Question Which way around should I mount my top down cooler? Just curious

[RAIDGoblin]

I now have my new cooler! (kind of, I won't be mounting it until Christmas when I get my new PSU, but I am test fitting it to check my math was right). I feel a tiny bit cheated because the brackets that are supplied for AMD only let me mount it in two orientations, but the intel brackets let you mount it in 4, I had wanted it the way around I can't mount it, but ow well

Looks like I have a choice between two ways to mount it (test fit only so no fan in photo's, fan will be mounted to underneath of heat-sink blowing downward),

with the fan overhanging the chip set:

or with the fan overhanging the RAM:

mobo without cooler:

I don't think it will affect the case air flow either way, I plan to cut an intake hole in the case directly above whichever position I pick anyway (it basically touches the top of the case). It could potentially fill the PSU with warm air more if it is over the chip set but IDK if that would be an issue? (I could put a divider in so the PSU takes fresh air from outside if that turns out to be a problem) Aesthetically I like it more over the chip set, instead of over the RAM where all the wires and backs of the drives are in the way and squished up etc...

But before I make my decision based solely off of eye candy, I wondered if any of you had an opinion, if it is important which way around I pick. What gets hotter/would benefit more from the cooler fan, RAM or chip-set? feel free to share opposing opinions, I am interested and if it really doesn't matter that's fine too

thx for any input

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When I'm using this cooler, my system specs will be:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Be-quiet Dark Rock TF2 (with only one fan) - GPU: Radion HD7770
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M Gaming, Micro-ATX
RAM: 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz
Storage: 240GB Corsair MP510, M.2 (boot drive for Debian 10), 2x 1TB Seagate BarraCuda (RAID 1)
PSU: Corsair SF Series (2024) 750W SFX, OS: Debian 11, Use: Minecraft, Video/photo editing, Digital art

 

[Ralston18]

My input:

1) Forget any considerations regarding "eye candy" - that should not be a consideration at all. If it works out - fine.

2) What instructions and guidance does the case User Guide/Manual suggest?

3) What instructions and guidance does the cooler User Guide/Manual suggest?

4) Not sure about the location of other fan(s). Overall you need to consider the locations, sizes, and airflows any other fans that will be installed. Remember that hot/warm air rises and the airflow directions should take advantage of that.

Plus you do not want more intake than exhaust or internal airflow directions that effectively result in air not really moving at all. Or flowing as to miss some areas all together.

Wondering about that fan next to the PSU....

It may be that you are limited to two orientations versus the 4 orientations you would like to have had.

However, consider (when thinking about the overall build) that perhaps neither of the two available orientations may be workable.

You are certainly on the right track and asking questions is a good thing.

Sketch out the cooler, fan, airflow directions etc. for the configurations that are being considered.

You can scan and post sketches as well.

Very likely that you or someone one will spot a potential problem beforehand.

No harm in planning and delving into the details.