Air Flow CPU advise

[masHugac]

Hey there, guys!
Well I just got my rig down a few days ago and thought I could get some tips from you folks.
I have installed the cpu cooler be quiet! shadow rock, but experienced the big problem that it won't fit with my high profile Corsair Vengeance on the proper side.
Hence, I had to flip the whole thing around, wich also means I had to flip the rear fan so it takes air in.



Now I am not sure, if it is stable this way, I also have a massive heatsink under the cpu cooler, over the graphics card.

So , now's the question, does that make any sense? How can I optimize it? Any tips for me?

With the best regards.

[AMDforME]

There is always a challenge with finding the best airflow for a given application. I would start by determining if you have any temp issues when your CPU is under full load such as with P95. If no over-heating issues then it's a matter of how much time, money and effort you want to invest to lower the CPU temps a few degrees more.

Having the fan drawing air thru the heatsink usually results in less efficiency than pushing the air thru because these types of fans do not draw air well. They are better at pushing than pulling air. IME the difference from the fan pushing or pulling is typically 2-3C so it's not an earth shattering difference and probably only of major importance if your CPU is running too hot under full load use. Otherwise either push or pull will work just fine.

The GPU heatsink in close proximity may not be a significant issue if you have proper airflow thru the case so that the CPU cooler isn't drawing pre-heated air thru the CPU cooler. You can actually use cardboard or sheet plastic to separate the CPU cooler from the GPU heatsink if necessary. Any non-electrically conductive material like this can also be used to make air directors to get the incoming cool case air to flow where you want it too such as to the CPU cooler.

I'd start by running some tests and see what temps you have. You can see the benefits of std. height RAM DIMMs is very advantageous for close fitting large HSFs. It's unfortunate that the RAM makers hype the top mounted heatsink RAM (for greater profit), as there is no need at all for top mounted RAM heatsinks on any DDR3 RAM and it causes clearance problems with many HSFs.

[STEvil]

as long as the fan is blowing towards the rear of the case you should be fine. If you want slightly better performance you can use tape to block off the open areas between the heatsink and fan at the sides.

[masHugac]

Well the temps on the cpu aren't much a problem, as in idle mode on tartup its around 28?C, in games mostly 37-48?C. But the thing is when I go back to Idle after a while, it is about 34?C. So I think, the heated air doesn't get exhausted back to top-middle fan as I expected (There is an airflow from bottom-mid fan to top-mid fan).
I guess that could get an issue after a while, didn't check the gpu temps yet, but I bet it's above average.

as long as the fan is blowing towards the rear of the case you should be fine. If you want slightly better performance you can use tape to block off the open areas between the heatsink and fan at the sides.

That's the thing, it's not blowing towards the rearfan but it's pulling from the rear fan (I flipped the rear fan, too, so it's intaking air from outside), because I had to flip the cooler.
As you mentioned sidefans, would it make any sense on this setup? What do you think?

[AMDforME]

The only temp that matters is the full load temp. You are well below the max 24/7 operating temp for any desktop CPU. Side fans can make the situation better or worse depending on many factors as you aren't controlling where the heated air is flowing.

[masHugac]

The only temp that matters is the full load temp. You are well below the max 24/7 operating temp for any desktop CPU. Side fans can make the situation better or worse depending on many factors as you aren't controlling where the heated air is flowing.

I see, well, now that I realised that the CPU cooler fan of the the dark rock pro sr1 can be easily flipped due to detachable mounting rubbers (Well thought, be quiet!) the problem solved it self.
I guess I'll try a side fan out somedays and look how it behaves, thanks for the thoughts!