Tower vs downdraft cpu cooler

[Greenslade]

Whats your preference Tower or Downdraft cpu cooler? It seems like Down-firing ones are in the minority now. and from the videos on youtube are more for small cases.

 

[Sithaer]

Personally I prefer downdraft mainly becuse of the design/aesthetic.
I'm not a fan of having big bricks in my PC and since I'm not using high power draw CPUs I could get away with a decent downdraft cooler thats also compact looking.

Sadly I couldn't buy a decent one when I've bought my 12100F in 2022 February cause at the time I couldn't find any in my country so I went with a smaller tower cooler from ID after using the stock Intel cooler for a month or so while waiting for downdraft coolers to show up but they didn't.
It works perfectly well but till this day I'm considering the idea of a new downdraft cooler since there are multiple options on the market by now. 'ID has one that I really like'

This is the one:
https://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/307/name/IS-55 ARGB

Memory clearance could be an issue but supposedly in a ATX mobo I should have enough space or worst case scenario rotate the cooler cause its possible according to ID.

 

[dgianstefani]

Tower is more effective.

 

[Greenslade]

Tower is more effective.

From watching the video i put on here, the guy has convinced me i will go for one.Is it a good idea to go for a second hand one ?This one Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 CPU Air Cooler With 4 Heatpipes 120mm PWM Fan i see it has had good reviews over the years i know it is quite old.£15 make an offer i will offer 12.50.I would go for the Snowman t6 or the m6 one if i could get them from a UK seller.

Personally I prefer downdraft mainly becuse of the design/aesthetic.
I'm not a fan of having big bricks in my PC and since I'm not using high power draw CPUs I could get away with a decent downdraft cooler thats also compact looking.

Sadly I couldn't buy a decent one when I've bought my 12100F in 2022 February cause at the time I couldn't find any in my country so I went with a smaller tower cooler from ID after using the stock Intel cooler for a month or so while waiting for downdraft coolers to show up but they didn't.
It works perfectly well but till this day I'm considering the idea of a new downdraft cooler since there are multiple options on the market by now. 'ID has one that I really like'

This is the one:
https://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/307/name/IS-55 ARGB

Memory clearance could be an issue but supposedly in a ATX mobo I should have enough space or worst I see your point theecase scenario rotate the cooler cause its possible according to ID.

Personally I prefer downdraft mainly becuse of the design/aesthetic.
I'm not a fan of having big bricks in my PC and since I'm not using high power draw CPUs I could get away with a decent downdraft cooler thats also compact looking.

Sadly I couldn't buy a decent one when I've bought my 12100F in 2022 February cause at the time I couldn't find any in my country so I went with a smaller tower cooler from ID after using the stock Intel cooler for a month or so while waiting for downdraft coolers to show up but they didn't.
It works perfectly well but till this day I'm considering the idea of a new downdraft cooler since there are multiple options on the market by now. 'ID has one that I really like'

This is the one:
https://www.idcooling.com/Product/detail/id/307/name/IS-55 ARGB

Memory clearance could be an issue but supposedly in a ATX mobo I should have enough space or worst case scenario rotate the cooler cause its possible according to ID.

I see your point about aesthetic..I looked at that Cooler you gave a link to. .I looked it up on Amazon it got a lot of good reviews..

 

[Bill_Bright]

Tower is more effective.

As a generality, and if talking strictly about cooling the CPU only, then I totally agree - a quality tower cooler may provide better cooling. But exceptions abound. Not all tower coolers are equal. And of course, not all downdraft coolers are equal either. But certainly, with a quality downdraft cooler, you can get very effective, more than adequate cooling too.

It must be pointed out that "cooler is better", when it comes to electronics, very often is NOT true. Yes, it is absolutely essential and critical to provide "adequate" cooling to heat sensitive electronics. But, technically speaking, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that a CPU, for example, running at 25°C will perform better, be more stable, or have a longer life expectancy than a CPU running at 50°C. Nothing!!! As long as the CPU is operating comfortably within its normal temperature operating range, that is just fine. I say comfortably within because that is necessary to ensure sufficient headroom with demanding tasks.

I also emphasis without a sufficient supply of cool air flowing through the case to ensure the CPU's heat is exhausted out, even the best cooler (tower or downdraft) is essentially worthless. It is the case's job to provide a good flow of air through the case and it is the user's responsibility to set up case cooling.

So my point is, do not discount a quality downdraft cooler just because it is not a tower.

Now for me, I prefer downdraft for a couple main reasons.

1. Motherboard engineers and designers intentionally cluster many heat generating/sensitive devices around the CPU socket so they too can take advantage of the air turbulence provided by a downward firing cooler. A tower or "side firing" cooler may not provide much cooling, if any, for those nearby sensitive devices. Of course, good case cooling will provide sufficient cooling for these devices, but good case cooling is not always a given.​

​

2. Tower coolers are very "top heavy". And being tall, that top heavy, hefty weight imposes a lot of leverage when it "hangs" off a vertically oriented motherboard. A quality backplate will certainly help to distribute that weight, but the pulling forces on the top of the backplate along with the pushing forces on the bottom of the backplate imposes a lot of uneven pressures and strain on the motherboard.​

​

This is not a problem for a PC just sitting in place. But when the PC is being moved about (perhaps for cleaning or other maintenance), it could get rough-handled and bounced about a bit putting even more strain on the motherboard around the CPU socket, and other mounting points.​

​

So, if you need to transport a PC with a heavy tower cooler, I recommend you orient the PC flat, horizontally (on its side) so all the weight is sitting on top of the motherboard instead of hanging off the side. If the PC needs to be oriented in the tower position during transport, or if the PC will not be under your control and watchful eye 100% of the time, remove the cooler and remount it after it gets to its final destination. A friend learned that lesson the hard, and expensive way. ​

Also, before buying any aftermarket cooler, make sure it will fit inside the case. As Greenslade suggests, some cases are slimmer than others and a tall tower may not fit. And with either type, make sure the cooler will not interfere with tall components surrounding the CPU socket, or, as Sithaer noted, closely placed PCIe or RAM slots. There needs to be enough clearance, not just to avoid contact, but to ensure there is enough space for good ventilation around the cooler and those nearby devices.

 

[Greenslade]

As a generality, and if talking strictly about cooling the CPU only, then I totally agree - a quality tower cooler may provide better cooling. But exceptions abound. Not all tower coolers are equal. And of course, not all downdraft coolers are equal either. But certainly, with a quality downdraft cooler, you can get very effective, more than adequate cooling too.

It must be pointed out that "cooler is better", when it comes to electronics, very often is NOT true. Yes, it is absolutely essential and critical to provide "adequate" cooling to heat sensitive electronics. But, technically speaking, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that a CPU, for example, running at 25°C will perform better, be more stable, or have a longer life expectancy than a CPU running at 50°C. Nothing!!! As long as the CPU is operating comfortably within its normal temperature operating range, that is just fine. I say comfortably within because that is necessary to ensure sufficient headroom with demanding tasks.

I also emphasis without a sufficient supply of cool air flowing through the case to ensure the CPU's heat is exhausted out, even the best cooler (tower or downdraft) is essentially worthless. It is the case's job to provide a good flow of air through the case and it is the user's responsibility to set up case cooling.

So my point is, do not discount a quality downdraft cooler just because it is not a tower.

Now for me, I prefer downdraft for a couple main reasons.

1. Motherboard engineers and designers intentionally cluster many heat generating/sensitive devices around the CPU socket so they too can take advantage of the air turbulence provided by a downward firing cooler. A tower or "side firing" cooler may not provide much cooling, if any, for those nearby sensitive devices. Of course, good case cooling will provide sufficient cooling for these devices, but good case cooling is not always a given.​

​

2. Tower coolers are very "top heavy". And being tall, that top heavy, hefty weight imposes a lot of leverage when it "hangs" off a vertically oriented motherboard. A quality backplate will certainly help to distribute that weight, but the pulling forces on the top of the backplate along with the pushing forces on the bottom of the backplate imposes a lot of uneven pressures and strain on the motherboard.​

​

This is not a problem for a PC just sitting in place. But when the PC is being moved about (perhaps for cleaning or other maintenance), it could get rough-handled and bounced about a bit putting even more strain on the motherboard around the CPU socket, and other mounting points.​

​

So, if you need to transport a PC with a heavy tower cooler, I recommend you orient the PC flat, horizontally (on its side) so all the weight is sitting on top of the motherboard instead of hanging off the side. If the PC needs to be oriented in the tower position during transport, or if the PC will not be under your control and watchful eye 100% of the time, remove the cooler and remount it after it gets to its final destination. A friend learned that lesson the hard, and expensive way. ​

Also, before buying any aftermarket cooler, make sure it will fit inside the case. As Greenslade suggests, some cases are slimmer than others and a tall tower may not fit. And with either type, make sure the cooler will not interfere with tall components surrounding the CPU socket, or, as Sithaer noted, closely placed PCIe or RAM slots. There needs to be enough clearance, not just to avoid contact, but to ensure there is enough space for good ventilation around the cooler and those nearby devices.

Your posts are all ways so informative

 

[jonUK76]

I think towers offer a more effective air flow route (for the CPU at least) where cool air is pulled in by case fans from the front of the case, the tower cooler fan pushes the cool air through the fins, in the direction of the rear exhaust fan, and the hot air is then exhausted out the back. Downward blowing coolers, are still effective, but the airflow is not as direct a route, I would guess. On the plus side they probably could also provide some additional airflow for VRM's and other nearby components, compared to a tower.

Thinking back there was at one time a proposed replacement for ATX called BTX. As part of the spec this took the idea further in that air was ducted in through the front, across a tower like CPU cooler, and out through the rear of the case, so there was one large duct running through the case containing the CPU heat, effectively, and blowing it out the back. This seems an excellent idea to me, but BTX never really took off.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Your posts are all ways so informative

Some are more critical, calling them walls of text - often without even reading . For others who complain, well, no one forced them to read them. Still, I admit I may may get a bit wordy, but I try to hard to be factual and informative.

My goal is to share what I have learned over the years before those little gray cells completely deteriorate. Glad you got something out of it. Thanks.

I think towers offer a more effective air flow route (for the CPU at least) where cool air is pulled in by case fans from the front of the case, the tower cooler fan pushes the cool air through the fins, in the direction of the rear exhaust fan,

That is true WHEN the tower cooler is oriented that way. Sadly, often users orient the tower cooler so the fan(s) blow at a 90° angle to the air flow provided by the case fans. While sometimes "turbulence" provides better cooling for a discrete device, I feel a "smooth" flow of air through the case is more effective for overall case cooling. That said, I have not tested that personally.

 

[tabascosauz]

Obviously, below a certain height clearance, downdraft is all you can have. But they basically top out around NH-U12S level performance, so there aren't any downdraft coolers that offer real high end performance (nothing beyond the C14S and TF2). You inherently lose some cooling performance compared to a tower, at comparable heatsink mass + heatpipe count + fan config.

I used a C14S for a long time and have basically exhausted all its potential. On the test bench it's still useful, but in an actual case where height clearance doesn't strictly prohibit more powerful single and dual towers, it doesn't offer much.

Whether in a SFF or normal case, downdraft also requires a lot of planning and attention to airflow to maximize performance. It's not enough just to assume that a conventional front intake rear exhaust is enough.

The VRM and RAM cooling benefits aren't that significant anymore. A single push fan (ie. stock C14S) doesn't provide any meaningful amount of airflow. When VRM quality and performance is shitty enough that VRM cooling *actually* matters, a C14S or TF2 will never be nearly as effective as just strapping a small ghetto fan to the VRMs, and will never save a VRM doomed to fail. When doing mem OC at high VDIMM on temp sensitive ICs, a dedicated fan is way more effective than a C14S or TF2 that just heats up the sticks with CPU exhaust under load (e.g. TM5 or Linpack where CPU uncore load is significant).

Considering how heavy the C14S (esp. push-pull at about 1.2-1.3kg) and TF2 get, I don't see a reason to consider them "healthier" or less strain on a motherboard.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Considering how heavy the C14S (esp. push-pull at about 1.2-1.3kg) and TF2 get, I don't see a reason to consider them "healthier" or less strain on a motherboard.

It is about the leverage a tall cooler applies when that weight is way "out there".

Take a 5 pound weight and hold it up next to your chest. You can hold it still for long periods of time, even if you jump up and down.

Now take that same 5 pound weight and extend your arm out in front of you. Your arm, shoulder and back will get tired soon. Jump up and down and that weight is going to move.

There's no need to worry about a tall cooler when the computer is just sitting in place. But again, if carrying it outside to blast out the dust, I would be very careful about being gentle when setting it down. And if shipping/transporting it, and it would be out of my sight and control at any point in time, I definitely recommend removing the cooler - unless you are not worried about it falling off the back of the UPS truck, or FedEx "dropping" it onto your new front porch.

 

[Shrek]

Whats your preference Tower or Downdraft cpu cooler? It seems like Down-firing ones are in the minority now.

I assume downfiring helps the VRMs stay cool, so that would be my preference.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Whats your preference Tower or Downdraft cpu cooler? It seems like Down-firing ones are in the minority now. and from the videos on youtube are more for small cases.

Preference? Downdraft. But as mentioned by several above, there's more capacity available in a tower configuration. If your CPU is around 100W real power draw or less, there are many downdraft coolers that will work just fine. I had a 6600K@4.2 running on a Cryorig C7. Not at full tilt all the time, mind, but it kept the chip under 80C in all my normal workloads without becoming particularly audible.

Tower coolers obliterate downdraft in cooling/$, though. A typical $30 tower will generally equal or beat most downdraft in any CPU temp metric. Case in point: A $20 (at the time) M9i outperformed the $30 C7 in the same installation by a comfortable margin.

 

[tabascosauz]

It is about the leverage a tall cooler applies when that weight is way "out there".

Take a 5 pound weight and hold it up next to your chest. You can hold it still for long periods of time, even if you jump up and down.

Now take that same 5 pound weight and extend your arm out in front of you. Your arm, shoulder and back will get tired soon. Jump up and down and that weight is going to move.

There's no need to worry about a tall cooler when the computer is just sitting in place. But again, if carrying it outside to blast out the dust, I would be very careful about being gentle when setting it down. And if shipping/transporting it, and it would be out of my sight and control at any point in time, I definitely recommend removing the cooler - unless you are not worried about it falling off the back of the UPS truck, or FedEx "dropping" it onto your new front porch.

It's not nearly the drastic difference you're making it out to be. C14S and TF2 are what, ~140mm coolers? Most non-height restricted single and dual towers are 150-160mm height.

Sure, if we're talking strictly non-C type, low profile coolers (e.g. L9i/a/x65, Black Ridge, Big Shuriken 3), but in that case cooling performance is also not even close to being competitive.

 

[Macro Device]

When VRM quality and performance is shitty enough that VRM cooling *actually* matters, a C14S or TF2 will never be nearly as effective as just strapping a small ghetto fan to the VRMs, and will never save a VRM doomed to fail.

My previous mobo had VRM (with puny small heatsinks) at 100C when I had a tower cooler and after ONLY swapping it to a top-down one, VRM decided to never exceed 67C. CPU (i5-8600K@stock) operated at equal wattages in both scenarios. No-name 120 mm 1500 rpm fan.

GAMMAXX 400

Very good if you go mid-range Intel CPUs or rare monolythic AMD ones. Extremely inefficient with clustered arch of most Ryzen CPUs which demand indirectCu.
i5-11600K (stock) or 10600K (mild OC), or i5-12600K (mild OC, if any) is your possible maximum with this cooler given you push your CPU at its max but don't run Cinebench on a 24/7 basis. For i3-12100 and similar CPUs it's a straight-up overkill but overkill coolers are better than insufficient ones. You can make them silent if load is low enough. Not quiet. SILENT. This is a cooler I currently use because my top-down one was needed somewhere else.

Whats your preference

I prefer top-down ones simply because it makes for more efficient cooling of CPU surroundings (but not for the CPU itself) and I generally hate letting my wares go ham on watts. Triple digit wattage in CPU is yet to be seen in my PCs. If you are willing to OC every single Hertz outta your CPU or just decided on a hot CPU (above 120 W) you'd go for a massive tower and probably horizontal mobo orientation.

@Bill_Bright covered the rest.

 

[maxfly]

A quality tower is always my first choice in an aircooled rig. There are sooo many affordable, high performance, low profile towers now, the only time I even consider downflow coolers is in severely space constrained cases. A quality tower will last virtually forever. Where as a downflow cooler...nope. Upgrade that low power CPU to it's bigger brother and you'll very quickly find yourself needing to buy a new tower anyhow (obviously there are exceptions). If you do your homework in regards to a solid case and it's overall flow, you'll never have to worry about overheating vrms, throttling SSDs etc.

 

[Bill_Bright]

It's not nearly the drastic difference you're making it out to be. C14S and TF2 are what

You are taking 2 isolated "anecdotal" examples and trying to imply that applies to all scenarios. I have been careful to work my replies to include exceptions all around.

The OP asked a very general and generic question. Had the OP asked about one of your specific example compared to a specific downdraft cooler, then sure your examples may be correct. But he didn't.

 

[freeagent]

I like tower coolers. The 140s usually dip down low enough to get the VRM on the way out to the exhaust.

I used to use downdraft coolers back in the early 2Ks, but once I got an Ultra 120 Extreme I never looked back

 

[P4-630]

Downdraft coolers are good for the cheaper motherboards which don't come with(good) VRM cooling and for mini builds.
If you got a better board with good VRM heatsinks get a tower cooler.

 

[Deleted member 229121]

Depends on the build and size for me personally.
ATX I'll go tower, Micro/ITX I'll go AIO and downdraft for something very compact (HTPC).

As for why tower over downdraft - performance and directional airflow.

 

[Bill_Bright]

performance and directional airflow.

I concede performance, with some exceptions, of course, is a valid reason.

But air flow? Only if it complements case air flow without affecting cooling for components surrounding the socket.

 

[Greenslade]

My previous mobo had VRM (with puny small heatsinks) at 100C when I had a tower cooler and after ONLY swapping it to a top-down one, VRM decided to never exceed 67C. CPU (i5-8600K@stock) operated at equal wattages in both scenarios. No-name 120 mm 1500 rpm fan.

Very good if you go mid-range Intel CPUs or rare monolythic AMD ones. Extremely inefficient with clustered arch of most Ryzen CPUs which demand indirectCu.
i5-11600K (stock) or 10600K (mild OC), or i5-12600K (mild OC, if any) is your possible maximum with this cooler given you push your CPU at its max but don't run Cinebench on a 24/7 basis. For i3-12100 and similar CPUs it's a straight-up overkill but overkill coolers are better than insufficient ones. You can make them silent if load is low enough. Not quiet. SILENT. This is a cooler I currently use because my top-down one was needed somewhere else.

I prefer top-down ones simply because it makes for more efficient cooling of CPU surroundings (but not for the CPU itself) and I generally hate letting my wares go ham on watts. Triple digit wattage in CPU is yet to be seen in my PCs. If you are willing to OC every single Hertz outta your CPU or just decided on a hot CPU (above 120 W) you'd go for a massive tower and probably horizontal mobo orientation.

@Bill_Bright covered the rest.

But the Snowman T4 V my Gammaxx 400 are on the same leval and they are recommened for Ryzen 5 cpu s

I see that my cooler is called

Deepcool Gammaxx 400 Slim-Tower CPU Cooler when being reviewd on another forum site.​

 

[Deleted member 232534]

The tower moves the air from front to back, so it complements the airflow in the case.

It can be bigger - have more heat dissipating surface.

I see no use of downdraft coolers in matx/atx.

 

[Deleted member 229121]

I concede performance, with some exceptions, of course, is a valid reason.

But air flow? Only if it complements case air flow without affecting cooling for components surrounding the socket.

Well yes that was implied (to me), but should have specified directional airflow aligning w the case setup.

 

[Nihillim]

I see no use of downdraft coolers in matx/atx.

Cases that still have side panel ventilation, either with an APU only system, or a system with a blower gpu.
Unfortunately, side panel vents seem to have gone the way of the dodo in favor of glass...

 

[chrcoluk]

For cooling efficiency tower, the air is pushing away heat in the direction of airflow for the case, if its pushed down its just like when a rain drop goes splat on the ground. Also tower can be beneficial for providing airflow for things like VRM and main M.2 slot.