Should I rotate my CPU fan?

bloodiedathame · 3 Mar 2015 at 15:11

At the moment I've got my fan mounted as per instructions, however the fan is at the top of the case. It doesn't make any thermal sense the way it is mounted.

I think I installed it the only way round it could go but I can't be sure. If possible, will it be ok to rotate it 90 degrees so that it pulls air from the top of the RAM, blows it across the cpu heatsink and out of the back exhaust fan? I'm guessing that's the most efficient solution?

CPU is a 4770k and heatsink is an Alpenfohn Civetta.

snips86x · 3 Mar 2015 at 15:13

yeah - it should really be pulling air from the front of the case and venting out the back!

bloodiedathame · 3 Mar 2015 at 15:15

I'm guessing that I'll need to clean off the old thermal paste and reapply (you might notice I don't fiddle with PC's too often).

Time to dig out the AS5.

bloodiedathame · 4 Mar 2015 at 21:52

Goddamit that was fiddly. And I hate not knowing how my TP has spread (did the pea method).

Also wish I'd monitored my temps before changing things round... Any chance there'd be a saved log somewhere?

Oh and I knew there was a reason I hadn't done it before, the fan clips foul the RAM. So I took off the bottom fan clips and the RAM wedges the fan in place. I don't like this bodge.

Will probably look at another cooler, but RAM clearance will likely be a problem. Perhaps a Cryorig R1 Universal.

Currently rendering some heavy 3D work, CPU has been flat out for the past hour, temp hasn't gone above 75C. CPU fan is at 75%, made no difference sticking it at 100% other than giving me a headache.

sastusbulbas · 5 Mar 2015 at 18:17

Your fan should blow toward the rear of the case, if there is an issue with the fan hitting memory modules, if your only using two you can move them along to the next slots, or you can fit your fan to the reverse of the cooler so it pulls air through the cooler and still blows out the rear.

bloodiedathame · 6 Mar 2015 at 08:56

sastusbulbas said:
Your fan should blow toward the rear of the case, if there is an issue with the fan hitting memory modules, if your only using two you can move them along to the next slots, or you can fit your fan to the reverse of the cooler so it pulls air through the cooler and still blows out the rear.

Putting the fan on the reverse side, now that's a good idea. Will investigate. Thank you.