Fan/Heatsink question

[shadowrunner]

I have a bad fan, and its not connected straight to the Heatsink on the CPU. Dell put a duct that leads the airflow to the heatsink. This fan is realllllly loud, and getting bad.

I want to replace both the heatsink and fan, but I wasn't sure if it would be better to try to fit the new fan into the duct, or just let the fan stay attached to the new heatsink. I wasn't sure if it was important to have your cpu fan leading directly out of the case. What do you think?

 

[r53s]

You probably have a PIII processor.
The duct is a good idea to get fresh air into the processor, even Intel now has the same duct idea (but taking fresh air from the side of the case).
You can do both things. Replace the duct fan, or let the duct without fan and install one on the heatsink...

 

[setishock]

Um...

Put it back the way you found it. If not you're gonna have major overheating problems. Reason: the only other fan to get air out of the case is the power supply fan and it ain't all that great. Contact dell to get replacement parts or get a new case for 25 bucks and move all the goodies to a new home. A plain jane beige case and a little imagenation and you can have a nice rig...
Psst. A can of spray paint works wonders...

 

[shadowrunner]

It is a P4.

I was thinking about that, buying a cheap case, and moving everything. I would rather do that, since their case is dumb and gets reallly dusty instanlty due to poor air flow, or whatever.

I will probibly just replace the fan and heatsink using the duct, atleast until I get a new case. I want to use my new dremel more too

Thanks