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Desktops: Building a computer: fans
Building a computer: fans
by cnetsean1 - 2/6/09 7:21 AMI want to try building a computer.
But how do I know how many fans I need?
depends
by ramarc - 2/6/09 9:41 AM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1you can only put in as many fans as your case supports. for most PCs you don't need more than 1. the best location (imho) is a 120mm exhaust fan directly opposite the CPU heatsink. of course, your case has to allow a fan at that location. an intake fan below the drive bays is also recommended but it will draw in a lot of dust.
No set answer
by Willy - 2/6/09 10:24 AM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1You can install/mount as many fans as you desire provided they benefit the system. Far too often you see the case will have mounting areas and these are generic enough to provide enough cooling. You can "customize" you system to what benefits the most, heck even a 12Vdc car raditor fan setup. Just use common use and be practical. You can look at vendor websites for clues/hints/tips on the topic. Remember, the more fans the noisier and cheap is cheap. A larger fan tends to be less noisy for the same rpms being generated compared to a smaller and air moved.
tada -----Willy 
Lotsa fans..
by tedtks - 2/13/09 5:59 PM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1my latest build, I wanted best cooling. bought a tower case. the fan that came with it was a small exhaust fan. I bought 4 120mm 85 cfm fans. cut a hole in the side of the case opposite the cpu..fan 1,
second one is mounted behind the case front face, to blow accross the
two hard drives. #3 .. LOL.. cut a hole on the other side of the case behind the cpu. I have noticed that that too gets pretty hot so
its now getting blown on. #4 replaces the 80mm fan that came with the case.
ALL holes, slots, anywhere air gets into the case, and each fan, is covered with air filters. got a pack of 12 house register filters and cut to fit.
Since the Mobo powers the HD's, and the video card needs aditional power - one 750w power supply for that. a second 350wPS powers the dvd's and the fans.
been nearly 8 months and only had to shake out the filters of the two case side fans. NO DUST INSIDE - YAHOOO! LOL
plus, the cpu runs at less than 100 degrees even during heavy game play.
(there is also the thermaltake cpu fan runing off the ps#2)
hope this info helps.
You are posting a reply to: Building a computer: fans
by zorin35040 - 2/13/09 7:33 PM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1I would say you would need 2-3. My computer has 2; 1 to blow cool air
around the CD burner, etc. and 1 to blow cool air over the motherboard to keep it from burning up. I'm no expert but I hope this helps you.
It all depends....If you want a Home-Business or Gaming PC
by spectratech - 2/13/09 10:42 PM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1Well if you are building a PC for home or business I will stick only to the standard CPU fan . One fan is enough to keep the Home or Regular Business PC working in excellent conditions. In my experience that's what has works the best. Most of the cases if you add another fan, it will add more dust inside your computer (of course this will depends on your place of your). If you are building a gaming computer standard fans won't really help. The best option in fans are the one with good heat pipes for the CPU and a good fans.
General Rule is keep pressure equal, so if 2 fans out, then
by AnthonyNYC - 2/13/09 10:51 PM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1As I was saying if you have 2 exhaust fans then you should also have 2 input fans. By keeping the air pressure equal, you don't create a strain on any one fan which would eventually cause it to burn out and then cause heat build up issues in the PC case.
Remember to count the Power supply as an exhaust since it has an exhaust fan, sometimes 2 of them.
I built my home PC with 3 input fans, 2 exhaust fans and the PSU fan, then the normal cpu fan, a fan on the video card and a HD cooling fan.
So that is 9. Everything has been nice and cool in that case but the noise can add up. I think a bigger 120" exhaust fan if the case allows it, the PSU fan, a pair of intake fans, a good heatsink and fan for the cpu, and you should be fine.
As long as there is good cross ventilation going on in the case, you don't want a spot where the heat just gets trapped at and air isn't moving from that spot. That is why intake fans in the front of the case are important. Other wise the rear exhaust fans might end up just pulling air from the side fan or cut outs and not really get the air in the entire case moving from front to the rear.
Two possibly more...........
by Dango517 - 2/13/09 11:29 PM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1The CPU fan the case/tower fan are fairly standard on most PCS. Some hard drives also have fan units to keep them cool. Also fans are used for graphics cards and in some cases for the north and south bridge chips on mother boards. The last three come equipped on graphics cards and mother boards when you purchase them.
I use two additional fans on my system.
This:
http://www.buyextras.com/slotfans.html?gclid=CPee2eSQipACFQymQQodGB90pQ
These general cover a PCI slot or two and vent out the back of the PC.
and this:
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4401384&CatId=495
I use this one in a spare CD/DVD bay without a hard drive in it. I vent it through the bay door.
More fans require more energy so think about adding a bigger Power Supply if you add many fans.
If you buy these fans yourself check there noise levels carefully. The lower the DBs (decibels) the better.
This thread untracked.
Building new computer;
by librarian7 - 2/14/09 4:12 PM In reply to: Building a computer: fans by cnetsean1When building a new computer there is one thing to consider. They throw out an immense wall of heat and the processor and or Mother board can overheat and get damaged. They run Hot! An extra fan is well advised for cooling the computer. My son found this out when he built his and now he has no more problem. You are free to make your own choices on this, but that would be my recommendation.
This an engineering job
by msgale - 2/15/09 2:29 PM In reply to: Building new computer; by librarian7Figuring the appropriate number, size and type of fans is why we have engineers in the world. You could install hundreds of fans or put everything in a freezer. That would work, but maybe it is a bit of overkill. What an engineer would do is determine how much heat is dissipated by all the components, analyze the airflows, measure the surface areas, and determine the optimal operating ambient temperatures. Crunching those numbers will yield the correct answer.
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