Replacement fan for Seasonic Super Tornado?

[Andromeda]

To extend the useful life of my 7 year old Seasonic Super Tornado 300, I would like to replace the fan. I assume there are people around here who have done the same thing so I hope somebody can give me a recommendation. I read that some fans have startup problems in the Super Tornado so I'm looking for one that is proven to work fine (and quiet of course ).

[NeilBlanchard]

Sure, this is relatively easy to do. How is the fan connected -- is it plugged in or soldered? I think virtually any SPCR recommended fan would be fine. Any PSU that is in use for that long is going to stop working well before the replacement fan will. I would just match (approximately) the same RPM, or slightly slower, of the current fan.

[fumino]

looks like the fan is connected with a normal 3 pin header, was pretty handy when the spcr review was the first hit on google.


a 120mm fan that ive seen other people use (spcr thread here), is the Scythe S-Flex SFF21F which is 1600rpm, starts reliably at 4v. that low start up voltage should help you avoid any issues with the fan not spinning up properly.

[dhanson865]

The oldest had a SuperRed fan, Then seasonic went to Yate Loon, Then Adda.

If you don't have a fan laying around to swap in you might consider the Yate Loon ~1350RPM http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm ... -3009.html or the Yate Loon ~1650RPM http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm ... -3770.html depending on

* How hot your environment is (latitude, air conditioning)
* How hot your case is (case fans, motherboard, CPU, Video card)
* 110/220V AC (220 is more efficient and allows for a little less heat in the PSU)

Assuming you are on the good side of 2 of the 3 factors I'd go for the ~1350 RPM Yate Loon as a cheap replacement.

I bought one to swap in a PSU once and opened the PSU to find hot glue all over the power connector, I was too lazy to break it free or splice the wires so I never replaced the fan but yours may not be glued in like mine was.

[BillyBuerger]

I've used a couple Scythe GentleTyphoons in some fan swaps for PSUs and have been very happy with them. They're quiet, have low starting voltages, and are ball bearing. I believe they move less air than other fans at the same rpm, but are also quieter at those rpms. So if you tend to push the PSU a lot, maybe the 1850rpm one would be better. (You didn't mention what your running in your system)

[Andromeda]

My system is a Pentium4 2.6GHz (7 years old, like the Super Tornado). It is still sufficient for the tasks that I use it for, it's rock stable and quiet so I try to extend it's life without spending much money on it. The system never runs hot. Usually it draws about 85W from the mains and I have never seen it going above 145W (with Prime95), in which case the CPU temp reaches a maximum of about 62 degrees Celsius.

Today I have achieved quite a big improvement. When I opened the PSU (first time) I checked the (SuperRed) fan (that was still attached to the cover) and confirmed that indeed it appears to be noisier than when I bought the PSU 7 years ago. It has run for about 27.000 hours ( I know this from the SMART of my HD's) so I was expecting it to become a bit more noisy. But then I discovered that when I removed it from the cover it is so much more silent! There are rubber rings that decouple the fan somewhat from the PSU cover but of course that rubber has become hard over the years. So I replaced them with some very soft rubber suspension that I removed from an old CD-R drive. It was a difference between day and night!

So I have put the "modified" PSU back into my PC and I'm actually quite happy with the noise level now. So unless I can achieve another massive improvement by switching it with a not too expensive new fan, I think I'll stick with what I have now.

But since this stuff is addictive and there is a chance that I change my mind tomorrow I still have a question: even if I change the fan to one with less RPM, wouldn't the fan control of the PSU regulate it back towards the same RPM that I have now with the SuperRed? So in that case the only way is to set the fan on a fixed voltage?

And should I expect any (significant) improvement with another fan at the SAME RPM now that I have discovered that the original fan is still in a pretty good condition?

[BillyBuerger]

...

But since this stuff is addictive and there is a chance that I change my mind tomorrow I still have a question: even if I change the fan to one with less RPM, wouldn't the fan control of the PSU regulate it back towards the same RPM that I have now with the SuperRed? So in that case the only way is to set the fan on a fixed voltage?

And should I expect any (significant) improvement with another fan at the SAME RPM now that I have discovered that the original fan is still in a pretty good condition?

I'm pretty sure that almost all fan controllers adjust the voltage (or pwm) and not the rpm based on the temperature. I suppose they could use the rpm sensing line to feed back to the controller, but I don't know that any do that. So if the temperature gets to 50c, no matter what fan is plugged in, you'll get the same voltage running to it. So a slower fan will then spin at a slower speed. What this might mean then is that the PSU will get hotter and then continue to increase the voltage and therefore the rpm of the fan. In theory it could then get the fan to the same rpm and similar noise level. But in practice, I don't believe that normally happens. And since you know that you're not pushing the PSU past about half its capacity, it should never need anywhere near the total airflow that the fan they picked can supply. I would expect that the PSU fan rarely has to spin up much over it's lowest level. So a new (better) fan would give you a lower baseline noise level and still have the ability to ramp up as needed.

I don't remember the SuperRed fan being the best but I think it was considered good. So a better fan probably will be quieter even at the same rpm and airflow. But the important thing is if it's good enough for you.

[Andromeda]

I'm pretty sure that almost all fan controllers adjust the voltage (or pwm) and not the rpm based on the temperature. I suppose they could use the rpm sensing line to feed back to the controller, but I don't know that any do that. So if the temperature gets to 50c, no matter what fan is plugged in, you'll get the same voltage running to it. So a slower fan will then spin at a slower speed. What this might mean then is that the PSU will get hotter and then continue to increase the voltage and therefore the rpm of the fan. In theory it could then get the fan to the same rpm and similar noise level.

Yes, that is what I meant.

But in practice, I don't believe that normally happens. And since you know that you're not pushing the PSU past about half its capacity, it should never need anywhere near the total airflow that the fan they picked can supply. I would expect that the PSU fan rarely has to spin up much over it's lowest level. So a new (better) fan would give you a lower baseline noise level and still have the ability to ramp up as needed.

You are right about that. Most of the time the fan would be at the lowest voltage level. Right now I have to push the PC quite a bit to make it speed up.

I don't remember the SuperRed fan being the best but I think it was considered good. So a better fan probably will be quieter even at the same rpm and airflow. But the important thing is if it's good enough for you.

Thanks for your suggestion of the Scythe GentleTyphoon. Maybe even the 1150 RPM type is worth trying because right now I never use the full capacity of the SuperRed (1600 RPM?) fan. My feeling is that even when I push the PC to the limit the 1150 RPM may be sufficient.

Anyway, after improving the mechanical decoupling of the fan the matter has become less urgent. I can now hardly hear the PC from where I'm sitting.