do i need a fan for this?

[toph99]

i was wondering(just out of pure curiosity) if i could run my PIII 500E without a fan. it puts out 13W according to intel. it has this tiny POS fan on it which is so clogged with dust i'm not sure how well it turns anymore(i'm guessing that new it pushed about 12cfm) and the heatsink is just warm

thanks

 

[Tates]

You might take a can of air to that rascal. Or a machete. Clean the dust out, and let the fannage continue.

 

[MattCo]

Try it without the fan but watch the CPU temp. I have been curious about this myself but havent had the testicular fortitude to try it. Would be much quieter I imagine.

 

[TheOverlord]

if you do it w/o a fan at least put a big hs on it to get the heat away from the core...

 

[XMan]

The Compaq P3 systems I've seen use a massive heatsink and no fan except for a small intake fan and the PS fan. Those were all 450s, I don't see why a 500 would be much different.

 

[Viperoni]

You should be able to if your heatsink isn't crap to being with.
I doubt an alpha would have trouble, but if it's the stock one, you might wanna keep the fan running.
It takes VERY little airflow to drop temps significantly.

I have a tnt-2pro that was like that.
The sink would get FINGER BURNING hot (over 65c recorded with my temp probe!)
I strapped a tiny gamma26 blower (~15cfm @ 12v), wired it for 5v, and now it runs about 35c constantly.
HUGE difference

 

[lotust]

I would not do it while gamming. but thats just me.

I would never try this on my Atthy 800@900 I would have a meltdown in my thermalnucler core he he im a retard today

but like the guys say just watch the temp carefully.

 

[rarebear]

My old PII 400 just had a heat sink no fan at all...