Grem Five wrote on 2026-04-10, 18:06:

The ones I have seen draw air through the HS by way of a shroud and rear case fan. […]
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wierd_w wrote on 2026-04-10, 17:25:

The original design likely used a big black plastic ducting cowl that uses the PSU's expelled air as the airsource, with the cowl connected at the sides.

Since using psu air that way is garbage, i'd rather DIY a proper fanmount.

The mounting locations are on the sides.

The ones I have seen draw air through the HS by way of a shroud and rear case fan.

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That, too, is new to me. I'm guessing the shrouds have a different name...? Nothing comes up for me on Google.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-04-10, 17:58:

Great. Thanks for doing that. 😀 Can't say I've ever seen them set up on the sides before. I certainly learn something new every day. 😁

Well after getting some of the Dell ones with the later cheaper HS and seeing the mount holes on them it made me take a second look at the hoop kind.

I dont think Dell ever mounted fans on them that way but made sure the HS were designed where they could. From Dell at least I have only seen these designs in there horizontally mounted cpu slots, on the Dell Seattle and similar style vertical cpu boards the heatsinks were a different design.

wierd_w wrote on 2026-04-10, 16:54:

Air will take the path of least resistance. […]
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Air will take the path of least resistance.

To work on the sides like that, it needs to either:

1) be on both sides, as 'expeller' fans, so air is taken in from the opening in the center, then pulled through the grills. Needs to be on both sides to work effectively.

2) be on one side as an 'impeller', with an air duct manifold to prevent the air just escaping out the grill after being pushed in.

I'd personally suggest a different option entirely.

3) 3D printed manifold that attaches to the heatsink at both sides with retention screws and knurled inserts. Has provision for dual noctua fans as impellers. (Similar to ott's setup, with exhaust out both sides. Fans mounted to the printed manifold. Manifold mounted on the screw provisions on either side)

You're right, air will take the path of least resistance. However, heat will dissipate throughout the entire heat sink, so if even half of it gets ventilation, all of it will be cooled very much.

EmberBlitz07 wrote on 2026-04-10, 13:38:

Off topic but I feel a little bit of joy every time I see these CPUs. Got a 400MHz one myself with an Intel fan

Here's a photo of it:

It's a very nice thing, isn't it?