Case and fans question

[GhostRecon]

Hello,

I got a new system which uses an Amd Xp2000+ cpu and the MSI kt3 Ultra-2 motherboard.
My power supply comes with dual fans (one fan at the bottom and one on the back and it's also 350W) and I am using the retail heatsink/fan combo that came w/the processor to cool the cpu.

Now my question is do I need to place any additional fans to keep this system cool?

keep in mind that I do not plan to overclock the system and the 1st power supply that I bought for the computer burnt out and fried the motherboard (if anybody has any idea as to why the 1st power supply burnt out, please tell me too.).

Here are the system specs:

SOUND CARD:
Creative Labs Soundblaster Audigy Digital 5.1 OEM w/IEEE 1394

VIDEO CARD:
MSI (MS-8870) G4Ti4200-TD 128MB DDR AGP w/TV & DVI

RAM:
Nanya 512MB PC2700

HARD DRIVE:
Western Digital 80.0GB HD 7200rpm 2MB

DVD:
Pioneer 40x16x DVD ROM drive

CPU:
AMD® Athlon?XP 2000+

MOTHERBOARD:
MSI KT3 ultra 2

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tru3]

As far as a simple answer: yes you really should get 2 more case fans. The fans on your power supply are really only for the supply itself. The standard layout is at least 1 fan in the bottom front (blowing in)with the other in upper rear(blowing out). The heat sink fan on your proc wont do much if it isnt being supplied with a steady flow of air through the case. The other fans will also help with keeping the other components in your system cool. Fans are pretty cheap and you can get them anywhere... just look around for reviews of sound v. throughput and pick a pair out. Im sure some other people will chime in with recomendations of particular models. You really should get some though. Congratulations on ur new system btw ... im a proud new father 2.

 

[sniperruff]

yeah you should really get 2 more fans one on the front and one on the back blowing the same directions.
as for the burnt PS i have no idea... maybe you should RMA it... the stuff that you plug in there should be no problem with 350W PS
i have a 300W smart power PS and i got:

soltek mobo
maxtor 80 gig 7200rpm
GF3 Ti500
cd rom and cdrw
ethernet card
256 DDR kingston

and it's running smooth =D

 

[Dan]

GhostRecon: I have a very similar set-up to yours. Instead of the retail heatsink and fan I use an Alpha 8045 heatsink with an 80mm Crsytal-Tech fan. I also have a 90mm Antec intake fan in the lower front of the case and two exhaust fans. One is another 80mm Crsytal-Tech fan just below the 450W power supply. The other is an 80mm Antec in a blowhole at the top of the case. You can see all the details (and pics) on my site.

 

[mechBgon]

Now for the big question: does your case have available positions for the additional fans? The rear one is top priority IMHO, and the front one won't hurt either. It's a very economical upgrade, anyway. For a particular fan, the Panaflo L1A is a good mix of low noise and reasonable airflow. Look at the Cooling Vendor thread up at the top for some places to get them. I saw them at KD Computers for $5 each and that's the best price I've seen lately (SVC had them for $2.49 once ). link to Panaflo L1A

If your motherboard doesn't have enough 3-pin fan headers to plug them both into the motherboard, you can pick up 3-pin-to-4-pin adapters and power one or both fans directly from the PSU. Same effect.

 

[Rivergater]

i have three case fans.

two in the front blowing in and then one in the back blowing out.

just to experiment, i flipped the back one to blow in and my cpu temps have dropped a few degrees.

should i flip the front ones to blow out? any thoughts? i'm also pretty sure that my ide and floppy cables are obstructing air flow but am planning on getting some rounded cables in the near future.

 

[sniperruff]

gotta hate those ugly flat ribbons--- my video card wouldn't fit then i decided to just bend the damn ribbon under the video card
the only thing good about the ribbons is that they're free =)

 

[MIGhunter]

There is a lot of debate about fans in the Car Audio world. The basic idea is that a fan has a certain amount of air that it can push or pull through it. EEs say that this limits the amount of air so if you put an intake fan and an exhaust fan it does no good. The one fan in can only push "X" amount of air in, while the other can only pull "Y" amount out. They are not compounded. In order to correct for this, it is better to have a slotted port or an exhaust "vent" and then put the 2 fans in the same direction. That way the only limiting factor is the amount of air that can be pushed out the "vent" which is related to ambient pressure. Now the fans are compounded because there are 2 fans pulling "X" and "Y" amounts of air.

I know this isn't totally related to the question but it is something to think about.

 

[MIGhunter]

sorry double post