Need help choosing fans for my computer

[Guest]

<A HREF="http://www-1.ibm.com/support/manager.wss?rs=0&rt=0&org=psg&doc=MIGR-4B9L7F" target="_new"> This</A> is my computer.

Here's what I'm upgrading it to:

Athlon XP 1900 processor
Abit KR7A-RAID motherboard
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy X-Gamer 5.1 sound card
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X 6L080J4 80GB Ultra ATA/133 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Windows XP Home
Boston Acoustics BA4800 5 piece surround speaker system
512MB PC2100 DDR RAM (Crucial memory)
Visiontek Extasy GeForce3 TI500 graphics card
Enermax Whisper 430W power supply
Thermaltake Volcano 6cu heat sink fan

Total cost is about $1500 (including shipping). I'm ordering the parts from 7 different stores so I can get the best price

How many fans will I need too keep my computer cool? Will the power supply and heat sink fan be enough? Or will I need to buy a drive cooler and video card cooler? What kind of fans should I get?

I've read that the Volcano 6cu fan works well but is loud. Are there any better, quieter heat sink fans that cost under $30?

 

[svol]

It is best to have to 80 mm fans in your case, one at the bottom front blowing in and one in the upper rear blowing out. If you bought a Enermax with extra fan at the inside you will not need the second fan in the upper rear.
If you keep youre case temps not to high you won't need HD cooling. Your videocard probably already has a fan on it.

My case has so many fans that it hovers above the ground .

 

[HonestJhon]

yeah..if his video card doesnt have a fan on it...then there is something wrong...lol
but yeah...just keep the air moving in the case, and a fresh air supply coming in, and hot air moving out..and you should be fine.
80mm should do the task, and there will prolly be a place to put them.


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[Guest]

I think my hard drive temperature may be running too high. Sometimes my computer will freeze and I'm unable to do anything, like move the mouse, open programs, shut down the computer, etc. Other times I'll get a blue screen that says something like, "WARNING! Your computer is running drastically low on resources! Close all running programs and try again. If the problem persists, please contact system manufacturer." I don't want to have this problem when I get my new hard drive. I can get a Bay-Cool drive cooler from <A HREF="http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/cooling/drive/bay-cool/index.htm" target="_new"> PC Power & Cooling</A> for $45, if that will help. It's supposed to reduce the temperature 20ºF-40ºF (11ºC-22ºC). How long will the Bay-Cooler increase my hard drive's life-span? It's worth the $45 to me if it means I don't have to replace my hard drive for another year or two.

<A HREF="http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/cooling/index_coolTips.htm" target="_new"> PC Power & Cooling</A> says:

"We found that having more intake fans than exhaust fans doesn't improve airflow. It's more valuable to have multiple exhaust fans drawing air in than to rely on a single power supply fan to blow air out. We recommend that you configure your case to blow as much, or more, air out than it sucks in."

Ok, let's see what I'm getting.

Enermax Whisper 430W power supply
Thermaltake Volcano 6cu heat sink fan
Two Silencer® 80mm Cooling Fans
Bay-Cool hard drive cooler
Plus whatever fan comes with my video card

Looking at the top-rear of my case, I see only one fan blowing air out. I think that's the power supply fan, but I'm not sure. That's 5 fans blowing in, and 1 fan blowing out. How do I set up my case to "blow as much, or more, air out than it sucks in" without cutting holes in it?

 

[svol]

That problem also could be caused by Windows98 which controls memory not very good. But overheating also can cause system unstability, if you want to be completely sure your disk isn't overheating then you can go for the Bay-Cool drive.
I myself have 4 harddisk about 0.5 cm from eachother (top from other disk bottom) and I use two small 60 mm fans to blow cool air through those small openings. My system crashes almost never (with Windows 98) but I also have 3 casefans blowing air into my case and 4 fans blowing air out of it (see my sig ), so my casetemps are around 25 C.
Remember that your CPU, videocard, chipset fans do not count as in/exhaust fans because they are already inside the case.
It's best to have the fans blowing in as low as possible and the fans blowing out as high as possible (hot air rises), many cases have special mounting places for exhaust fans under your powersupply and have a place for intake near the bottom front of your case. If there are no places to mount fan the only solution will be making holes or buying a case with mounting holes for fans.

My case has so many fans that it hovers above the ground .

 

[Guest]

There are 2 rows of small ventilation holes on the bottom left and bottom right of my case. I can feel cool air blowing out on the left side, but not the right. Then there's a fan blowing out warm air at the top rear of the case. The air is warm, but not room temperature warm. It's kinda hot-warm. But not nearly hot enough to burn you.

Do you think my case has enough ventilation?

 

[svol]

Run your PC with the case closed and check your temps in Windows. After a while open the case and feel if the air in the case is hot, if it feels hot then you might need some better cooling.

My case has so many fans that it hovers above the ground .