Do i Need a Fan?? plz tell me soon

[Maximilian]

Hi i aint sure but i think i may need another fan. Im using Speedfan to get these temps: Both Hdd's 50-53 *C and the cpu well its fine it stays around 40-50 idle and in use. Since i installed my 9800 PRO to replace the FX 5200 the fans been at 5000 rpm and up to keep things cool and its way more noisey than it was at 3000-3500 so should i get another fan?? if so which one and wheres it meant to be installed? lol cuz i dont see any obvious place for it.

 

[Maximilian]

P.S My rig is:
A64 3200+
Sapphire Radeon 9800 PRO
Western Digital 160 GB 7200RPM Drive
Samsung 160 GB 7200RPM Drive
2 sticks 512 PC 3200 RAM corsair//samsung
1 fan on the PSU//heatsink//little fan on 9800PRO no others that i can see

 

[lazybum131]

You have no case fans (other then PSU exhaust)? I'd definitely get some airflow in there if you don't. If you have no exhaust fans, definitely add 1 or 2 (assuming ur case accepts 80mm fans). Your hard drive temps should go down a lot with airflow flowing through the case. My Samsung 160GB drive has never reported over 27C in my Sonata! If the hard drives temps are still high, ~50C, add a slow intake fan blowing over them.

 

[0roo0roo]

your case is way too hot. my harddrives stay way below 30c at all times. drive failure isn't funny. sounds like you need a new case bad. adding more fans inside to blow hot air over things isn't a solution, the case needs to breath.

 

[lazybum131]

Oh yah, messed the last sentence in the first post...

If your case doesn't even HAVE fan placements then it's time for a new case! Since you didn't mention anything about the system being unstable, get a case with good airflow just to lower the temperatures, but run your case fans slower by undervolting them to 5V or 7V. Should still be plenty of air movement for a good case.

 

[Maximilian]

Aw crap my case has no hole in the front unless i rip off the plastic cover but then it just looks a mess without that. If i need a new case A: which one should i get (budget plz) and B: how hards it gonna be transferring all the stuff?? i struggled to install a stick of ram....... so yknow i aint so good with hardware although the gcard was easy much better than the ram. o well i never read these posts in time so i ordered 3 fans which go at 2600 rpm average.
If i was to stick with this case would putting all the fans at the back to blow air out work??? or is a front sucking in air fan mandatory??

 

[psiu]

Probably the basic adequate setup is one fan for intake (front) and one for exhaust (rear), in addition the power supply exhausting. It's not too hard to transfer, just take your time, be gentle with the components (specifically things like connectors--you can snap pins if you're rough) and look at it as a good way to learn!

You don't mention what kind of PSU you have? I'm going to guess it's a generic one?

I'm gonna go poke around on Newegg....come back with a fairly cheap case/good PSU recommendation.

It looks you did some homework and picked out good stuff for the rest of the system, now you want to make sure your case and PSU are to up the task. Especially your PSU, everything runs off it....

edit: BTW, what color are your CD/DVD/floppy/whatever drives? Want it to look good too....

 

[Maximilian]

PSU is 300w and it looks good quality (might not be though) as i compared it to the one i saw in an article which compared good with bad. My case actually does seem to have a grid at the back for another fan (do fans clip//glue//bolt on?) and at the front theres a grid at the front covered by the plastic front cover with the on//off button etc. At the bottom of the plastic front cover there are holes which are not visible due to their angle but they are there so air could be sucked in from there. I got 3 fans to put in (cheap £1.50 ones 2500-3000 rpm) and if they dont help at all then ill definately need to buy a new case shame too cuz this case has really thick metal, i was really surprised how thick the sides were when i first removed them.

The visible drives are all white except the floppy which is silver. Theres also this other thing called a "media reader" never seen it before anywhere never used it but it came free and its cream coloured.

 

[psiu]

Hmmm....

Okay, you will more than likely mount the front fans to the inside of the frame.....they will then be sucking air in through the grid in front of the case, which is covered by the front plastic parts except for some air inlets...at the back you would put another fan blowing out. Fans screw on to the case, they should come with the proper screws (the screws will go from outside in, in other words hold the fan in the proper place and put the screws through to meet it. Might be a good idea to have someone help )

You might want to upgrade the power supply unit....here's a link to the Antec Truepower 330 and the corresponding review on Anandtech....also the True 380 might be more up your alley as you've got an A64, the Radeon, and some big drives and you're gonna have a lot more fans soon

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-103-906&catalog=58&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1841&p=5

Right now the 330 watt unit is $44 on Newegg, while the 380 is $60....but the 380 might be better for any future expansion and peace of mind. For that matter the 430 is only $66, +50 watts might not be worth $16, but I'd bet +100 is worth $22. Another point to consider is that you want to have some power in reserve, i.e. not running your PSU at full bore all the time, just to keep up. The Antec line also comes with fan-only connectors that are regulated on the PSU temp.

Found a fairly decent-looking case with some decent cooling options also. Beige coloring, so your drives should *probably* look Ok in it.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-150-017&catalog=7&depa=1

Room for a front fan (intake) and it comes with a topmounted blow hole fan, and a side fan (which appears to be mounted for exhaust, I'd flip it for intake). Also room for two rear exhaust fans and it's only $25.

Personally, I'd recommend getting the PSU replaced first, mount your case fans and see what happens. Good luck, have someone come over to help (give them some :beer: ) and report back.

 

[Maximilian]

Ok ill get an antec 430 as it has 2 fans which is nice and 430 seems like a reasonable number. Firstly though i need to sell my 5200 FX on ebay (which isnt going well lol) to pay for new psu. Thanks for the help!

 

[psiu]

Cool. I don't think you'll be disappointed. When you toss it in try to tidy up wiring as well, that can help with airflow. Buying rounded cables can be helpful, but cost money. For a cheap method, check here:

http://www.gruntville.com/howtos/rounded_cables/index.php

I did the same but with my extra game port and serial port headers (because I'll never use them, so it was okay to screw up ) that came with my mb. I mounted them in the punch outs on the back of the case.

I used some spiral wrap instead of electrical tape, but it's the same idea. Have some zip ties available to help route power cables and secure them in place. Another trick to help neaten it up is to take some of the little cables (like CPU fan, audio, various headers) and wrap them around a pen or screwdriver, hold for a second or two, and voila! Just like the phone cord (you know, spirally and stretchy).

Have fun....:beer:

 

[0roo0roo]

or you can simply do cable origami. one can fold ribbon cables into neatness. just use some zipties to keep it neat. u need zipties to keep the rest of the cabling neat anyhow. http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Mods/ata_100_mod.htm not so good example but u get the gist. theres a better funny cable origami site out there. i just don't have the link

 

[Maximilian]

Hmm well i cut the big tangley wire and i can see copper in it which i doubt is a good thing so think ill just leave it and assume my wires crap and too thin to cut or i cant cut accurately enough lol. Probably that 2nd one but ill give origami a bash and if that fails ill just settle with how the cables are now, they arent that messy anyways.

 

[psiu]

I recommend a box cutter or x-acto. Or just go to the local comp shop and get a couple rounded cables. Floppy a couple of ATA-133 for the hard drives and optical drives. Ask them what they recommend for it. Shouldn't be more than $20. Dunno about euro or pounds but you get the drift....

 

[0roo0roo]

origami is easier. i once cut ata 33 cables, they are thicker. ata66 are a pain.. i cit through the insulator once too, i no longer bother, i just fold and fold and ziptie...

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.tokenasians.com/articles/rounding.html

the better origami site is down..dead. just think of more 90degree folding to the sie to start off with, then normal folding to slim to prevent the crinkling. since al the folds are flat, u don't really need tape