Cooling & Fan Positioning

Norwood · 24 Dec 2010

I understand that the golden rule is:

Top and back: Exhausy
Front, bottom and side: Intake

However, my setup seems a bit odd.

So, as you can see the CPU fan is blowing downwards, towards the video card which itself has a fan blowing downwards. Both of these are blowing towards the side fan, which I have configured as intake.

I purchased that CPU cooler because I was always seeing high temps with the standard heatsink. I'm not seeing much of a difference.

So I'm wondering if I should turn that side fan around and make it an exhaust. I know it's recommended in some situations, so I'm wondering if this is one. That's an awful lot of hot air blowing downwards, struggling to find it's way upwards - that CPU cooler is a strong fan.

Ideas? Thougts?

linnemeyerhere · 24 Dec 2010

I like it ! Really the golden rule should be same volume of cold air in as hot air out. Then the other concern is circulation in the case and dead zones !

Dwarf · 24 Dec 2010

Fans in the system should be arranged to assist the natural flow of air through the case. This is generally from the front (bottom) and side to the rear and top. Where possible, all internal fans should follow this protocol. Looking at the image of your heatsink and fan, I think you've mounted it upside down. In this orientation, the fan is effectively disrupting the natural flow of air through the case. Can you reattach it so that the fan is on top?

linnemeyerhere · 24 Dec 2010

Fans in the system should be arranged to assist the natural flow of air through the case. This is generally from the front (bottom) and side to the rear and top. Where possible, all internal fans should follow this protocol. Looking at the image of your heatsink and fan, I think you've mounted it upside down. In this orientation, the fan is effectively disrupting the natural flow of air through the case. Can you reattach it so that the fan is on top?

+1 to this ! Enhancing natural convection air flow is what most of us go for. But as these fans are very forceful if you're not dealing with OC'g or SLI/Crossfire then options abound !

Norwood · 24 Dec 2010

Dwarf said:

Looking at the image of your heatsink and fan, I think you've mounted it upside down. In this orientation, the fan is effectively disrupting the natural flow of air through the case. Can you reattach it so that the fan is on top?

That's what I was beginning to suspect. I didn't really look at their "directions" except to reference the direction in which they recommend the fan point, and it appeared as though their diagram had the fan pointing in the direction of the other slots (PCI etc).

But I think it is blowing the wrong way...so I'll see if I can turn it around (damn, more thermal compund) and then I'll reattach the side fan to be intake.

With that CPU cooler, there's no reason why I shouldn't be seeing lower temps, so it's obviously PEBKAC.

toddincabo · 24 Dec 2010

I have that same cpu cooler..Freezer 64 Pro. You should have it mounted (if possible) so that the fan is blowing through the fins toward the back exhaust fan.

These instructions are in the install guide, so I take it you did not install it, or it is not possible because of clearance issues with ram or whatever.

I have mine installed as suggested and added a small intake fan in the front of my case in two empty adjacent bays that let air flow directly into the Freezer 64 fan and my temps dropped by an easy 8c from the already low the Freezer gave. My temps are around 30c running my Athlon 64x2 5600+ doing regular stuff.

Spin that baby 90 degrees and pump that air to the back. The Freezer 64 Pros' are great coolers and I recommend them to anyone.

Norwood · 24 Dec 2010

toddincabo said:

I have that same cpu cooler..Freezer 64 Pro. You should have it mounted (if possible) so that the fan is blowing through the fins toward the back exhaust fan.

These instructions are in the install guide, so I take it you did not install it, or it is not possible because of clearance issues with ram or whatever.

Spin that baby 80 degrees and pump that air to the back. The Freezer 64 Pros' are great coolers and I recommend them to anyone.

I most certainly did install it...

It appeared - to me - that the diagram in the instructions showed the fan blowing towards the slots.

Perhaps I misread it, and had taken the suggestion from the previous poster.

But thanks.

stormy13 · 24 Dec 2010

toddincabo, Norwood has the Rev2 of the AC Freezer Pro and it only goes on that way,

unless the mounting bracket on the motherboard is turned 90° (and on most AM2/AM2+/AM3 boards the bracket is the same, it is very rare to get one that is rotated). On an AMD based board if you want a AC Freezer Pro and have the fan facing front to back, you need to find (if you can seeing as they have been discontinued) the older one like this,

Newegg.com - Open Box: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm Ceramic CPU Cooler

P.S. Seeing as no one mentioned it,

So, as you can see the CPU fan is blowing downwards, towards the video card which itself has a fan blowing downwards. Both of these are blowing towards the side fan, which I have configured as intake.

both of those fans are in fact blowing upwards, not down. They may be oriented to the bottom of the case, but they are not blowing that way.

toddincabo · 24 Dec 2010

[QUOTE=stormy13;1145714]toddincabo, Norwood has the Rev2 of the AC Freezer Pro and it only goes on that way,

Wow , that sucks

Norwood · 24 Dec 2010

Ok, that was a mistake.

Turning the heatsink around caused the temp to skyrocket simply browsing with Firefox. I must have had it on correctly to begin with...just as the pictures in the directions showed.

Which brings me back to my original question...if stormy13 is saying that the video card and CPU coolers fans are, in fact, blowing this way:

Pic

Then it would make sense for that side fan to be an intake...but I don't see how the video card fan is blowing air through the card, as opposed to away from it.

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