cpu fan (n00b question)

[BurningSpear]

My fan, I just noticed, is blowing *away* from the cpu, instead of blowing air *onto* the cpu. Is this what is supposed to happen? Or do I need to unmount and flip the fan over? I only checked cuz my comp had been crashing a LOT lately and checked the cpu temp - 116 deg Fahrenheit after a couple hours of reinstalling OS and drivers.

Specs
AMD Athlon 1.0Ghz
ASUS A7M266
256MB DDR PC2100 Crucial
SBLive 5.1 MP3+
Win98SE
DX8.1b
Radeon 9000Pro 64mb

[powdahound]

116f is a-ok. :) (By the way temps for computers are always in celcius, 116 degrees fahrenheit = 46.6 degrees celcius)

If you're curious you could go switch the fan around, it couldn't hurt really. Some heatsinks work better the way you have it, others don't. Test it out and see what happens. :)

[SpaceDrake]

You should check how the heatsink is designed, really. If there are large areas UNDER the fan for air to come in through, then the fan is operating correctly. If there isn't, well, dur. :p I do believe most fans push air away from the CPU, however, so overall you want the fan on your CPU, one on your GPU, one strong fan pushing air into the case, and one strong fan pushing air out of the case.

BTW, 116 is OK in my book but on the warmish side. Good cooling doesn't let the component get too much hotter than room temperature (unless you've got that mofo overclocked on stock cooling. ;) )

[FireFrenzy]

You would think blowing it off would be best, get the hot air off the heatsink. If it were blowing in, it wouldnt be that cool anyway, since the inside of your box must be pretty warm also.