Tight squeeze

[salimai]

I purchased a new system and just put it together today. I barely got all my hardware to fit, with the exception of one thing: the extra fan I added to the side panel of my case bends a fin on my CPU heatsink if I leave it attached. So what I'm wondering is if that is really a problem? My CPU is an AMD 9950BE and the cooler is a Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer. Advice?

 

[YourGodOnEarth]

You could always mount the fan on the outside of the sidepanel and buy a metal wire finger guard for about $1 to screw to the outside of the fan.
Just a thought, if you really must have the fan for extra cooling.
Or look for a low-profile fan of the same size (80mm, 92mm, 140mm, etc.) to keep the fan inside the case for a clean look.

 

[blackwidow_rsa]

^+1
or get a bigger case as a last resort

 

[geofelt]

Bending a few fins on the cooler won't hurt a bit. Just be certain that the fan is not pushing the cooler off center of the chip.

A side fan is sometimes not helpful to cooling. It tends to disrupt the good front to back air flow. Try turning the fan off and see if it makes a difference in cooling.

 

[salimai]

Thanks for the replies! I'll go ahead and take the fan off, as it seems it will likely be doing little to no good anyway.