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Anybody ever wire a cpu fan into a Dell MB ?

D

Doomer

Diamond Member
This is an Optiplex with a heatsink. I'd like to replace the heatsink with a heatsink/fan. The only connector is a propritory one that connects the chassis fan which is ducted to the cpu heatsink (hope I haven't lost you here).

My concern is that the voltages may be different and if I bypass the plug, I'll have to deal with a BIOS message about the fan not running since it has a speed sensor wire.

Anybody ever done this?

TIA
 
Just take your meter and measure the voltage on the fan that's in there. The way Dell builds boxes, the third wire on that fan may be a speed control wire rather than a speed sensor wire. I know Dell charges an ungodly amount for some of their replacement fans. IAC, I'd hook your new HSF directly to 12V via a fan controller (Zalman FanMate or such) and be done with it. If you do get a no fan attached warning then you know it was a speed sensor wire and not a speed control wire. Then just splice the yellow wire from your new fan to the third wire going to the mobo from your old fan. If you don't get the warning, then the third wire is a control wire and can be disregarded in the context of your new fan.

.bh.
 
Thanks zepper, never occured to me that it might be a speed control line. I'm going to wire it directly to the PS and deal with the BIOS message if there is one. Don't want to risk ruining the MB. Wht the heck does Dell have to be so different? what do they gain by throwing road blocks like this up?
 
The voltages will probably be the same, but if it's anything like my old 8200 series machine, the heatsink size is different. If you can ge ahold of an old board that is standard and scrap out the mounting bracket for the heatsink, then you may be able to upgrade the heatsink.
 
Now I have another problem. A standard HS/Fan won't fit into the frame the Dell HS went into. Now I'm wondring if the mounting holes are standard dememsions so I can use a HS/Fan that comes with a mounting plate. Anybody know?
 
They usually are not. In fact, there's some doubt as to whether or not a standard mounting frame will go into those four holes on the motherboard. That's why I suggested getting one off of a junk motherboard and seeing if it fits or you could take that one off of yours and match it to a standard one and see if the holes are the same.
 
At least for some models of Dell, they should pretty much be left as is. On your Optiplex, that cooling system was designed as an integral part of the system, never needing to be changed. You don't buy the big box pushers' stuff if you are an inveterate tinkerer/upgrader as running into proprietary roadblocks is almost inevitable.

Good luck.
.bh.
 
I woudln't bother with replacing the setup. Even of you replace the hs/f. I'm pretty sure dell or other oems put sensors that won't let the computer start up unless theres a fan pluged in and working in the cpu fan header.
 
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