Installing the Vapochill micro is very easy. You simply pop the relevant installation plate over the circular section of the cooler, which has pre-applied thermal compound. Make sure you have the plate in the correct orientation, and screw it onto the existing backing plate. No motherboard removal should be required, unless your motherboard’s backing plate is too shallow and not stuck to the board, in which case it will slide down the back of the board and need to be reattached.
Installation of the cooler takes around a minute, though you must then attach the fan. The fan is held in place by a clear plastic fan retainer. This part of the cooler has disappointing build quality, and feels no thicker than the plastic used in mineral water bottles. Attaching the fan to the retainer is accomplished via four black push pins.
Once attached, the cooler must be aligned so that it is angled upwards. This is to allow the heat pipe fluid to flow to the top of the cooler. For this reason the Micro is installed at an angle. I cannot imagine any motherboard being incompatible (bar mounting frame problems) as the base of the cooler is no larger than a stock cooler. Some slim cases may not accommodate the height of the micro; indeed the Cooler Master Wave Master we used clears it by only a quarter of an inch.
Some websites have experienced problems with the Micro’s install procedure, stating that there was not enough pressure exerted by the clip. The pressure from this clip was more than enough to prevent easy rotation, but paranoid users could always flex the installation plate slightly to increase pressure further.
