xp90 setup

[jonesmaster]

Ive heard so many conflicting ideas about the best way to set this HS up, I need more input before deciding.

Some people say aim the HSF so it's blowing down into the HS, some say aim it to blow air away. Which is better?

Another bone of contention is the HSF itself. Panaflo? thermal take silent cat? Zalman?
Im looking for best decibal to cfm. Looking to overclock a 4200 to around 2.5ghz.

thanks

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The theory with blowing down is: Blow cool air onto the heatsink so you cool the heatsink off, and it will draw new heat from the CPU. Stock coolers do this. Many retail HSFs do this. My XP-120 + Panaflo does this.

Blowing up theory: Catches the warm air and circulates it up, so a rear case fan blows it out. My coworker told me this.

Now, it will depend from case to case. I prefer blowing down for several reasons.

1) My temps work better with fan blowing at XP-120
2) I have OCZ VX and that runs hot if I clock it at 250+ 2-2-2. Air blowing down cools it nicely.
3) My PWMIC gets cooled too.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

First off, Get a PANAFLO fan...... there f'ing sweet

now i know they are made out to be loud, but i have a 92mm Panaflo on my XP-90, and at full its not that loud, and it doesnt have an anooying whirl to it, more like a gentle hum


second, have the fan blow down, it will not only cool better, but it will help keep your RAM, MOFSETTS and other mobo components cool as well (the XP-90 has a good size overhang for cool air to go down onto the mobo)

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I recommend you test case by case because it will differ depending on your case's airflow.

However, if you need RAM cooling/MOFSET cooling, definitely blow down.

Panaflos are actually quite loud (the medium ones and up). If I undervolt to 7V, it runs pretty damn quiet, but at 12v, its quite loud. My Seasonic and Yate Loon fan will not blow louder than my Panaflo.

If you're looking for quiet, Nexus or Yate Loon is the way to go. Panaflo will be a good general purpose fan.

 

[asicman]

Blow the air into the XP-90 and use a Panaflo L1A - it's plenty quiet and moves a fair amount of air.

 

[KayKay]

The ThermalRight xp-90 works best with fan blowing down.

the fan that comes with the retail version, is very quiet. 44.79 cfm @ 35 db and you'd think 35 was loud, but i have a zalman f2 92mm and it is 58 cfm at 36 db and that is loud

the heatsink is ridiculous. never over 32 celsius when web browsing and listening to music etc etc. never over 38 when gaming

 

[Rike]

If you do go with a Panaflo fan, be aware there are different versions. Look for the suffix -L1A, as asicman mentioned or -L1BX. These are the lowest speed of the Panaflo line but they still move quiet a bit of air with very low noise.

There are also -M1A (medium speed) and -H1B (high speed) among others. Just be sure you know what you're buying. Jab-Tech.com is one of my favorite places to buy stuff like this. They've never let me down.

Edit: I've always had my HS fans blowing down and I've been happy with the performance.

 

[w00t]

I have two 92mm panflo H fans in my shuttle in push and pull configuration it has a nice sound not any annoying sounds.