Fan question....I know, this sounds stupid.

but i am building my first computer and I have a thermaltake hsf. Not sure what kind it is, but it has a copper heatsink with little clips that you put on the fan with. The stupid part is...what way do I put on the fan? The side with the label up or the part that spins up? I'm too scared to turn it on, as I don't wanna fry the CPU.

Thanks, and sorry for the dumb question.

First of all to the forums next it wont matter which way you put the fan on first. Put the fan on with the lable showing switch it on and put your hand near it to feel which way the air is blowing personaly i like to have the air pushed through the heat sink.

thanks for the welcome and for the infomative answer. Can't wait to try it! I know I want mine to blow through the heatsink too. You all are awesome!!

Pushing might work better.

Welcome.

As long as the heatsink is properly installed, the direction of the fan won't fry the CPU. The difference is not too significant. I've always said that blowing on the heatsink is better, but seeing some tests lately the pull is working well also.

The sticker covering the bearing(the part of the fan that isn't moving) should probably be faced down so you can't see it. The spinning part should be on the top. That will most likely be the push method.

Don't worry about frying it, you could probably run passive just fine(I'm not recommending it). Besides, the CPU will throttle down if it's too hot, and eventually shut down. I don't think that modern CPUs can fry due to heat if a heatsink is properly installed. Of course it's not healthy in the long run.

Good luck!