CPU cooler problem

willd58 · 24 Feb 2006 at 19:28

I think iv installed my CPU cooler the wrong way up, iv got a K8n Neo platinum 4 S754. Nothings overclocked, its a huge thing, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro.

Which way should the fan be facing, up or down? its pointing down atm really close to my Graphics card and i have no thermal paste to move it.

Heres a dodgy paint diagram

Now im useing a program called speed fan 4.28 and its telling me its at 50C!!

what have i dont wrong, not put the thermal paste on correctly, put the fan on upsidedown. I cant take it off til tommorow as i need to buy some thermal paste and cleaner it seems, i really should have looked into this more before trying it!

Lonz · 24 Feb 2006 at 20:27

I have/had the same problem, my ASUS Star Ice cooler will only fit the wrong way round if I want to run my RAM in Dual Channel mode. It makes little difference to the CPU temp tho. Perhaps you haven't put enough gloop on? Or too much for that matter...

Itsjody · 24 Feb 2006 at 21:55

I have my arctic cooler setup that way, the fan is very close to the back of the GFX car as youirs is, i don't know wether its right or wrong, my temps are not freezing but im pretty happy with them - 45 - 48 full load.

willd58 · 25 Feb 2006 at 00:11

My temps are around 48-50 without really doing anything, I dont really know much about CPU temps so...

pegasus1 · 25 Feb 2006 at 13:45

You will be using warm air from the GFX card to cool your CPU which is never a great idea, if your gaming then your CPU temps will go through the roof as the air around the GFX card heats up.

willd58 · 25 Feb 2006 at 16:21

At what temps should i get worried about my CPU? When i have the fan set low to reduce noise and the side of the case on, the tempriure is about 58 to 60C, is this ok?

PARUK · 25 Feb 2006 at 18:56

Well temp readings can vary wildly from board to board (even bios to bios) so it's hard to say, though most people like to see < 60 deg at heavy load.

Personally I'd be inclined to bite the bullet and get the cooler rotated by 90 deg. If we call the side of the cooler that has the fan on it the "front", then it should be facing the front of your case. That way the air that has been heated as it passes through the cooler gets sucked straight out of the case by your rear fans. And, hopefully the air entering the cooler is.. cooler (especially if you have an intake fan at the front)

FWIW when I get a cooler that comes with thermal goop pre-applied, I generally:
1) Test the fan to check it's not DOA (don't mount it, just plug the fan into a spare header and see if it spins)
2) if all is well, I then remove the goop and use AS5

The reason for this is that most pre-applied stuff is a pain to remove once it's been used and seen a few load->idle cycles. AS5 generally performs better and is much easier to clean off later.