![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
I have not seen reference to anyone installing a fan on the lower side of the Silverstone NT-06 lite heatsink. However there is enough room under the heatsink between the heat plate to install a 25mm thick fan. This is ideal in situations where you're using the NT-06 in a passive manner without an upper fan (think Silverstone SG-01 case). Right now I just zip tied a dirt cheap Silverstone 80mm fan under the heatsink blowing air upwards through the HSF and into my Corsair HX620 PSU. Did I notice a difference? Yeah - over 10C at load. At 2.8ghz, 1.3v, on a E6420 I was seeing load temps between 64-67C. The PSU was hot to the touch as well, and I'll mention more about a mod for the Corsair HX620 below. After, I clocked the processor up to 3.2ghz, 1.4v (1.35v load), and my load temps are between 56-58C. I have no doubt without the modification, my load temp would be in the lower 70's, so the real delta is probably closer to 13C.
When I pull the heatsink the next time, I'm going to try and flip the fan bracket upside down and mount a 120mm fan on the bottom side. The bracket is screwed at the center line into the heatsink sides, so it may be flippable. I just don't know if it will have enough clearance That would really be nice as not only would it cool the heatsink, but it would draw air over parts of the board. The Silverstone 80mm fan certainly had a positive effect, and it's basically inaudible. The only thing I think you'd have to contend with is clearance between the parallel ports with a 120mm fan. I figure if a 120mm did not work, a 92mm fan could fit in there.
I have a couple of pictures here: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery2/v/misc/sg01e/
I mentioned the Corsair HX620 above. The PSU has a pretty robust fan, but the PSU does not want to spin it up. My PSU was very hot to the touch and it was still spinning away slowly. So I opened up the PSU and replaced the stock two wire fan with a three wire Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 63.7 CFM. I ran the wires out the fan grille (plenty of room) and plugged it into the CPU header. I'm running the fan at 100% and it's very quiet. The results are the PSU is much cooler to the touch and I'm sure that extra air flow is also helping keep the CPU cooler. I have no doubt that the stock fan can put out more than 63 CFM due to it's amp rating, but I'm not sure how hot the PSU has to get before it starts spinning it up. Too hot for me personally.
Both mods do not require any physical modifications and can be accomplished in 15-20 minutes. They can also be easily reversed. I'm probably not the first to figure out this stuff, but hey I figured I'd post what I did. I just had not seen it referenced and since the results were favorable, I figured I'd share. I know guys were putting a 80mm fan on the back of the PSU and with these two easy mods, that is not necessary.
When I pull the heatsink the next time, I'm going to try and flip the fan bracket upside down and mount a 120mm fan on the bottom side. The bracket is screwed at the center line into the heatsink sides, so it may be flippable. I just don't know if it will have enough clearance That would really be nice as not only would it cool the heatsink, but it would draw air over parts of the board. The Silverstone 80mm fan certainly had a positive effect, and it's basically inaudible. The only thing I think you'd have to contend with is clearance between the parallel ports with a 120mm fan. I figure if a 120mm did not work, a 92mm fan could fit in there.
I have a couple of pictures here: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery2/v/misc/sg01e/
I mentioned the Corsair HX620 above. The PSU has a pretty robust fan, but the PSU does not want to spin it up. My PSU was very hot to the touch and it was still spinning away slowly. So I opened up the PSU and replaced the stock two wire fan with a three wire Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 63.7 CFM. I ran the wires out the fan grille (plenty of room) and plugged it into the CPU header. I'm running the fan at 100% and it's very quiet. The results are the PSU is much cooler to the touch and I'm sure that extra air flow is also helping keep the CPU cooler. I have no doubt that the stock fan can put out more than 63 CFM due to it's amp rating, but I'm not sure how hot the PSU has to get before it starts spinning it up. Too hot for me personally.
Both mods do not require any physical modifications and can be accomplished in 15-20 minutes. They can also be easily reversed. I'm probably not the first to figure out this stuff, but hey I figured I'd post what I did. I just had not seen it referenced and since the results were favorable, I figured I'd share. I know guys were putting a 80mm fan on the back of the PSU and with these two easy mods, that is not necessary.
