Fan orientation - Front to heatsink to rear fan

mtom01

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Sep 10, 2011
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I'm doing a new build, after looking at my fan orientation I think I might have some sort of air turbulence.

ATX Mid Tower Case ( http://www.ultraproducts.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=186334)

This case will have a 80mm fan in the bottom front.

I'm planning to use - Noctua NH-C14 as the CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608020) two fans which can either blow to the mobo or away from it.

The back of the case will have a 120mm fan.

So air enters the case from the front using the 80 mm fan; then the air gets pulled towards the cpu (2600K), and then air gets out using the 120mm.

Noctua NH-C14 was ranked 2nd in Frostytech, like to stick to it, except the air flow is giving me some concern.

Choice 2:

My other choice is to use Noctua NH-D14 cpu cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&Tpk=Noctua%20NH-D14).

In my mind the air flow from the front fan to the two fans of Noctua NH-D14 and then to the rear fan may create a smooth flow of air.

Noctua NH-D14 was rated 4th by Frostytech and its bigger than Noctua NH-C14, my case can accommodate both the heatsinks.

I'm new to building, can some experts suggest which heat sink would give optimal air flow.
 

Pilk

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Jan 6, 2010
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With the current cooler you are using i would govern the cooling to blow away from the board so the you cpu heat sits above the heat-sink, from there the front and rear fans should do the rest of the work for you.
 
Fans orientations are generally as follows:

Front, Bottom, Sides ---> Intakes
Rear, Top ---> Exhausts

Try to balance the Intake and Exhaust to within 15%. Personally, I lean towards a slightly higher Intake, because all Intake air will be exhausted because of fans and the numerous opening in the case.

The more fans the better. Back off when the fans sound gets to be intolerable.
 
Frostytech's test bench is the LGA 775 platform. As the current CPU's have a completely different heat signature, Frostytech's data is irrelevant. It has been conclusively shown that heat sinks perform differently with different heat signatures..... the machining, heat pipe orientation must be optimized for the chips die size, shape, core locations, etc.

http://www.frostytech.com/testmethod_mk2.cfm

FrostyTech's Mk.II Platform delivers a 150W and 85W heat load to socket 775 compatible Intel Pentium 4/D/Extreme Edition, Celeron, Core 2 Duo & Core 2 Quad class heatsinks by way of a 30mm x 30mm copper interface die.

Look for test sources which use the CPU platform you are using for accurate results.

Some HS's are designed to blow down and cool the memory, MoBo chips etc. The Coolermaster Gemini and Prolimatech Genesis fall into this category.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=62

Most coolers however are designed to blow up. Among the bet of these are the Coolermaster V6 GT and the Thermaltake Silver Arrow. If ultimate performance is your goal, the GT is the choice.....if noise matters, you give up little performance for dead quiet.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=674&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4

As for the case.....front, bottom and sides in ...... top an rear out.
 

Pilk

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Jan 6, 2010
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+1^ Jacky has some interesting information here, i think however that this has minimal impact on the dispersment on your cpus cooling, but very interesting, thanks for the post JAcky.