends of the fan blades, makes it look really sharp IMO and probably helps channel the airflow a bit.
I agree, the ring lines up so perfectly with the heatsink it looks great. I might replace mine with this fan too in the future
 
Don't ditch your zalman! OP and I have successfully modded the noctua kit to fit the zalman into our modern mobos. You just need a cheap plug-in drill and step drill bit.

This is the combo that I used for making the hole wider (thatswhatshesaid)
Oof, I should've re-read the rest of the thread first, I forgot that was the whole reason OP posted it in the first place.
 
Those copper coolers look so effing good. Too bad it's black and RGB nowadays and no copper anywhere :(

Don't ditch your zalman! OP and I have successfully modded the noctua kit to fit the zalman into our modern mobos. You just need a cheap plug-in drill and step drill bit.

This is the combo that I used for making the hole wider (thatswhatshesaid)
Step drill, what are you doing?!
 
Back
Top