Maze 3 Socket Hold down.

[HelpImNewbish]

Has anyone used this?
I had a swiftech mcw5000, but one of the holes for the mounting system was oversized so the screw wouldnt stay in. Almost as if it was stripped, and I just got a straight refund; wasn't impressed with the block or mounting system, and rather wanted my 53 bucks back.

I like the system, but i'm wondering from this picture;
http://www.dangerden.com/images/maze3/m3shd1_large.jpg

Is the bolt that goes through the block, with the spring on it, merely attached to a nut underneath the block? If that is the case it seems like it will be similar to my MCW462 mounting fiasco, where the standoffs with the nut on the other side of the motherboard wouldnt hold still even with superglue, and therefore my attempts to screw the bolt/spring that would hold down the block into them failed.

Only this time, will turning the top nut just turn the bolt and the nut that its screwed into underneath, resulting in no tightening at all?


By the way: Since when does the maze3 have that cut i part on one side of the block? The first one I had didnt have that, and there was no part of the block at all that hovered over the raised socket side. Am I just doomed to getting faulty blocks and inneffective mounting systems forever and always?

By the way 2: Maze3s fit on A7N8X's, right?

[Phuzun]

To install a water block with bolts. You need 2 nuts, one on each side of the motherboard. Then you put the springs and a nut on top of the waterblock. Springs are retention of x amount of lbs. If you only have 1 nut on the back of the motherboard holding the bolt it wont work. 2 are required.

I have a maze3-1, works great. Only had one time that I didnt seat it properly, almost fried my chip. Hit like 90c.

[HelpImNewbish]

That's not what I was asking, at all.

I've installed WBs with bolts. I'm asking about the SOCKET TAB hold down, pictured in the link. What it looks like from the link is that the bolt goes through the WB and theres a nut on the bottom of the block. But if that is the case, the thumbnut on top will just turn the whole bolt, and the nut on the bottom, and the system will not tighten/loosen.

Has anyone used the system in this link? How does it work for you?

This is similar to having standoffs on the motherboard with a MCW462 mount, where the standoffs go through the MB holes and screw into a nut, and unless you glue them theres nothing preventing the standoffs fom just turning along with the screw you try to screw into them, and not tightening.

Unfortunatly even with superglue, the glue just breaks if you try and get the screw securely into the standoff.

[MadDogMe]

I don't know I've never used one. It looks like it's loosening you do to let the springs uncompress and exert pressure. You could always hold the top part of the thread with some thin nosed pliers :shrug: . I used brass bolts on my maze3 instead of the nylon flexy~stretchy ones, if you keep the 'hex end' at the top you could use a spanner instead of gripping the thread with pliers...

[Mark Larson]

I could never find bolts with a hex head in the sizes i was looking for (#6-32 and #8-32) so i had to make do with philips-head screws. YMMV of course.

[JSimmons]

I have a maze 3 with that attaching setup, and here's how it works in that configuration (and yes, it will fit on a NForce2 motherboard):

1) Bolts or screws are not used in the claming system. All they use is all-thread. It threads down into the bottom half of the block. The block comes assembled axactly as you see it mounted in that pic, so you don't really have to do anything to it.

2) Spin all four nuts down untill you have about a 1/4 inch of gap between the bottom of the side clamps, and the bottom of the waterblock itself.

3) Orient the assembly on top of the cpu/socket in such a manner as to allow the clamps to slide over the socket (remember to put on your heat compound before you do this for good). You may have to lossen one clamp (allen wrench is provided with WB) so that you can do this. There's really only one way to orient this wb/clamp system, so it's impossible to get this part wrong unless you're a complete idiot.

4) Align the socket stubs with the clamp holes, and re-tighten the clamp to the edge of the upper plate.

5) Holding the block reasonably steady, LOOSEN (or un-thread) each nut a little at a time. this effectively allows the sperings to uncompress, allowing the clamps to pull up and secure themselves to the socket, and create tension on the WB , thus pushing it down onto the cpu core.

6) I would HIGHLY recommend using an (anodized) AMD CPU shim to avoid the possibility of damaging your core.

7) Do not unscrew to far, or you could conceivably pull the socket tabs clean off the socket.

You can also mount this block using holes in your motherboard (if your motherboard has them). This technique requires that you remove your motherboard.

1) Drill out the threaded portion of the WB so that you end up with an unthreaded hole all the way through it. To select the correct size drill bit, just match the bit tot he unthreaded hole found on the top of the block.

2) Use the provided all-thread studs from the other mounting technique, thread a nut onto one end, drop a nylon washer over the allthread and onto the nut and push it through the motherboard from back to front. Drop another nylon washer over the long end (top of the motherboard) and thread another nut from the allthread, and tighten it. Repeat for all four holes.

3) Drop the waterblock down over the studs, and use the provided brass knurled nuts to tighten the block down onto the motherboard.

I think the 2nd technique is less frought with danger as it allows you to anchor the block to the motherboard instead of that flimsy-ass socket. I mounted this block to a spare KT7 motherboard with the clamping system, and it appeared to be sturdy enough, but I still think anchoring the bolts is a better choice.

If you want some to ensure that your stuff is getting tight instead of just turning, cut a hole in your motherboard tray that allows you to place a socket driver, wrench or screwdriver (whichever is appropriate) on the screw/nut being tightened.

[HelpImNewbish]

Thanks for the information on the socket tab hold down. I figured it wasn't going to be so easy to set up.

I'm just going to cut a whole on the back of the motherboard tray, to make for easy mounting of socket-hole-bolt style waterbocks.

[JSimmons]

The first method is easy enough to do, but hanging all that weight on the socket gives me the willies. I have a copper-top instead of the lucite, so mine's even heavier than yours.

[Phuzun]

I'm more than parially blind in both my ears, and have a hard time making out links. Anyways, I just realized it had one. I've never seen a maze3 held down like that before.