As with most large after market coolers, installation of the NT06 will require removal of your motherboard in order to install the backplate and mounting posts.

Everything is included for installation. Pictured here at the top and bottom is the stock mounting plate. It would probably work fine for S939 motherboards, but it interferes with the voltage regulation circuitry typically found directly around the CPU socket on S775 motherboards.

The inclusion of springs on the mounting thumbscrews is a nice touch, which hopefully will allow us to “tune” in an even pressure for a perfect mating between the base and the CPU.

First step is to remove your motherboard and install the backplate using screws and hex nuts. If your platform has a cpu mounting fixture, you will need to remove it first.

Here we can see the 4 posts for S775 mounting. We can also see the voltage regulation circuitry mentioned earlier.

This shot should give you a good idea of the clearance issues with regards to the voltage regulation circuitry. The alternate mounting plate pictured here has no clearance issues, however the stock one was tight against the capacitors.

Once the posts are installed, it's as simple as applying the thermal paste, dropping the mounting holes over the posts and tightening the thumbscrews. Or is it?

The NT06 design provides excellent cooling to motherboard components by hanging the heat exchanger over the motherboard and directing airflow onto the components and passive heatsinks. This design does however come with a price which is evident in the pictures above.

Initially the test bed had a tower style after-market northbridge cooler. This cooler would not fit under the NT06 as pictured so the stock heatsink was re-installed for this review. Users with higher-than-normal motherboard components would do themselves a favour if they ensured a clearance of 1 7/8” / 47 mm prior to purchasing this cooler.

Also displayed above is the difficult access to the mounting thumbscrews under the heat exchanger for S775. Expect to add at least 10 minutes to your install time while you contort your fingers into a position which will allow you to start the thread onto the post.

Removal of the RAM obviously improves access, however even with the RAM removed and the motherboard out of the case, threading the thumbscrew onto the post is a major feat. We can only imagine how big a pain it would be with the motherboard installed in a case.

Final step of installation is to hook up the fan controller to the fan, and the molex connector to your power supply.