Does this cooler suck or blow oo-er!

MDian · 10 Oct 2013 at 16:30

Just waiting to receive my BeQuiet! Shadow Rock CPU cooler and planning my install. Does anyone know whether this fan blows air away from the huge radiator, or suck/draw air in, as I'm trying to figure out the best positioning of the fan.

Also, with this cooler, would it be fairly safe to overclock the 4770K from the standard 3.50Ghz to say 3.7Ghz without looking for a better cooling solution? (don't have a clue how to do it, but wouldn't mind a bit more speed without pushing it so my mate doesn't retain bragging rights that his CPU is faster!)

stulid · 10 Oct 2013 at 16:31

The fan draws air in and blows it over the heatsink stack.

Most fans have a airflow and a direction of rotation arrow moulded on the plastic frame.

andicole0 · 10 Oct 2013 at 16:35

Depends which way around you fit the fan.

Usually the air flows from the side with the label on, so in the OCUK picture the air would flow through the cooler. But you can of course turn the fan around.

3.5 to 3.7 should be no problem.

Andi.

MDian · 10 Oct 2013 at 17:19

Thanks guys, so with that in mind (air being sucked in to the rad), it would make logical sense to have the fan facing towards the front of the case where there is a clear line of sight of the front fan which is also sucking cool air in from outside.

My only concern (apart from fitting it) is that it will reduce the air-flow in the case given the large size of it. Would that be correct or might it actually help? I'm half tempted just to use the stock CPU cooler on the 4770k for now if it is up to the task (no o/c)?

shadow_boxer · 10 Oct 2013 at 17:19

Tbf an overclock of 3.7 will be perfectly fine on the stock cooler. Remember the i7 4770K turbos to higher than that anyway. With that cooler you should be good for 4.3GHz at least it not more depending on how good your cpu is.

doyll · 10 Oct 2013 at 17:38

The side of fan with no braces is intake. The side of fan with braces to center hub is exhaust. All fans I've seen with normal fan shrouds are this way.

Something Else · 10 Oct 2013 at 18:09

The fans come attached to the heatsink anyway afaik.

MDian · 10 Oct 2013 at 19:08

shadow_boxer said:
Tbf an overclock of 3.7 will be perfectly fine on the stock cooler. Remember the i7 4770K turbos to higher than that anyway. With that cooler you should be good for 4.3GHz at least it not more depending on how good your cpu is.

Oh really, that makes me wonder if I should just use the stock fan for now then and save the £35 paid for the BeQuiet. Just think the BeQuiet might be a little excessive for my rig and destroy the air-flow but not sure.

doyll said:
The side of fan with no braces is intake. The side of fan with braces to center hub is exhaust. All fans I've seen with normal fan shrouds are this way.

Sorry but I really didn't understand that; I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand which is a braced side etc.

doyll · 10 Oct 2013 at 19:56

First picture is front / intake side of fan, second picture is back / exhaust side of fan.
http://www.thermalright.com/images/fan/x-silent_120/350/front45.jpg

http://www.thermalright.com/images/fan/x-silent_120/350/back45.jpg

panyan · 10 Oct 2013 at 20:10

MDian said:
Sorry but I really didn't understand that; I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand which is a braced side etc.

doyll said:
First picture is front / intake side of fan, second picture is back / exhaust side of fan.

The front side has that round bit in the middle (the hub)

The back side holds it to the frame so you get the plastic arms

stulid · 10 Oct 2013 at 21:40

The cooler comes out of the box with the fan already attached the correct way around.