[Mr. T]

Hi everyone.

I've made a small htpc, with a m350 case + amd a6 5400k cpu + ssd

My question is the following.

Should the CPU fan blow the air out of the case or blow air into the cpu/heatsink?

The case runs HOT while playing movies (and I mean hot, you could literally fry and egg).

Thanks!

[MediaPi]

I'm a complete noob but read that fans blow into the case. also you actually can damage in the long run by blowing in the opposite direction that it was designed for because the fins designed in a certain way and you will stress tham if done the opposite way

[Mr. T]

I'm getting 25~30 C iddle, 70C while playing movies on XBMC

[teeedubb]

Generally CPU fans blow on to the cooler but case fans can go either way - depends if you want positive or negative pressure in the case.
Your idle twmps sound right but playback temps seem high... have you tried reseating the CPU cooler? You could also look at a aftermarket CPU cooler or adding a case fan.

[Mr. T]

Had to change the stock CPU fan, because it was too big for the case. I've added a generic one, that's really small. (Try getting a decent heat sink // fan in Argentina)
Since I'm only using it for XBMC, I'll try and underclock/volt the CPU to try and decrease temps.

[teeedubb]

Can you fit a bigger fan on top of the cooler? Hot glue works well for securing them
My old gaming htpc would crash when playing games from high heat so I drilled a grid of holes in the top back third of the case which helped a lot, depending on where your case sits (mi e sits on a shelf so you can't see the top) and if you're game enough you could try that.