Heatsink replacement - any FYIs before I attempt this?

[DannyDep]

Howdy fellow MCS members,
Has anyone had experience replacing or installing heat sinks on their music PCs?
I may have to re-install my OS (XP Pro) and I have had these 2 heat sinks laying around
for a while now, waiting for an excuse to install them. 
My music PC makes more noise than I care to listen to and now is a good a time as any to
try and make the machine quieter.
I'm talking specifically about the Zalman CNPS6000-Cu ones. http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/cnps6000Cu.htm
I intend to follow the manufacturer's instructions, but thought I would ask if anyone had direct experience with installing one of these suckers or a similar sink on their PC.
I guess more importantly is what I need to watch out for when removing the old heat sink.
Any  FYIs would be appreciated.
Thx,
Ciao, Dan

[Tacman7]

The standard P4 heatsink is hard to remove, I have to get a little screw driver and pry the prongs away from one side on the fan unit. Also when installing you want to make sure it's seated well before clamping the tensioners.

The big units mainly have a problem if there isn't enough room, so if there's nothing it's going to run into. Then use the heat xfer paste and should be good to go. I don't know about the cooler your talking about but some are noisy. Hope it's a quiet one. I bought a nice power supply with a really quiet fan. I've had the video card fans or the little fan on the motherboard (northbridge or southbridge whatever it is) start raising a ruckus and require replacement.

Hard to track vocals using a compressor with a noisy computer in the room.

Good Luck!

[eeleye]

After assembling several computers from parts, I have learned the following points the hard way (hopefully you don't have to):
   fans are loud. They spin maniacally at suicidal rates, and they sound like it. Brand new ones aren't so bad, but they all get bearing wear. Some manufacturers like Noctua make oil-bearing fans that are great, however.
   the only difficult part of changing a heat sink is the "heat transfer paste". Don't forget it, and don't be cheap. 2 CPUs in one day taught me that. I would feel horrible if I didn't pass that important information along.
Good luck, but you shouldn't need it. It's really not that bad.

[Mick W. (Kain)]

If you really want to make that machine quiet, you should look into liquid cooling it... that will make it silent.
But, on the HS install you are looking at here, the only advice i can give is; be careful poking around in there with a screw-driver and you should use heat transfer paste that is made out of silver... it conducts heat better.

[eeleye]

Here's a liquid cooling idea if you're on an extreme budget. It was a crap board with a 1.8Ghz CPU that we clocked to 3.2Ghz submerged in canola. For the record, it works great, but it get canola everywhere. Good for a laugh if nothing else...crazy northerners.
http://www.mediamax.com/eeleye/Hosted/keys%20001.avi