Sourcing fans for standard heatsinks

Cooling Processors quietly

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Dave2
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:56 pm

Sourcing fans for standard heatsinks

Post by Dave2 » Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:42 pm

I'm confused between "CPU fan" and "case FAN." Reviews don't often distinguish. We want a fan replacement on a CPU heatsink. The heatsink stays, but fanless is not thermally possible.

Reviews cover heatsink bundles, not parts. I'm not clear sourcing quiet fans for heatsinks. Looking for cheap, < $15.

Sleeve bearings are no-go because of mechanical mounting direction. Maybe fluid bearings of some kind would work.

iWill KA266 motherboard (ATX) mounted edge parallel to ground
AMD Athlon 1333 MHz Socket 462
3-pin fan power connector

ascl
Posts: 279
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 1:15 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by ascl » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:01 am

Some fans have a higher static pressure, and hence are better suited for heatsinks. Case fans generally have little flow obstruction so do not need as high static pressure.

In general, fatter (ie 38mm vs 25 or 20mm) fans have a higher static pressure. You will find this information more on water cooling sites, where people measure fans against radiators.

Here is a (small) review that measures static pressure:
http://martinsliquidlab.i4memory.com/FanTesting.html

That said, given you are likely after a quiet fan running at fairly low RPM, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Unless a fan is specifically noted as having low static pressure (say some of the Noctua fans), it should be fine. Check out the SPCR fan reviews and pick a fan that meets your needs.

EDIT: Ah found it, here is another look at fans and how they perform against a radiator http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... p?t=171661

Note however that the sound measurements are likely nowhere near as accurate as the SPCR reviews, but should give you some indication.

Dave2
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:56 pm

Mounting screws

Post by Dave2 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:36 am

Any diff between mounting screw positions, or is that standardized. What about clips vs. screws.

What is considered low RPM - the reason for replacement was single-freq whine.

Any models < $15 would be great.

Thanks.

ascl
Posts: 279
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 1:15 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by ascl » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:01 am

Low speed is generally < 1350.

I'd suggest Yate Loon's as good quiet cheap fans. Yes they are sleave bearing, but cheap...

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