CPU cooler fan direction?

[Putolev]

Hello!
I'm planning to buy a new CPU cooler for overclocking a bit. The OCZ Vendetta to be exact. Now I'm not experienced in these things and a little confused about how should I mount the cooler. On many articles and forums I've found alot of mixing information. In the end it all depends on the air flow of the computer case but I don't see a clear air flow pattern inside my case.

- Well my case doesn't have an exhaust fan in the rear to suck the warm air out. There is a hole for it though.
- Right above the CPU there is a hole for a fan and a tube directly to the CPU.
- Also the PSU is right next to the CPU and has a 120 mm fan on the bottom that is sucking air from the direction of CPU.
- No other fans in the case (except for GPU).

So, which direction should the fan be blowing?
I hope all that info was confusing enough.
I can give additional info and take pictures from the inside of the case if you need.

[kosmokrator]

take one photo of ur case....
as i imagine ur right setup must be the fan of cpu cooler must be "looking" your memory's...

[Putolev]

Ok, here are a couple of pictures. I hope they make the point. Don't be afraid to ask for more/better pics.
The CPU tube and hole are in the first picture.
Also, GPU has its own air grill in the case cover that can be partially seen in the first picture.

I was quite surprised to realise that the CPU cooler has screws instead of those standard Intel push pins. I've looked at the cooler many times before but didn't realise it. Will this be an issue because the Vendetta has those push pins?

[kosmokrator]

ok some tip s

1)try to fix the little mess of wires using tie warp to make more free space to air flows...

2)install one 120mmm fan at the back in ur case...
instal the fan to push air out side the case...

3)instal the new cpu cooler as i suggested(looking to memory modules...)


also as i see if im not wrong u have asus p5k mobo right?

frindly...

[Putolev]

1) I'll fix the wires.

2) The rear hole grill is about 80 mm in diameter. I'll find some fan to the rear.

3) Yeah it's the P5K.

Do you have any idea about the current stock CPU cooler mount? It has screws instead of push pins.

And thank you for your replies so far!

[kosmokrator]

well first time i see this stock intel cooler...
usually Intel factory coolers have clips to mount the cooler...

try to remove the screws and i think there must be some base that keep the cooler on mobo...
so u may need to take of all the mobo to remove the base for new cooler installation ....
hope u understand...

[Putolev]

Yeah I understand. I looked behind the MoBo with a mirror and saw a somewhat X-shaped rear bracket.
Hmm, seems like I'll need to remove the MoBo even with Vendetta cooler. Well it's just going to be a little more work.
So, the fan needs to be facing the RAM, question answerred! I'll also remove the tube for the CPU.

Thank you alot for the answers!

[kosmokrator]

no prob mate...
its my pleasure to help when i can!

[johnorun]

There is a fan inside the Power supply that is also drawing air from inside the case.
Maybe the new case fan will make it harder for the Power Supply fan to draw enough air also??

Air flow formula needed?

[Putolev]

Yeah it might not be smart to put a small 80 mm fan next to the big PSU fan to fight for the air.

[D.8080]

Maximum diameter for rear fan is 92mm, find a fan "silent" on the 1000-1400 rpm.

Try to find a silent one for the front, if there is room for one (usually on the bottom front).

[Chiefish]

Actually I wouldnt worry about any fans fighting for air as there are most likly places all over the case where air will come in from, especially the front , usually there are fan grills there and they will let plenty of air in the case, just try and get a nice flow thru the case in this situation I would get the flow to go from front to rear and out. I would also remover the cone that comes in from the side cover to the cpu and replace it with a fan that will keep a nice flow over both the cpu cooler and the memory.

[Putolev]

Thank you for tips everyone! I'll see about buying extra fans a little later.

I got a problem.
I bought the OCZ Vendetta and installed it. Installation went well even with the awkward Intel CPU push pins. The fan runs (and is installed the right way) but the idle temperature hasn't dropped. I use Real Temp 3.0 and it shows:

- Old cooler kept the CPU at around 49 C in idle.
- New OCZ Vendetta didn't drop the temperature. It stays around 50 C at idle also!
- I removed the chassis cover and that dropped the temperatures to 44 C at idle. Also GPU temperature dropped nicely. I'll keep it like this until the problem is found.

Could be that I screwed something up. Installation wen't well though. The cooler is securely on top of the CPU. I checked the spread of the thermal compound after fitting the cooler on the CPU once. It looked like it should at least according to the instructions of this GUIDE. I used the boxed thermal compound. I also have some Spire silver compound that I can use if you suspect that is the problem.
Now I believe the problem could be here. I heard the new CPU fan speeding up during the boot but then the nice high speed whine stopped. I tried changing settings in BIOS so that the system can control the fan speed but no change either. This is what I changed there:

- CPU Q-Fan Control --> Enabled
- CPU Fan Profile --> Performance (to get the best out of it)

I heard the high speed fan whine when I was in the BIOS but it stopped as soon as I saved and booted. Feels like the system isn't controlling the PWM of the fan. And yes its connected to the 4-pin CPU fan plug. Am I missing something in the BIOS or elsewhere? My MoBo is Asus P5K.
I have the SpeedFan software and could take some advice using it also.

A little frustrating to see no results from a big 30 € cooler compared to the stock one.

EDIT: I also cleaned up the mess of wires by using zip ties. They are in control now. And if you want some pictures of the installation or other things I'll provide them in a jiffy!

[Chiefish]

Check and make sure that speedfan is not in control of the cooler fans first. If not then go into bios and disable all the fan speed options and see if the rpms pick up any when you go back into windows. Qfan is an option that actually helps to keep the rig more quiet not more cool. I do not know what cpu you are running exactly but even my quad core with a stock cooler only idles at around 36c. and under full load maxes out around 42c ..Plus how hot is it in the room that you keep the computer in as the cooler can only cool it to the ambient temps that are there.

[Putolev]

That worked. Now that feels like a weird logic.
I put the case cover back on and it idles at around 44 C right now with maximum fan speed. It gets quite loud then.
Well the fact is that my case isn't very well ventilated. I'll look for additional fans. My room temperature is 25 C right now, it's a warm day. Normally it's around 22 C.
The Vendetta is working but don't you think that with three times the surface area and larger fan it should give much better drop than only 5 C in idle temperature?
My CPU is Core 2 Duo E7200 at stock speed.

A quote from NewEgg.com customer reviews: