Confused on the XP-90.

[AndyBogard]

I'm confused about the XP-90 heatsink. Does the XP-90 mount to the stock hardware on K8 (A64) motherboard, or do have to use a special hardware? I keep seeing conflicting things on this, some places and people say you don't need to use a special mounting bracket, but some say you do, and by the way Thermalright has it listed on their website it looks like only Gigabyte motherboards require special hardware.

If you need to use a special retention bracket, how hard is it to set the XP-90 up then?

This is the system I'm building:

Epox 9NDA3+
Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm
1 gig of Corsair XMS PC4400 (going with this RAM, because I want to OC 1:1)
Sapphire Radeon X800XT
Seagate 300GB IDE hard drive
Plextor PX-716A
OCZ Powerstream 520watt PSU
Cooler Master Stacker with Crossflow fan, and probaly 4-6 other case fans
Windows XP Pro

I intend to OC, and hope to get to 2.6 or 2.7 (the heights that most seem to be reaching with the Winchester), but I want to keep everything as cool as I can on air cooling.

 

[CraigRT]

Either way, if you are required to use the special mounting bracket, it comes with it in the box.

I think I did used it on my mobo to be honest, but I can't seriously remember... it's as easy as removing the stock bracket with 2 screws, and putting on the new one also with the same 2 screws. The install is pretty quick, you don't have to take the mobo out because the mobo tray holds the back panel in place, and you just bolt the XP-90 mounting bracket to the stock rear panel mounting plate. Beacuse of the size of the XP-90, the install might be a little easier if you have a big case, but I got it in my old case (Compucase 6A19) without TOO much pain.