case fans

mark_visser99

Solid State Member
Messages
9
Hey.
I am running a MSI 875P Neo with P4 2.6C
It gets a little hot from time to time. I am going to redo the heat sink with artic silver, but I still have some questions regarding fans. I currently have 4 case fans, 2 front 2 back. But, they are 2 stealth fans, and 2 X mod fans. They didn't have stealth when i bought the 2nd set. So, they are much louder than the stealth, a little too loud. I am looking at putting a switch in the cable so I can turn them on and off when i want / need. Is it dangerous to turn fans on and off while my system is running? Also, I need a quick lesson in doing that. Do I have to put the switch in the positive wire or the negative wire? Or does it not matter?
Let me know what you think.
PS> I have a 375 watt Enermax PSU with really good ratings. Its no POS
 
Hi,

It is best not to mess around with the connections, but what you can buy are fan controllers.
There are many types, with some controlling up to 7 at a time and they simply fit into an empty bay slot. You then simply connect a power supply from the PSU and plug the fans in to it. You then have switches that change the speed of the fans when you want, also affecting the noise level :)

I'm sure there are also ones that would change the speed automatically to the heat being given out, and so would be a complete automatic system... I bet these would be a tad more expensive though...

If you can, or already do, make sure there are fans blowing in cold air, from a hole in the case, and at least one big fan (120mm ones are the quietest and yet, give out more air) dragging hot air out into the open.
You could then simply have one fan on the side pushing air around to relieve some components of heat.
This will give you the best performance of air circulation, and will certainly lower the temperatures a bit!

*KaGe*
 
hey
i hear you, but that's not my style.
why should i go drop $50 on a rheostat when i can go to the hardware store down the street and grab some switches, wire, electical tape, perhaps a digital thermometer and build one myself?
i still have one empty plastic 5.25" bay cover.....
the other one may or may not have a KeySpan remote receiver in it.....

YAY FOR DREMMEL TOOLS!!!!

also, i answered my own question in the meantime. You need to put the switch in the +ve line. The -ve is common. And, if you are to look at your PSU owners manual, it tells you exactly which is which.
Cheers, Mark
 
Listen up...

The heat from inside has to go some where. You could cut off the intake fans and let the exhaust fans draw the air in to the case and on out. I myself would not do this. My p4 2.4 gets rather warm. I have two fans in the front with the grills cut out and one fan in the back with the grill cut out. Combined with a Cooler master Aerogate II controller it runs rather quietly. The controller I use only cost me $34.00USD. It also has 4 temp probes.
If you choose to power off your fans and let the heat build up in the case then you will take a proformance hit as the heat rises in the case and the cpu overheats. Also other heat generating devices will suffer as well.
 
yeah man, just buy a fan controller, it's not a good idea to turn fans completely off. this way with a fan controller you can maintain at least a little air circulation while keeping your fans at a low noise level. I use a Vantec Nexus 4 channel controller, works very well. don't mickey mouse it man, do it right
 
It's still rather kewl though what he wants to do, Being creative i mean.

If he did want to do this by hand. There must be a way you can do it to slow down fans too... maybe having switches to lower voltages would slow fans down? Not completly sure on that... I never was that good at Electronics :p

I've read in PC Format, its possible to make your own with a LCD screen from a portable DVD player, setting this as a second display, and using windows software to have it display info and to change settings :p Kewl huh? (You could also make it display winamp and things if you ever turned the big screen off :D ) I just thought that was a really good idea, and just wanted to share it.

*KaGe*
 
well, i don't plan on mickey mousing it. if i do it, i do it right. i take great pride in my work. i have also considered putting a type of dimmer switch in there, but i'm not sure if that will work on only 12 volts.
and yeah, i realize its not a good idea to turn fans completely off. but, if the computer is just idling while i'm at class, its not working very hard at all. i've been monitoring it with speedfan and with all fans running, the CPU idles at 31/32 degrees celcuis and the system is around 25/26
that's pretty fricken low in my books. when i start pushing the system, the CPU will jump to around 45/50 degrees. i do plan on redoing my heatsink with good conducting compound - its currently the stock crap.
as for the DVD display, that sounds pretty cool. you have to be running a video card that will support dual displays though. i know many do, so that shouldn't be an issue. then its just a matter of setting up a second desktop with the info you want displayed. i might have to look into that.....
thanks guys, i will keep you posted on what i do. i plan on wandering over to an electronics store tommorow and starting this project.
later
 
aright i know what you mean, i was considering the same thing mark! first off you're fan will have 2wires going to it, typically red and black. red is your live wire, and black is 0V. (I think thats right!)
I bumped some potentiometers from the tech department at school to fit in the wires to control the speed. Basically they are about 2cm tall and is just a little tube that can twist. as you twist it, it lowers/increases resistance. making your fans go faster or slower! You need to fit this into your red wire - make sure your socket/computer is switched off!!! You could just fit a plain old switch into the wire but that takes away the point in having the fans.
if you can get hold of little switches easily you could get hold of what am on about. they just like a variable resistor that will lower the current in the wire (pics here.. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2203&TabID=1&source=14&doy=1m3 ) any more help needed, im always here :D
 
yeah, that is definately right. i looked at my PSU owners manual and its all outlined in there. i was actually thinking about the potentiometers as well, but then you run into the issue of finding the right ones. Plus, I have 4 case fans in my system, so i have many options.
I have 2 high noise, high airflow fans, 1 front, 1 rear, and I have 2 low noise, low airflow fans, also 1 front, 1 rear.
Also, even if I'm not running any case fans, my PSU has 2 fans, one which draws air up from the CPU and another exhaust out the back (which are both on temperature sensors.)
So, I figure with 4 switches, I can modify it as I like. I could probabbly run 2 switches, but thats no fun.
Well, I'll let you guys know how it works out. I have my case all apart as I type, and I'm planning on picking up parts tommorow and modding it tommorow. After that, I have an graf artist painting my case.... should be interesting.....
 
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