Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support |
Cooling fans: how many is too many? |
DVA5737
Captain, B767-300
Joined on March 28 2008
Everett Century Club
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
50 State Club
Double Century Club
Commuter Conquest
Piranha Club
"Have you tried turning it off and back on again?"
243 legs, 270.2 hours
18 legs,
24.8 hours online 237 legs,
261.7 hours ACARS 6 legs,
13.5 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 10 2009 10:31 ET by Brian Clark
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Right now, I am running three case fans: one on the back panel, one on the side panel, and one up front. This is in addition to the large fan on my PSU, my CPU fan (which blows air right out to the side fan), and the fan on my graphics card. At times when I have been up to Fry's (I could spend a whole paycheck there given the chance), I see tons of different fans for loads of applications like HDD fans, PCI slot fans, memory heat sinks and so on. What kinds of cooling does DVA use in their machines, and what should I consider adding, if anything?
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AFV153
Senior Captain, A320
Joined on January 12 2009
Double Century Club
"Brace yourselves this might be bumpy" Sandwell GB
207 legs, 362.1 hours
207 legs,
362.1 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 10 2009 11:33 ET by Dave Gandolfo
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It isnt so much a question of how many fans, it's more the quality of the fans, i.e. how quiet they are and how much air they move.
I would steer clear of PCI slot fans as they are generally cheap, noisey and don't tend to shift much air for the noise they produce.
If the case has poor airflow internally with deadspots; simply adding fans may not actually get rid of them.
As a rule of thumb, you don't want to be adding fans smaller than 120mm as smaller fans produce more noise to get close to the airflow af a quieter larger fan.
Personally I wouldnt waste money on HDD coolers or 3rd party memory coolers, buying memory with heatspreaders already fitted (corsair DHX for example) and ensuring a case fan is passing air over is generally better than a 3rd party cooling kit. The same with HDD cooling, a case with a fan already fitted to the HDD caddy (or even a ghetto mod - tie wrapping a fan to the caddy yourself) will be as good if not better than an HDD cooler which will cost significantly more than the benefits it gives.
Ideally, save all the money you may waste on buying cooling bits and invest in a quality case with excellent cooling properties. The Antec 1200 is such a case.
That's my opinion anyway
Dave GandolfoSenior Captain, A320
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DVA1933
Senior Captain, B727-200
Joined on September 19 2004
Triple Century Club
Monterrey, NL Mexico
357 legs, 860.4 hours
72 legs,
132.3 hours online 255 legs,
668.3 hours ACARS 1 legs,
1.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 10 2009 12:30 ET by David Eugenio Gomez
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I don't have any case fans at all. I run an open box, and the only fans working are those of the PSU, CPU and GPU... it's practically silent, except for the stock Intel fan which makes more noise than a plane on takeoff, for that I use SpeedFan to control the RPM's to something around 3200, and voilá...
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DVA7152
Captain, CRJ-200
Joined on February 22 2007
"In Christ Alone!" Jacksonville, FL USA
31 legs, 21.8 hours
18 legs,
7.3 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 10 2009 12:40 ET by Patrick Thomas
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I have a cooling pad for my laptop that works great with only one fan! Bought it yesterday and my computer hasent even gotten remotely warm
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DVA3355
Senior Captain, B777-200
Joined on July 19 2006
Online Century Club
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Everett 1500 Club
Four Million Mile Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"guiding you home..." Denver, CO USA
1,959 legs, 8,711.6 hours
181 legs,
715.0 hours online 1,891 legs,
8,382.8 hours ACARS 18 legs,
67.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 10 2009 17:40 ET by Daniel Hodnik
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good airflow is key and like stated above 120mm fans are generally the way to go.
my full tower thermaltake xaser has 7 80mm fans and has awful airflow design.
my lian li mid tower has 3 120mm fans and has superb airflow.
airflow airflow airflow.
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DVA7407
Captain, CRJ-200
Joined on June 07 2009
Kent GB
14 legs, 23.6 hours
14 legs,
23.6 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 13 2009 14:52 ET by Daniel Inwood
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It's not quantity, it's quality. Try a pair of 120-150mm fans, on at the top of the back panel, one at the bottom of the front panel, one blowing and one sucking. It's all about the airflow, as the others have said.... A nice, smooth, constant intake of cool air would seriously imrpove your temperatures, methinks.
If you have deadspots using this method then one small fan (50mm?) will be enough to quietly get it shifting without draining too much power.
Daniel InwoodCaptain, CRJ-200
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AFV003
Senior Captain, B737-800
Joined on May 03 2002
GVA 10 Year Anniversary
Century Club
"Oh yeah, NOTAM #19 is a must!" Indianapolis, IN
144 legs, 376.9 hours
59 legs,
129.5 hours online 121 legs,
328.9 hours ACARS 8 legs,
27.8 hours event 276 legs, 632.7 hours total 27 legs dispatched, 38.6
hours
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Posted onPost created on
June 13 2009 16:02 ET by Caitlyn Champlin
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Another good idea, if you're willing to undertake the task at home, is to cut an opening at the top of the case for a medium sized fan. 80 or 90mm will do the trick. This will blow out all the hot air that's rising to the top of your case. You'll also need to drill some screw holes and get a fan guard from your local electronics/computer shop, but they're inexpensive, maybe $1 or $2. I have 2x120mm fans, one in front for intake, one in the back for exhaust, and a 90mm on top blowing out. I've never had overheating issues. Don't forget that your power supply also has its own fan that blows bad air out of the back.
Some people think that water cooling is the way to go. I've tried this system and it's quite a bit more expensive, more complicated, and can be a little tricky to install if you're a builder. I ran two systems side by side with similar components and didn't see very much improvement or advantage other than less noise. If you're willing to toss money around and have serious heat issues, I'd recommend an air conditioned case, but they are pretty expensive for the average home user like me. **CAUTION** You can not cut a hole in the side of your case and use spare household ducting to attach to a window air conditioning unit! DO NOT try this! I won't readily admit to having been duped, but trust me, it doesn't work!
Ryan
Caitlyn ChamplinSenior Captain, B737-800
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