EggXpert

It appears that my motherboard pan has 4 holes directly under the holes where the CPU cooling fan would mount. I haven't check out the exact alignment yet. I am wondering, if instead of using the CPU cooler motherboard bracket, which goes on the underside of the motherboard, if it might be more secure to use the motherboard pan inserts instead, to mount the CPU cooler brackets. I haven't seen anything on this documented, has anyone tried this, and did it work?

No, you don't want to do this..  The motherboard, if installed properly should be about a quarter of an inch away from the motherboard tray. The mounting of the cooler is not designed to take this extra quarter of an inch into it's design specifications..  The likely reason your motherboard pan might have holes there is so that you can get to the cooler from the otherside without taking the whole motherboard out..

I fear if you try to mount the extra 1/4th of an inch distance to the pan then you likely will crack your CPU die when attaching the heatsink as the extra 1/4th inch travel will add that much extra tension onto the CPU die..

The computer case came with these 1/4 in. spacers, which screw into the motherboard pan. I put a spacer in the pan for each of the exterior holes of the motherboard, and the hole in the center. There are also 4 holes off to the side of the center hole in the motherboard, where the cooler frame attaches. The motherboard pan has 4 holes in those positions as well. I was thinking, I could put 4 1/4 spacers in these holes, and attach the cooler frame from the top of the motherboard, through the motherboard, directly into these spacers.

What case do you have?

I have a ThermalTake ArmorPlus case.

Agree with Sidicas. Your case isn't designed for that and you'd likely destroy your CPU without proper measurement/modification of the cooler and case mounting mechanism.

It might be possible to do with extensive modding, but it really isn't worth it.

The only place i've ever seen this is on an OEM Compaq PC. But the entire mounting mechanism was custom designed in that case.