Alpha 8942 - Sucking or Blowing? (the fan)

[bertfivesix]

hey party people,

just got me an alpha 8942, with a vantec tornado 84 cf/m fan - haha..loud as f*ck, but that's what the rheobus is for - , and as i was looking at the installation guide (i was thinking about winging it, but hey, it's my baby..), and the diagram showed the fan being installed with the fan flow pointing up/out/away from the heatsink. in the past, i've done my heatsink fans pointing down. anyone try it both ways? the fans, i mean. which direction provides better cooling?

just for kicks..my system specs:

p4 2.4b or 2.53b (still missing don't buy from compuex.com..damn backorder futhermuckers)
abit it7 -shrug- no legacy..let's see if it works well..
bout a gig corsair cas2 pc2700.
maxtor 40gig ata133 fer boot
(2) WD 120gig special ed. in raid0
gainward geforce4 ti4600 - the freakin best g4. get it. NOW! :|
tdk velocd 40x
16x dvd
audigy plat.
geforce 2 mx400 pci w/tvout driving.....
5" lcd module mounted in the front bezel of......
lian-li pc75 with a nice Punisher applique in the window
viewsonic vx900 19" lcd.
pcmods.com rheobus
10 ft. of glowire el wire lighting
12" sound-reactive cold cathode from xoxide.com (for fps gunfire and loud music - otherwise, i like a dimly lit case)

and now, i'm poor

 

[THUGSROOK]

it depends on the way air flows thru your case...

(for me)
sucking = 52*C max
blowing = 47*C max

youre gonna have run your own tests.
about 15mins of prime95 is all youll need to do.

HTH

 

[SupermanCK]

here we go again...the sucking and blowing question...

 

[LastRide]

How about suck and blow at the same time .

 

[THUGSROOK]

oh those hippies are smart @sses arent they?

 

[LastRide]

Looks like were headed back to the 70's-80's.We could build an army of hippies in this forum alone .What if you were to stack 2 fans on the heatsink.Bottom one blowing and have the top one sucking.Nah!,I assume that would disturb the air flow of both fans..What a lame brain idea by LastRide:frown:.I bet someone has tried it though..LOL.

 

[Duvie]

For me blowing improves cpu temps by 1c, but it will raise sys temps by 3-4c and blows more hot air onto yhe ram, mobo chipset, and top of my radeon card....

Like thugs said...do your own test, but definitely try them both out...

 

[bertfivesix]

thanks for all your help, you guys..

i guess i'll be trying it both ways, probably sucking first, as i've discovered in dry runs that the fan makes a whistling noise when blowing down with the mudflap-girl laser cut fangrill in place :frown:
hopefully that won't be the case when sucking. heh, like it really matters. the damn thing sounds like a dremel!

 

[30wolverine30]

Blowing air ON TO the heatsink is the way to go. Blowing or sucking you are still using the air inside the case. Unless you duct the air in from the outside.

 

[CrawlingEye]

I got better results with sucking, but then again, I do have a negative pressure in my case.

You can search back for the other thread regarding the PAL8942(T) and see my post.

 

[P4spooky]

I have a Alpha PAL 8942 installed on EPOX 4G4A+. Currently using Sanyo Denki 80X25MM fan (30CFM, 28DBA). I want to install a 53CFM 80X32MM Sanyo Denki that I have. The screws supplied with Alpha are not long enough to accomidate the 32MM fan thickness. How are you guys installing a Tornado on this heatsink. Any source that sells longer screws? I checked Home Depot and they are not even close.

HELP

 

[jhites]

Alpha seems to always recommend that the air flow pulls from the base of the heatsink and out thru the top (in other words sucks). The fins are designed that way. Only Mfg that shows the air flow that way as far as I know.

I set it to suck on a new installation and run it for a couple of days, then test it like Thugs said both ways under load to see if there is any gain either way. Currently my 8942 is sucking (no pun intended).

 

[Duvie]

Blowing air ON TO the heatsink is the way to go. Blowing or sucking you are still using the air inside the case. Unless you duct the air in from the outside.

Yes, but blowing often causes the air to be heated by hot fins just as it gets scoured over the top of the mobo...That hear is warmer then ambient air and is blowing over the mobo chipset and top of my radeon card....

My system temps which normal high is 31c load hit 35c with blow method...blow reduced cpu by 1c max and that is hardly worth the system temps...

 

[bertfivesix]

p4spooky --

i got mine at heatsinkfactory.com, and they supplied me with these long-ass screws that go from the top of the fan to the base of the heatsink. methinks since i got the fan and heatsink as a combo, they included the specific length screws. they also matched the alpha screws, so maybe they order longer screws from alpha? shrug. see if heatsinkfactory will sell you longer screws, ya?

 

[Dug]

it depends on the way air flows thru your case...
(for me)
sucking = 52*C max
blowing = 47*C max

Is that with the 8942?

I really want to get that heatsink because of the price performance and sound....
but that new MCX4000 looks very good.

 

[CrawlingEye]

Originally posted by: P4spooky
I have a Alpha PAL 8942 installed on EPOX 4G4A+. Currently using Sanyo Denki 80X25MM fan (30CFM, 28DBA). I want to install a 53CFM 80X32MM Sanyo Denki that I have. The screws supplied with Alpha are not long enough to accomidate the 32MM fan thickness. How are you guys installing a Tornado on this heatsink. Any source that sells longer screws? I checked Home Depot and they are not even close.

HELP

I had a couple of washers lying around the house, so I put it through only the bottom holes and then just put the screws through with like 4 washers on top of each bolt, it works just fine.

 

[P4spooky]

Guys:

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I will contact heatsinkfactory to see if they would sell just the long screws. I am going to try with using just the bottom hole to attach the 32MM fan.

Thanks