Hsf

[MaxPower]

I just learned something about the fan that attaches to the heatsink. I read that it is more effective to attach the fan so that the label is facing down twords the heatsink. Thus the fan is blowing air directly on the heatsink.

Now I myself always thought that you should put the fan on the opposite way. Thus the fan acting as an exhaust. And i never questioned anyone about this because the exhaust way just seemed right to me. But i am now expirenceing some heat issues and i bet it is because i have the fan reversed .

Has anyone else ever thought that the fan on the heatsink should be seated with the label facing upward!?!?

[UserName]

Being politicaly correct i find i dont like talking about lables.

Fans should blow into heatsinks. God said so.

[nihili]

Fans should blow on to heatsinks. Unless they work better the other way. Then they shouldn't.

A lot depends on the heatsink and the details of your airflow. But generally most heatsinks work better withthe fan blowing rather than sucking. Alphas are an exception to this rule.

nihili

[Diggrr]

Since you've already reversed it once, why not try it both ways and pick the best way by the temperatures they give?
Just go with what works best for ya man, darn the torpedos and full speed ahead.

[UserName]

nihili;

Y R alphas excepted?

[nihili]

Originally posted by UserName
nihili;

Y R alphas excepted?

I don't know *why* they work that way. I just know that Alpha recommends sucking the air off some of their heatsinks and that review sites often agree with them. It's stil best to test your own system in both directions. Reversing fans is easy, and there are just too many variables to make any absolute statement about which direction is best.

nihili

[Patchmaster]

I tried my Alphas both ways and it didn't really make a difference. On my dual celery system they actually worked best with one blowing and one sucking, but the difference was very small.

What DID make a difference was removing the 60mm, 30cfm fan and setting up a big Comair/Rotron 235cfm fan blowing over both fanless heastsinks. Temps immediately dropped 8C.

[Yodums]

Originally posted by Patchmaster
I tried my Alphas both ways and it didn't really make a difference. On my dual celery system they actually worked best with one blowing and one sucking, but the difference was very small.

What DID make a difference was removing the 60mm, 30cfm fan and setting up a big Comair/Rotron 235cfm fan blowing over both fanless heastsinks. Temps immediately dropped 8C.

Whoa how loud is the Comair Rotron?

Shows how useful airflow is.

[Thelemac]

Heatsinks work better with the fan sucking when they have a shroud on them (depends on other factors, but that's how you can tell by looking at them), as it gets air to go through the lower parts of the fins as well. If the shroud wasn't there then you're really only getting airflow over the top portion of the fins.

[Patchmaster]

Whoa how loud is the Comair Rotron? I have it connected to a giant rheostat. I normally run it turned down to the point where it's not much louder than the power supply (which is itself a bit on the noisy side). When I turn it all the way up it really moves the air and makes quite a lot of noise; much more than the average person would be willing to put up with fo long. I run it that way only when the room is warm or when I'm not going to be home. Turning it all the way up will always bring the temp down at least 3C.
Shows how useful airflow is. Conductivity, surface area, and airflow -- those are the three basics.