SERIOUSLY AM I GOING MAD?!

monster_munch · 16 Apr 2020 at 16:50

Basically, I paid a computer company to build a PC for me. Dropped it off today.

My CPU cooler is https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/cpu-air-coolers/hyper-212x/#

He's build the CPU fan so that it spits off the hot air from the CPU and fires it at the GPU? Surely the FAN should blast air out of the case and not in ????

Build below. Back of case to the left, CPU fan in the middle.

https://ibb.co/gJDSrQn

Is this normal?

Zefan · 16 Apr 2020 at 16:54

It looks like the fan is pulling from the bottom, pushing through the heatsink, especially looking at the product page.

I imagine they mounted it like this, as opposed to the fan being on the right hand side passing air through to the back of the case, due to insufficient RAM clearance, but it's hard to know for sure from your picture.

:edit: hmmm no, given it a second look and there would definitely be room for the cooler to be rotated 90deg anti-clockwise. Definitely strange, but not as bad as if it was firing down.

Screenbeat · 16 Apr 2020 at 16:59

Have they out the ram in slots 1 and 3? Im Im sure if only two stick they should go in slots 2 and 4. I have that board and I used slots 2 and 4

monster_munch · 16 Apr 2020 at 17:04

Ram is in slot 2 and 4. The coolermaster manual shows the fans going horizontal. not vertical? I'm so confused. I've never seen a CPU fan go up or down before

Screenbeat · 16 Apr 2020 at 17:06

It does look an odd way to fit the cooler but if is pushing air up through the heatsink id imagine it will work fine.

ttaskmaster · 16 Apr 2020 at 17:07

monster_munch said:
Is this normal?

No... but not entirely unheard of, either.

But it looks like the aim was to push air up through the heatsink and out through the top and rear exhaust fans. It can also help drag air from the 'dead zone' beneath the GPU, up between it and the case window, which creates more negative pressure, which then draws more cool air in through the holes to feed the GPU.
Not sure how effective that really is and you generally need an powerful fan to do it, but that is the theory behind it, anyway...

alec · 16 Apr 2020 at 17:08

Assuming the fan on cooler is blowing upward, not that unreasonable configuration.
I think there is some synergy in air moving from bottom to gpu to upper (larger) fan, rather than rear.

Without actual testing hard to say which direction (bottom-top or front-rear) cpu cooler alignment wins.

Tetras · 16 Apr 2020 at 17:42

Wouldn't like that myself, but if it works it works? Some cases have more powerful fans in the top too (assuming that's where the air is going), one of mine has one 140mm top and one 120mm rear.

Grimley · 16 Apr 2020 at 18:48

You are not alone. This is a Build I did for my sister a few years back. For some strange reason, AMD decided to make the holes rectangular in their FM2+ boards so some 3rd party coolers can only be fitted horizontally.

The cooler is this one:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler= £23.99

Total: £31.38 (includes shipping: £7.39)

I assumed the best air flow for a cooler would be vertically, AMD thought otherwise & it frustrated me when I built it. My own AM4 build is how it should be with a vertically mounted 3rd party air cooler.

freddie64 · 16 Apr 2020 at 21:10

Not sure if you want to change it yourself, but this video shows how to do it.

Or you could show the video to the company that built it so they know how to put it right.

orbitalwalsh · 17 Apr 2020 at 06:08

Bequiet was the same . They did AM4 brackets for their coolers but made them horizontal . They then released kits in retail box to make vertical (standard ) mount .

bazzabear · 17 Apr 2020 at 11:37

Grimley said:
....

Off topic, but have you got a drive at the bottom there suspended with bungee cord? What's the thinking behind that, never seen it before!

chroniclard · 17 Apr 2020 at 11:45

Could just flip the fan round so it pushes air out the top but then it will just be taking the heat from the back of the GPU.

I have always mounted CPU coolers so they blow air front to back out the back vent. I would rotate it if possible and just check which direction all the other fans are running in, easy to swap around the air flow.

ttaskmaster · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:14

bazzabear said:
Off topic, but have you got a drive at the bottom there suspended with bungee cord? What's the thinking behind that, never seen it before!

Old school way of isolating the drive and eliminating vibration noise. Used to be quite common.

bazzabear · 17 Apr 2020 at 13:51

I assumed it must be something like that. Interesting!

Grimley · 17 Apr 2020 at 14:28

bazzabear said:
Off topic, but have you got a drive at the bottom there suspended with bungee cord? What's the thinking behind that, never seen it before!

Its a 'Bungee Mod'. If you don't like the noise a Hard Drive makes in your PC case when it spins, this mod solves that. I've been 'Bungee Modding' Hard drives in PC Cases for ages.

Here's a thread about it.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/hdd-bay-bungee-mod.18269719

WantoN · 23 Apr 2020 at 11:09

bazzabear said:
Off topic, but have you got a drive at the bottom there suspended with bungee cord? What's the thinking behind that, never seen it before!

Back in the day this was very common, I've had plenty of PCs with bungee drive mounts. HDDs used to be rather noisy.

On topic, If temps are fine, it wouldn't bother me. My guess is there's a reason, and I'd be ringing up to find out why if you're bothered by it.

If you're picky about these things, it's always best to do it yourself; no one's going to put as much time and effort into a build as you doing it for yourself.