Best CPU and case fan orientation?

[Slugbait]

I just got a TT Armor full tower case and a Tuniq Tower 120 delivered today. I'll be mounting the Tuniq on an X6800.

I got a Yate Loon LED fan for the Tuniq. It is not adjustable, it spins at 1300 RPM...while the stock fan is adjustable from 1000 to 2000 RPM.

Yes, I wish to OC the proc. How much OC with stability, I assume, will depend on the air flow in the case with a heatsink fan that maxes out at 1300.

Conventional wisdom tells me the fan in the Tuniq should direct air from front to back, pushing air toward the exhaust fan. This is the way the TT was designed anyway for best case temps.

However, what if I were to reverse the direction of both the rear-exhaust (so it blows directly at the Tuniq) and the Yate Loon inside the Tuniq (back-to-front)? This will obviously will bring in more air, although there is considerable open area at the top for warm air to flow out both naturally (as well as with the top fan and top-rear fan). In addition, the Mushkin PSU I got is a dual-fan.

What say ye? Would reversing the rear 120 case fan and Tuniq fan provide more CPU cooling, or am I better off with the current airflow design?

Thanks

 

[idiotekniQues]

your proposal, IMO, would be worse than the standard configuration. the PSU dual fan will not make things better, but very likely worse.

if it is easy to change the direction of the tuniq fan, why not experiment and run benchies?

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: idiotekniQues
your proposal, IMO, would be worse than the standard configuration. the PSU dual fan will not make things better, but very likely worse.

Not sure what you mean by that...the case is designed with a fan-driven PSU in mind. I pointed out that it has dual fans simply because it would possibly help remove the additional air brought in by reversing the lower exhaust fan.

if it is easy to change the direction of the tuniq fan, why not experiment and run benchies?

I don't think there's much point in that...the exhaust fan is right next to the Tuniq, so the fans would compete in pulling air in different directions. The idea I had is that the exhaust fan is reversed to provide air directly onto the Tuniq, and then the Tuniq has a reversed fan to help that air thru the radiator, all in one direction.

Yes, I considered pulling it apart to try both configs I described to run case temp and CPU temp readings...but if somebody already knows from their own experimentation that the current case airflow design is best, it would save me time doing this. Running benchies wouldn't be of much use if one config produces higher temps than the other.

 

[idiotekniQues]

Originally posted by: Slugbait

if it is easy to change the direction of the tuniq fan, why not experiment and run benchies?

I don't think there's much point in that...the exhaust fan is right next to the Tuniq, so the fans would compete in pulling air in different directions. The idea I had is that the exhaust fan is reversed to provide air directly onto the Tuniq, and then the Tuniq has a reversed fan to help that air thru the radiator, all in one direction.

umm yeah. when i asked if it was easy to change the direction of the fan on the tuniq, i didnt mean just change the direction of the heatsink fan. if it required dismounting the heatsink from the mobo, then obviously it would be a bigger PITA than if you didnt - thus making testing the configuration mentioned more time consuming. obviously that would entail reversing the rear exhaust as well.

but i am fairly sure your results would show it to be less effective.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
I got a Yate Loon LED fan for the Tuniq. It is not adjustable, it spins at 1300 RPM...while the stock fan is adjustable from 1000 to 2000 RPM.

Yes, I wish to OC the proc. How much OC with stability, I assume, will depend on the air flow in the case with a heatsink fan that maxes out at 1300.

1300 RPM?!?!?

Um...

I don't think you'll be doing any OC'ing at 1300 RPM!

Tuniqs require a lot of air... 1500-1750 RPM minimum, IMHO.

2000+ is a bit much, for regular use, but helpful when pushing to the extreme.

Anyway, I would rethink that 1300 RPM idea. It's gonna limit you, guaranteed! 😀