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Question about new AX-7

C

Cat13

Golden Member
Just recieved my shipment of fans and heatsink. I got an AX-7 with the enermax adjustable and 1/2 dozen L1A's to replace the case fans and PSU fans. They will be going in my Cybertec case when it gets here Thursday. My question is when mounting the enermax on the heatsink, should I use the included rubber spacers or go flush? I supoose it would help damping the vibration, but will the gap let the cooling air escape too much? Will I be getting the most effective cooling?

I guess I could just try it out each way and compare, but this thing is one heck of a hunk of metal. I would like to just set it up once and leave it be 😉

Thanks for the inputs! 🙂
 
hmmmm, I doubt an eighth of an inch(if that) would do any harm, and as far as vibration goes, there really shouldnt be any, with or without the spacers.
 
I just mounted the "adjustable" Enermax fan on a GC68 HS and did not use any rubber spacers or grommets. There is no noticable vibration at all; very smooth. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
USE THE SPACERS!!! The principle source of fan noise is from turbulence off the tips of the fan blade. Space between HS and should be between 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Back before I replaced my screaming Delta I did several things that reduced the noise. First put a 5 ohm resistor in fan's 12 volt line. This dropped RPM from 6800 to 6200. Nice improvement. Next used spacers; this dropped RPM to 6000. This indicates that fan "loaded up" better pushing more air and the noise dropped dramatically! The Delta fan was still too loud, but was much more tolerable. USE THE SPACERS!!

Good luck,

Gene396
 
Let me backtrack a bit here. If the rubber grommets/spacers came with the HS, then I would use them; if nothing else than for the very reason stated by Gene396. However, if they came with the Enermax, I would not use them. The HS is/was designed to use as it comes out of the box. If the builders/designers think it should have the spacers, use them. If it does not come with them then don't, as you would be throwing something into the fray that could potentially hinder the performance of the HS.
Gene, the mods you made to the Delta I'm sure made it more "tolerable" to you but you also defeat the purpose of the fan itself by lowering the rpm's and yes, potentially by using the spacers. I'm not saying that this would be the case in all instances, much less yours; but if you back off the fan from the HS you run the risk of allowing a bit more backflow or "dispersion" of the air channel which could mean a difference in the net amount of air that covers the HS. My 2 cents worth. 😉
 
Buz2b, you make several really good points. The reason I came upon the spacer/grommets idea was in looking at the newer Global Win FOP38. It showed yellow plastic spacers which did not come with my HS/fan. I placed grommets in HS and as you read was much happier. I later upgraded to a XP1600+ retail. Did not like the heavy copper Global Win HS, so decided to try the retail H/S with modified Delta. The fan that came with it was too "thin;" which in my opinion would not move enough air. The way that the H/S was constructed; there is a "gap" between fan mount and HS. Therefor, did not use spacers. This combonation does a good job. Runs 96 F idle and 104 F under load in Flight Simulator when room temperatures are in low 70s F. For whatever it is worth; a friend has a PAL 8045, which has built in spacers of about 1/4 inch. There is a difference as this HS sucks are rather than blowing.

My suggestion is to try both with and without spacers. Getting a fan off is not near the job of replacing a HS. Again, maybe these ideas will help someone.
 
Thanks for the inputs. I used the spacers since they came with the heatsink. Went on with no problems. I have noticed a decent drop in temp. I am running a 1.2 t-bird right now (gonna upgrade to an xp next month) and I get roughly 36-38c. From what i have read that is in the ballpark for these chips. They seem to run hotter, I hope 😉

 
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