New CPU heatsink & fan. Need advice

[xanterra66]

I have a Arctic Freezer 13 Limited Edition CPU Cooler(link below.) My problem is that there is only one orientation that will really work and that is to have the fan face the back of the case. If I try top-down, then the sides of the heat sink will make slight contact(I.e. i can run a piece of paper between the two with a little effort.) with the heat spreader on my RAM. If I try having the fan face the front, then I can't snap the fan on because the RAM is in the way.

My question is, will having this fan suck air from the back of the case cause too many problems? Am I better off just leaving the stock fan in there? Will this cause heating issues for the RAM?


Any help is appreciated.





http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-186-049&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=5&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29#scrollFullInfo

 

[xunicronx]

I think it will depend on how your other fans are faced. If you have fans in the front blowing hot air backwards, and then you have the heat sink blowing hot air forwards, then I don't think that will work because you will cause sort of a typhoon effect (a bunch of hot air twirling around in the same spot).

 

[xanterra66]

I think it will depend on how your other fans are faced. If you have fans in the front blowing hot air backwards, and then you have the heat sink blowing hot air forwards, then I don't think that will work because you will cause sort of a typhoon effect (a bunch of hot air twirling around in the same spot).

Will it matter if the CPU heatsink is touching the RAM a little bit? That is the other configuration that might be possible.

 

[xunicronx]

I think that could work as long as the fins of the heatsink are touching the "motherboard" part of the memory and not the actual "chips". One thing to keep in mind is that the fins of the heatsink "could possibly" cause a short and "maybe" damage the memory or the memory damage the CPU. It probably won't happen but you never know. Also something else to probably think about is the memory might fluctuate in size depending on the temperatures (expand) and could probably press against the fins of the heatsink and may pop out of the memory slot. This probably won't happen either, but it's something you could probably take into consideration.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Why not just flip the fan around leaving it in the same spot and have it blow the other way ?

 

[xanterra66]

Why not just flip the fan around leaving it in the same spot and have it blow the other way ?

Fan side is narrower than the back side.