how to pick a good fan , heatsink ect

[sully990]

Alright lads

What makes a good fan ? what is dba and what does it mean ?

also what else is there to look out for in fans heatsinks ect

If ye could help me out it would be brillant

[HarryTaco]

Hi Sully,

Welcome to the boards. Way back when, about 14 years ago, I was kind of in your position. Building my first computer. Im assuming you are in that area by your post. No matter. My advice to you is what i did. Pick a few (pick alot) Hardware sites and read, read, read.

 

Fans-- you want to know a few things. Physical size--usually the larger, the more air they push. 120x25 cm....120 = diameter , 25 = thickness. Blade count and shape--from my experience, usually less blades equals more noise but not always. Blade shape has alot to do with noise and efficiency. More blades like the newer designs, push alot of air and are usually more quiet. The other factor on noise is the speed at which the fan operates, faster = more noise. Okay, there is a matter of the electrics. The faster the motor spins the blades, the more juice it draws from the power supply. Usually this isnt a factor, but if you have alot of large fans you might want to spread them out over more than one 12 volt rail, or just the opposite, dedicate one 12volt rail to your fans.

Generally, smaller fans have to spin faster to push an equal amount of air as a larger fan. In this case smaller fans can also make more noise. Some fans come with a speed adjuster that you can use to either push more air or quiet down the noise by slowing fan speed down. Dba = noise the fan produces. Higher dba = more noise.

 

To give you a simple summary, Blade Count, Blade Shape, and General Size of the fan and Fan Speed are the determining factors in your choice. Oh one last thing. Be sure to check out the connector, some fans have a three pin connector some come with a four pin connector and some come with a 5-pin Molex connector which you can connect easily to your power supply. Some fans will come with all three connector types. Figure out what you will use your fan for... Case, or Heatsink, etc., then pick the correct fan. Mostly read, read, read.

[sully990]

Hi Sully,

Welcome to the boards. Way back when, about 14 years ago, I was kind of in your position. Building my first computer. Im assuming you are in that area by your post. No matter. My advice to you is what i did. Pick a few (pick alot) Hardware sites and read, read, read.

 

Fans-- you want to know a few things. Physical size--usually the larger, the more air they push. 120x25 cm....120 = diameter , 25 = thickness. Blade count and shape--from my experience, usually less blades equals more noise but not always. Blade shape has alot to do with noise and efficiency. More blades like the newer designs, push alot of air and are usually more quiet. The other factor on noise is the speed at which the fan operates, faster = more noise. Okay, there is a matter of the electrics. The faster the motor spins the blades, the more juice it draws from the power supply. Usually this isnt a factor, but if you have alot of large fans you might want to spread them out over more than one 12 volt rail, or just the opposite, dedicate one 12volt rail to your fans.

Generally, smaller fans have to spin faster to push an equal amount of air as a larger fan. In this case smaller fans can also make more noise. Some fans come with a speed adjuster that you can use to either push more air or quiet down the noise by slowing fan speed down. Dba = noise the fan produces. Higher dba = more noise.

 

To give you a simple summary, Blade Count, Blade Shape, and General Size of the fan and Fan Speed are the determining factors in your choice. Oh one last thing. Be sure to check out the connector, some fans have a three pin connector some come with a four pin connector and some come with a 5-pin Molex connector which you can connect easily to your power supply. Some fans will come with all three connector types. Figure out what you will use your fan for... Case, or Heatsink, etc., then pick the correct fan. Mostly read, read, read.

 

 

 

Thanks a million lad what you wrote there covers everything i needed to no

and thanks to for taking your time to discuss this with me it helps alot

thanks again

[redtigerdragon]

Also, OCC reviews heat sinks here all the time. You should check out the reviews, and it will show you how each one stacks up against each other. Other than that, people here are always willing to give you ideas about good products. Just post what you're looking to cool, and they'll throw out suggestions.

 

When using a fan on a heat sink, as i just found out, you want to know more about air pressure than over air flow, as a greater pressure pulls in more air over each fin to aid in cooling.

 

Here are some guides:

http://www.fantronic.com/case_fan_guide.html

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=304051

[That_Canadian]

Well S^*t

Just had a nice little 250 word explain going on during the slow morning here at work. Then &*$#ing knocked the F5.

Damnit, what a waste.

This can go two ways:

 

1) Sully, read the info thats out there, just search it out. Theres TONNES of short blurbs on the net about people asking about "what should I replace my ...." and " upgrading case fans" etc. Hopefully the above covers it as much as you need.

This is not to say that we dont want you to repost with anything you like, we/ I will help you out. This way I dont have to do an overview.... despite wanting to conquer it now because I lost at the work I HAD done. ggaahh

 

2) This topic is rather universal and as I see it, needs to be a pinned topic in the cooling section. I volunteer to toss together a pretty extensive once over on case fans.

Covering the variables (dBA, CFM, RPM, Size, Bearing type, Connector type, and design [etc.]) along with designing a basic chart defining dBA rating vs. CFM . This chart can be broken down to define "POU" Philosophy of Use brackets along the lines of Silence, Performance and a Water Grade setup for those with waterblock rads to cool, or those with little care for attributes and looking for pure CFM/cooling performance. Whats the thoughts on this? I ve searched the forum for a existing threads and it comes up shallow as far as a comprehensive guide, in most cases its tailored for a specific persons application.( Please excuse this if I missed the thread)

Management, let me know.

[PaNewb]

I just bought the Corsair 70 CPU cooler. It has double 120mm fans. Idle temps are anywhere from 26 to 32 depending if ac in the house is on lol. But at 100% load your looking at around 45-50C depending on case and so forth. check it out.Oh yeah but it is HUGE!