Installation Cont.

The NH-U12P heatsink was then removed to check the contact between the base and the CPU. The NT-H1 had spread out nicely, with the center being very thin and the outer edge being slightly thicker.


With the compound cleaned up and reapplied, the NH-U12P was reinstalled. The next step was to mount the fan onto the heatsink. Two small, thin strips of silicon are needed for each fan, and each strip has double-sided tape on one side. The sticky side should be attached to the fins on the heatsink near the left and right edges. Next, two clips are inserted into the grooves on each side of the heatsink. With the fan in place, the clips are pulled up over the frame on the corners of the fan and inserted into the holes.


With the fan plugged into the motherboard header, installation is complete. The area around the heatsink was checked for clearance which, for the most part, seemed clear. However, when looking down the top edge of the heatsink I noticed that it was right up along the edge of the motherboard, and the fan clip stuck out even farther. This may pose an issue for some if there is limited clearance above the motherboard in the user's system.


Since we had an additional NF-P12 fan, that was mounted, too. No other clearance issues arose, except for the fan clips still hanging over the edge of the motherboard.


When the motherboard tray was installed back into the case, the clips did present a problem. As I suspected, the clips hit the top fan in the Lian Li PC-A10 case and prevented the tray from sliding in all the way. This was solved by removing the two top clips and using some plastic wire ties to hold the fans on instead.