To Suck, or to Blow ????

I was wondering if it would be better to have the fan on the HS sucking or blowing.  I have an exhaust fan right above the cpu mounted on the case and i've read somewhere that having the cpu fan pulling air away from the heatsink then allows the the hot air to be pulled out by the exhaust fan resulting in more effective cooling of the cpu.  R

ight now i have my cpu fan blowing air onto the heatsink and have idle temps of about 45 degrees celsius and around 50-51 under load, do these temps sound normal for a AthlonXP 2100+ that has not been overclocked yet?  

i would keep the fan blowing. Your temps seem a little bit high. What kind of HSF are you using?

its a thermalright ax7 w/ an 80mm panaflo 32cfm fan

[vee_ess]

If the fan is near the source of heat, then it is better to pull the air out, as pushing would only disperse the hot air and raise the ambient temperature. If the fan is not near the source of heat, the it is better to push the air, because:

• pulling would not get rid of much heat, only some ambient
• cool air would come in and lower the ambient temperature and help to force the hotter air out

[Uranium-235]

I prefer suck, then blow.

Realize I'm not talking about cooling solutions

The bottom line here is this. Your heatsink fan should be blowing air. You should then have a couple of fans sucking air out of the back of your computer near the CPU. Also, you should have some fans blowing air in from the front and from the side panel. That to me is the least amount that you should have. Just make sure that you have the same amount going in as you do going out.

[MIK3]

i just have to point out that this is a pretty catchy thread title...i would have to go with blow on this one cuz more heat is overal distributed out of the computer system its self...

[vee_ess]

Well it depends on other factors, like I said before, but it doesn't make a big difference most of the time so that is why a lot of us stick with blowing.
[quote author=Uranium-235 link=board=voided&num=1023454360&start=0#4 date=06/07/02 at 20:28:09]
I prefer suck, then blow.

Realize I'm not talking about cooling solutions
[/quote]
LOL. Aren't they the same thing in that context?

[MIK3]

haha! yeah u got a point there vee_ess, i was just realizing that when i read that quote...but i could see where he would say that, being that it is kinda an oximoron if u say blow and u actualy suck, know what i mean.. (man what an informative thread this is turining into...i might add)

Yes, I agree. Now I can tell woman to suck and blow.