Tips for Installing an Air Cooler

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Derek Semeraro
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Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 6:49 am

Tips for Installing an Air Cooler

Post by Derek Semeraro » Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:33 am

This can be a frustrating part of PC building for many beginners, particularly with vague instruction manuals.

1) Install the RAM before the cooler. Also, you may want to connect the cables from the power supply onto the motherboard before installing the cooler because it may be a lot more difficult to do so later if the cooler is consuming a lot of workspace inside the case.

2) Screw the screws in evenly (i.e. 5 turns on each screw in a zig-zag order)

3) If your cooler comes with metal screws that are inside little plastic screw anchors, you may need to apply extra pressure to get them in.

4) Look at the back of your motherboard when you are mounting the cooler. Sometimes this may require removing a little panel inside the case that is behind where the motherboard goes. Do this to check if all the screws are mounted the same way (and some coolers may require you to attach something to hold the screws in place on the back.

5) The fan should be facing the same direction as it does on the picture of the box. Don't confuse the direction of case fans from CPU cooler fans. Case fans often blow in the direction of the face, but many CPU cooler fans spin in reverse. When in doubt, plug in the fan and power on the system for a second before mounting it.

6) If using a medium or large cooler, which is the majority of coolers out there, the fan and cooler should be attached in a way that it runs along the same path as the front case fan(s) and the back case fan. You want to face the cooler in a way so that the fans in the case are all aligned.

7) Fan clips, as far as all of the one I know, are attached horizontally and not vertically. They should look like ears on a face. The clips should be pulled back and snapped into place.

8) If the fan is wobbly, the installation is not correct. If the fan clips are on correctly, you should be able to tug on the fan without it coming off.

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