So the TL;DR is I want to know if anyone has cut or modified a heatsink's FINS to make it fit better or put it somewhere it wasn't meant to fit, and if they have, what was their experience and what was the process like.
THE FULL STORY:
I have an ASRock Deskmini A300 and I love almost everything about it, it has been super fun to work with, and I am getting it to a comfortable place in overclocking, but it's a little toasty. it currently has a stock AMD Wraith Stealth cooler (shroud and standoffs removed to allow it to fit) and that does an okay job for the APU but next to nothing for the VRM, RAM, and M.2.
So I want to replace the stock fan (roughly 95^2x25mm) that is mounted DIRECTLY onto the CPU heatsink with a modified 120^2x15mm fan mounted to the top of the case.
My concern with having a fan mounted on top of the case rather than to mounted directly to the CPU heatsink is that there will be turbulence or stagnant air; because there is no exhaust fan in the tiny case, the overpressure from air being forced downward through the top will interfere with air getting stuck around little bits or in corners where the case doesn't have vents.
But if there is already a 95^2x25mm height fan in there, why not use a 120^2x25mm instead of a x15mm?
Good question! I initially wanted to, but sadly there isn't enough clearance for the RAM if I use a 120^2x25mm. I would have to trim down the fan to something like 22mm tall, and I don't trust myself to do that well enough to not run into balance and noise issues.
So ultimately I was thinking of taking something like a Noctua L9x65 and removing fin height until it fits closely to the 15mm fan. But by my math that means removing something like 21mm of fin height and might be dangerously close to the heat pipes.
Fluid dynamics isn't exactly my area of expertise, so maybe I'm completely wrong about everything and shouldn't worry about it! Let me know what you guys think and if you've had any experience with this kind of thing.
THE FULL STORY:
I have an ASRock Deskmini A300 and I love almost everything about it, it has been super fun to work with, and I am getting it to a comfortable place in overclocking, but it's a little toasty. it currently has a stock AMD Wraith Stealth cooler (shroud and standoffs removed to allow it to fit) and that does an okay job for the APU but next to nothing for the VRM, RAM, and M.2.
So I want to replace the stock fan (roughly 95^2x25mm) that is mounted DIRECTLY onto the CPU heatsink with a modified 120^2x15mm fan mounted to the top of the case.
My concern with having a fan mounted on top of the case rather than to mounted directly to the CPU heatsink is that there will be turbulence or stagnant air; because there is no exhaust fan in the tiny case, the overpressure from air being forced downward through the top will interfere with air getting stuck around little bits or in corners where the case doesn't have vents.
But if there is already a 95^2x25mm height fan in there, why not use a 120^2x25mm instead of a x15mm?
Good question! I initially wanted to, but sadly there isn't enough clearance for the RAM if I use a 120^2x25mm. I would have to trim down the fan to something like 22mm tall, and I don't trust myself to do that well enough to not run into balance and noise issues.
So ultimately I was thinking of taking something like a Noctua L9x65 and removing fin height until it fits closely to the 15mm fan. But by my math that means removing something like 21mm of fin height and might be dangerously close to the heat pipes.
Fluid dynamics isn't exactly my area of expertise, so maybe I'm completely wrong about everything and shouldn't worry about it! Let me know what you guys think and if you've had any experience with this kind of thing.