Case Fan...

[bigasif]

Hey,
I just installed a second WD hd into my pc. I've been running with 1 80gb, 512pc3200, amd2600+, 9600xt 256ddr, lg cd burner, sony dvd burner for over a year, without a case fan at all. Its only had an arctic cooling silencer fan on my vid card, a fan on the CPU heatsink, and the fan in the power supply...other than that nothing. After installing my second hard drive about an hour ago, Ive decided that I should get a case fan...I have no idea why I never bought one before...but Ive decided that I need to stop procrastinating before something happens to my setup. So yeah, is there any specific brand to look for when buying one? Im looking to spend about 10 bucks, and I go to UofT downtown near College/Spadina, so Im planning on checking out the comptuer stores there tommorow during my break and picking up a fan. I need an 80mm one if that means anything...so yeah, let me know! And if you just so happen to have one lying around that you don't need, let me know too...but really just looking for advice! Thanks. I plan on buying it tommorow.

Oh also, if you have advice on which store to go to that would be great, because there are a lot of them, the ones I can think of off the top of my head are factorydirect, cwo, aplus computers...

Later.
BiGaSiF

[Daijoubu]

Get a ball bearing one, they may be a bit noiser than the sleeve but will last much longer (without much maintenance)

[willy]

C$10 ... Try this ... http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=001659&cid=FN.505

It looks to me your system should not be insanely hot-running, I would run it at 7V for the quietness.

[goofball]

I'd recommend this instead

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=005130&cid=FN.505

The Vantec's are junk, IMO. Not stealth, move very little air, and are just way over rated. Motor noise is high when undervolted.

[Cafe_333]

Yeah I agree with Goofball - the Vantec Stealths are ironically far from... stealth, lol. Even voltmodded they produce alot of bearing noise. I got rid of my Stealths in favor of Coolermaster as well.

Anyway, I also highly recommend Coolermaster and you can get them cheaper at Infonec. They range from $7.50-8.50 depending on which one you want. Go for a sleeve fan if you want something queiter, ball bearing as mentioned earlier if you want it to last longer. Since it's for a case fan, it really wouldn't matter.
http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=catalog&catID=366#185

They have a store location close to UofT along Dundas, east of University.
http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=page&name=TORONTO_MAP

[Daijoubu]

Sorry for hijacking your thread but if anyone know any local place here in montreal that sells cheap but good fans, hook me up :)

[ShadowVlican]

i agree with cafe_333

i have similar personal experience, with the exception of being too lazy to switch to coolermaster :lol:

[bigasif]

Hey,
Thanks a lot to all of you, especially those who said I should go with coolermaster. I went to infonec during my break today, quite a walk, but luckily I got there to grab the last CoolerMaster one they had. The guy suggested the Antec's, but I decided I'll stick with the $8.50 coolermaster one. Now, I read somewhere that you should have at least 2 case fans, one for intake, and one for exhaust, but my case seems to only have a designated area for one case fan, which is why Im going with a single fan. Now, Im not sure which direction I should put the fan in. Based on what I described about my current setup, is there a specific direction you guys can suggest. Yep, Im a pure noob to installing case fans, since this is my first lol. It's basically like this:

http://www.monsieurprix.com/photosProduits/595/ME0000413595_1.jpg

Im sure you guys know what they look like but yeah, thats what the front side looks like, and the back has a few specs on it, such as Dual Ball, Made In China. Im not sure which one would work for intake/exhaust, so Id just like to know which side I should have pointing towards the outside of the case. Thanks in advance!

Later.
BiGaSiF

[willy]

Assuming you are installing your case fan on the inside of the back panel (right above all the I/O ports, you will install the fan with the 'spec' side facing the case. It will push the warm/hot air out of the case. When it is spinning, you should feel the air coming out of your case from the back. Same as your powersupply fan.

Actually, if you look at the side of the fan housing closely, you might see 2 arrows to indicate the direction of the airflow and the blade rotation.

This is what you want to achieve ...

http://www.overclockers.com/tips461/thrucase.jpg

[Daijoubu]

What do your case look like? And is your PSU intake or outake?

[bigasif]

Hey,
Thanks for the quick replies. Firstly, willy, I can see the arros now, they're on the top of the fan housing. If I look at the front side which just says "Cooler Master" on it, one arro is pointing to the Left, meaning counter clockwise I assume, and the other is pointing forward (also meaning towards the side with the specs). I assume, this does in fact mean that the specs side should be facing the outer case.

To Daijoubou, my power supply is blowing air out (which I guess means outake). The case itself is just a very very basic case. On the back, as willy described, the spot for the fan is above the i/o spots, and to the right of some more i/o, such as usb's, keyboard/mouse, speakers, mic etc...

Im assuming from willys post (and great diagram :lol: ) that I should have the specs side pointing out so that the air does blow outwards. However, I will await Daijoubou's response, since I guess it may be different. Thanks again for the help guys!

[sxz]

Yeah just do as willy said and you'll be fine. Another way to tell which way the fan blows is by looking for the wires coming out of the fan. The side on which the wires are coming out is the direction in which the fan blows.

[bigasif]

Hey,
Hooked up the fan :). I had to do some juggling around, and couldn't figure out which 3-pin connection the fan should connect too, then realized the ones that are useable for the fans were being used by my cpu fan, and the other one by my ps. So, I decided to use a molex connector (I think thats what they're called...) from my power supply, and used the included 3 pin to 4 pin connection cable that came with the fan. Hmmm, seems like dual ball bearing did add a bit of noise, but as long as it gets the job done, Im happy :cheesygri

So thanks again to everyone who helped me out here....peace!

BiGaSiF

[goofball]

adding any fan is going to increase noise, whether sleeve bearing or dual ball bearing or whatever.

Good choice. If noise is a concern, you could always do a 5v/7v mod with the molex (5 minute job at the most with the proper tools), though you will reduce the amount of air moved as a consequence.

[bigasif]

hehe, its alright. The amount of noise is extremely bareable. I don't think it should be a problem, and I don't feel like doing any kind of modding... :lol: ...I actually ended up putting out all my usb ports, which I then realized was just a jumper that I forgot to put back onto the USBpwr pins...since I didnt really know at first which 3-pin connector I was supposed to connect the fan to... :D ...oh well, everything is fine now...still a noob tho.... ;)

Later.
BiGaSiF

[TechRock]

get a heat sink...so damn quiet