With the Amanda weighing over a kilo, the mounting system ought to be something special.
Surprisingly, though, it's not actually very substantial.
Of course, the motherboard needs to be removed to fit the Amanda but all that's used on the underside is a simple back plate.
The feet of the cooler have bolts already set into the metal and fixings screw on through the back of the motherboard. But, with a cooler weighing so much, things are a bit of a struggle when you are trying at the same time to get good contact with the CPU.
The time taken to fit the Amanda was quite extended – in part because we wanted to make sure that everything was in place and secured correctly. There are also plenty of leads to connect and that PCI controller card to install.
And, even with the cooler and card in place, there are two further steps. Rather like the rigging of a boat, the Amanda uses retention wires. These help spread the weight evenly and need to be first attached to the cooler and then the interior of the case.
At this stage, it became all too obvious that a case rather bigger than the Antec 900 is the expected home of the Amanda.
Two retention wires are included in a separate bag with full instructions. What's involved is running the wires from holes in the fans at each end of the cooler to suitable places within the case. Using an Antec 900 chassis, though, we were only able to attach one of the two supplied wires.
Fitment Time
At 928 seconds (15 minutes 28 seconds) and down in 25th place, the Amanda was not a straightforward install. Plenty of time and attention need to be paid to the installation, making the Amanda better suited to experienced system builders and enthusiasts.
