1 Fan vs 2: Chapter 2 - Push vs Pull

so confirmed my testing in my push vs pull vs push pull

so at lower clocks/temps, pull is better, although I would generalize and say that pull is usually better because normally the cpu isn't stressed that far, so because the temps are lower normally, pull is indeed better for general use.

However I would like to point out, I think at least, ehume has his rear grill cut out, which helps when it comes to the pull. With a rear fan however, would pull still be better ehume? I don't know if you have a case with a rear grill still attached to test this.

where'd my comment go?? *sniffles*
i even dropped a + rep..

airdeano

Good information as usual. Thanks.

This is very useful information, thank you!

I wonder if there is any gain or loss if you were to use a different-sized fan for pull than you did for push, in a two-fan setup? I ask because my first build was an AMD FX51 +SK8V + X800XT PE and the CPU was cooled by a Thermaltake Silent-Tower HSF. It used 4 heatpipes and had an aluminum shroud around the fins, supposedly to act as an air chamber (to keep air from leaking out), and came with a 92mm octagonal fan in a "push" position. Interesting enough, the mounts for the opposite side (for adding a pull fan) are both 92mm and 80mm spacing, with the recommendation being to use an 80mm fan if you choose to use a second fan.
Now, this computer was built back in 2004 (!) but it's something that I have always wondered about, as I did run the HS with the stock 92mm fan pushing, but about a year after I built it I wanted to push it a bit harder so I replaced most of the case fans with 30-50% stronger ones, and added an 80mm fan to "pull" air through the heatsink and hopefully augment the 92mm and allow higher overclocks and/or better temps.
The result was that I was able to push the chip to 2510mhz from 2200mhz stock, and the RAM was also able to go a bit further as well despite being registered/ECC Corsair XMS3200RE (slightly worse latency than regular RAM, but the stuff was indestructible!). Prior to changing all of this, I would get stuck at about 2350mhz, give or take.
Also, the temps were only a degree or two higher despite the significant increase in overclock, and the OC'd X800XT PE dumping heat into the case faster than it could be removed.

I am sorry I don't have any more recent examples, and this is something that has always bugged me... I figured that the difference in fan size and speed may have contributed to an increase in air turbulence, thus increasing the cooling potential of a given quantity of air? Also, before I forget, there was an exhaust fan about 2-3inches behind the 80mm "pull" fan (exhaust fan was 92mm) and I never could figure out if they were mutually beneficial or harmful...

*Case Fans were as follows: 1x 92mm front-lower intake, 1x 92mm top exhaust, 2x 80mm side intake, 1x 92mm rear exhaust, 1x 80mm PCI slot exhaust-blower two slots below the X800, 1x 60mm South-Bridge fan (added by me), and the top PSU which had 2x 92mm fans and exhausted air outside (1x fan on the bottom pulled air thru the PSU from the case, and the second one blew it out the rear of the case).


I decided a while back that I wanted to get this bad boy up and running again, as it "died" a few years ago but I couldn't ever figure out what happened. So I have the entire thing taken apart, and I have been slowly cleaning every bit of every part, lapped the HSF and CPU, cleaned the GPU'S heatsink, meticulously washed and re-lubed every fan, and so forth. I miss the days when overclocking was a nerve-racking experience, the BIOS was a confusing DOS screen, and the FX51 was the absolute fastest consumer CPU ever and the first time that AMD had beaten Intel not only in the consumer market but also the Enthusiast market.
I have also stripped the case (a Tt Xaser V Extreme) down to the bare aluminum and I am trying to figure out how best to modify it... I have cut out the fan grills, but I really want to see how modern air cooling affects the performance of a system built 8 years ago. To that end, I am changing the top exhaust by cutting out the existing hole to 120mm and adding a second exhaust hole for a 92mm fan, the front intake will be cut out to fit a 120mm and a second front intake will be added by fitting a 120mm fan into the spare 5.25 bays, a 120mm fan will be fitted to the HDD rack to help "pull" the air that the front- lower intake is pushing, the rear exhaust fan will be upped to 100mm, the bottom of the case will have two holes cut out for 120mm fans, the side panel fans will be switched from 2x80mm to 1x120mm, and a high-speed 92mm fan will be mounted to the inside of the rear PCI slots with the covers removed in order to exhaust the GPU heat. Lastly, I am going to be cutting my own CPU backplate opening in the MB tray, cutting the behind-the-MB-side side-panel to support an 80-92mm fan and use it to exhaust hot air from behind the CPU (seen it done in modern cases, figure it can't hurt).
Coupled with some very much improved MB cooling (VRM/MOSFET Heatsinks, a much-larger SB Heatsink, direct airflow from a duo of 60x15mm fans, and thermal paste with a drop of super glue on 2 corners instead of thermal pads), the newly-lapped HSF and CPU, two new CPU fans (1x 120x38mm PMB-MAT 2600rpm Panaflo 138cfm/8.3mmHg SP pushing and a second 120x25mm Scythe Slipstream 1900rpm/110cfm fan pulling with a 25mm thick plexiglass shroud between it and the Heatsink allowing it to dump air directly out of the case), Antec's Nano 7 Diamond TIM (whatever it's called, but I know it's the 7), and Arctic Silver Ceramique applied to the GPU and VRAM/VRM/MOSFET on the card in contact with the heatsink, and the wires hidden as best as is possible behind the MB tray courtesy of a few holes I will be cutting for cable routing but with IDE drives and a non-Modular top-mounted PSU, it's definitely not going to be pretty.

Anyway I apologize for the very long post, I have been stuck in a Dr's waiting room so I am rather bored.

I do very much appreciate the time and effort you put into doing these tests, and the information is great. Thank you!

Hmmm, so you get better gains from/push pull at low RPM fans than you do from high RPM fans. That was similar to what martin210 got.

Good work

Will do! I agree, it will be quite interesting to see the absolute best of everything from 2004 vs (very close to) 2012!