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Help with fan configuration

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  • Water Cooling
  • Cooling
  • Configuration
  • Fan
Last response: in Overclocking
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September 24, 2014 6:01:14 PM

So, I'm a newbie builder (which will be apparent in a second).

My temps are through the roof.

I have an i7-4790K (no OC yet, because too hot) and a Cooler Master Seidon 120V (with Arctic 5 Thermal Compound). When I run an export through Adobe Media Encoder for a basic Premiere Pro project, my CPU hits 100 degrees Celsius. Whenever there's a tiny increase in load, the fans spin up higher but the CPU still hits 60 for a brief moment then comes back down, just when opening applications (from a 30 degree load). I think I'm running the fans wrong, but I need to know how to fix it:



Testing: (CPU temp, in degrees Celsius)
Battlefield 4 (Ultra, 1080p): 80 [45-55% load]
Titanfall (Ultra, 1080p): 60-70 [40% load]
Adobe Media Encoder (4MB/s, 1080p with some 4K downscaling)

Help would be greatly appreciated; this is my first build and I'm afraid to use it past Open Office documents and YouTube.

More about : fan configuration

September 24, 2014 6:07:31 PM

Front fan INTAKE
Side fan INTAKE
Rear fan EXHAUST
Radiator fan (top) EXHAUST

This setup will make a big difference in dropping the temps.
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September 24, 2014 6:11:40 PM

Ubrales said:
Front fan INTAKE
Side fan INTAKE
Rear fan EXHAUST
Radiator fan (top) EXHAUST

This setup will make a big difference in dropping the temps.


Because of the way my case allows for tool-less top fan mounting, I can't put the radiator up there with a fan. So should I put the radiator fan on the other side of the radiator so that it pushes air FROM the case THROUGH the radiator and OUT of the case?
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September 24, 2014 6:19:34 PM

Your CPU shouldn't be getting that hot even with the stock cooler. Re-seat it.

As above, air in front, bottom and sides. Air out top and rear. Try to have more going in that out - to pressurise the case slightly to minimise dust build up.
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September 25, 2014 7:39:58 AM

Rodebro said:
Ubrales said:
Front fan INTAKE
Side fan INTAKE
Rear fan EXHAUST
Radiator fan (top) EXHAUST

This setup will make a big difference in dropping the temps.


Because of the way my case allows for tool-less top fan mounting, I can't put the radiator up there with a fan. So should I put the radiator fan on the other side of the radiator so that it pushes air FROM the case THROUGH the radiator and OUT of the case?

Yes, that would be the right configuration for the air flow. The hot air from the radiator must be exhausted to the outside of the case. You will see a big difference in your favor.
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September 25, 2014 10:25:52 AM

Disconnect the radiator/fan from the back of the case but leave the pump/block attached. Power on PC.

Rotate the radiator so the tubes are 'down', see if this makes a difference. If so, you were the victim of a liquid cooling pump airlock.
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October 10, 2014 7:28:22 PM

Okay, I sort of had a combination of elements to form a solution:

I flipped the fans and rad so that I pull in air from the back through the radiator onto the fan (Fan<-Rad<-Case<-Outside).
I flipped the tubes "down" as rubix suggested.
I shifted the top exhaust fan so that it is immediately above the cooler's fan.

Now, I have light use (Spotify, Chrome, with a few background programs [Steam, Origin, some monitoring software]) for 26C-31C temps, and BF4 rarely hits 60.
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Best solution

October 10, 2014 7:42:18 PM

Outside <- case rear <- rad <- fan

This is an exhaust setup with fan pushing air from case through rad to the outside. Apart from the obvious of pushing the heated air out of the case, the air used is clean. Air from the intakes should be going through a dust filter, so air inside the case is relatively dust free. Unfiltered air pulled in from outside isn't.
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October 10, 2014 7:49:44 PM

Karadjgne said:
Outside <- case rear <- rad <- fan

This is an exhaust setup with fan pushing air from case through rad to the outside. Apart from the obvious of pushing the heated air out of the case, the air used is clean. Air from the intakes should be going through a dust filter, so air inside the case is relatively dust free. Unfiltered air pulled in from outside isn't.


Er, well, I actually ran it as an intake...I ran it as an exhaust and the tests showed higher temps (and I ran the exhaust second, so it had nothing to do with the thermal compound setting in.)
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October 12, 2014 10:15:18 AM

That's understandable. Your case will be slightly warmer than outside air because of things like your ram, gpu, VRM's etc all heating the enclosed space.

So let's say outside temp is 24. Case temp may be 27. Now add the radiator as an intake, you are pushing 40+ into the case. This decreases the efficiency of your gpu fans, vrm cooling etc. This is not a good thing for anything other than the cpu. If you add the radiator as an exhaust, you'd be using 27 instead of 24, but everything else inside the case will see 27, instead of the 40+. It's a trade off, slightly higher cpu and lower case, or slightly lower cpu and much higher case.

Me, I'd go for higher cpu and lower case. My OC will be more stable, gpu will run cooler during gaming, radiator stays cleaner and more efficient for longer.

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October 12, 2014 12:40:14 PM

As mentioned above, I would consider re-seating your heat-sink. I wouldn't expect the CPU to be running high in a poorly vented case with an aftermarket cooler.
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