Installation:
Installation of the unit is not difficult, but does take a little bit of time. The first step will obviously be to remove your old video card heat sink. Once the original heat sink is removed, be sure to clean off all left over thermal paste. Next, remove any RAM heat sinks on the card. Now you are ready to begin the installation. You should be aware that changing the heat sink on your video card would void any warranty.
After removing all current heat sinks and cleaning up the chips, the first thing you will need to do is install the RAM heat sinks. This is as simple as peeling off the film on the chips. Simply pressing the heat sink to the front side of the RAM chips will attach it securely. Next, turn the card over and place another RAM heat sink to the backside of the RAM chip. It takes approximately 24 hours for the heat sinks to fully bond with the RAM chips.
Next is the most important part. Installing the GPU cooler. First you will need to install the "nipple" connectors, and the back brace plate. Once that is done, you are now ready to install the GPU cooler. Apply a small amount of thermal paste, and then the GPU cooler. Attach the cooler to the "nipple" connectors using the included bolts. You are now ready to reinstall the video card. In the below right image you can see how different the card looks after changing the default BFG heat sinks and fans to the Zalman Fatal1ty heat sinks and fan.
 
Once you have remounted the video card in your system, be sure to provide the GPU cooler fan some power. Using the power adapter, you can decide which mode you put the fan into, either performance or silent mode. Zalman reports a 2050rpm +/- 10% and 24.7db +/- 10% in silent mode, and 3,500rpm +/- 10% and 36dB +/- 10% in performance mode. I will evaluate both of these modes while testing the cooler. Here you can see how the fans look all lit up. Unfortunately these LEDs suffer the same fate as the Fatal1ty CPU cooler, they are very dull, and barely light up outside the fins of the cooler. As I said in the CPU cooler review, this cooler is designed to be shown off, and the LEDs should be bright enough to be shown off.
 
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