For no good reason, my house generates more dust than many dirt track rally car races. All that plays hell on my computers, most notably their fans.

Last night, my power supply fan (of almost 3 years) finally died. So, I ghetto rigged it by swapping in a fan from a 486 case on my trash pile (including splicing the modern power connecter on by twirling the wires together and wrapping with electrical tape). But this just won't do. I'm not a throwaway guy; I like to buy for keeps.

So, does anyone know of any top quality fans for computer power supplies and CPU heatsinks? Yes, ball bearing over "sleeve". But my knowledge ends there. A quick search showed the German brand Pabst was an excelent brand. But I'm not sure what size the PSU and CPU fans are (PSU=80mm?). And then I had a hard time finding a PSU-sized fan with a two-pin connector. That led me to voltages and wattages, which I know nothing about. Which led me to you all, since this BBS brims with more ohms and amps than I could ever want.

Back on track, does anyone know the size and wattage (voltage?) specs for a CPU and PSU fan? And any place to buy these things? Using Google to find a place to buy something like this is akin to reading an e-mail account I haven't checked in years; wading through page after page of spammy www.sil3nt-coolerz-4-less.com sites.

Thanks much. I need to stock up on thiese things so I NEVER have to worry about my dust bunnies getting caught in the fans ever again.

PSU fan? Do you mean a case fan or are you really trying to replace the fan in a power supply? If the latter, don't do it. Buy a new one. They make quiet ones.

I'd probably just go to Newegg. But you can try Pricewatch for potentially better prices. CPU fans will be listed for the CPU/socket they fit on.

And fit some sort of dust filter to your case

Quote:
For no good reason, my house generates more dust than many dirt track rally car races.

I have a similar problem here, but the inside of my computer case is quite dust-free. I purchased a Lian-Li with sound dampener already installed and, yes, a dust filter in front of the intake fans. I recently replaced the fans with Zalmans, using the provided resistors and Fan Mate to make them quiet.

Noise was my concern when I bought the case, but not seeing any dust collect inside or on the fans is a nice bonus. All I have to do is rinse the filter occasionally.

I've also heard that if dust is a concern and you install filters on your fans to make sure that they blow in instead of out, since if they blow out, that means that the air being pulled into the case will be coming from places that are specifically not covered by filters. Not to mention that you'd be filtering air that's coming out of your case, which is not terribly useful.

I also had a Lian-Li and that dust filter does an incredible job. I only have the original fans on there and I can clean that filter every week (I had a very dusty environment - it's better now). I also have very little dust inside now, all because of that filter.

And I agree, definitely replace the PSU. Besides, it's a good thing to upgrade, especially now that components are requiring so much more power (thanks NVidia). I never really worry about power with my Antec. It's also pretty quiet. I'd definitely recommend their line.

Not to worry, Bitt. I wouldn't make the mistake of having a filter over an exhaust fan. Or at least I think I wouldn't.

There's a lot more to a modern power supplty than just a different connector. Buy a new one.

So, after taking apart my computer and opening my power supply just to measure the size and specs of the fan, I ordered a few replacements. Only problem is the pin conversion: 3 pin female on the fan, 2 pin male on the power supply.



Anyone know where I can get one of these converters? I found only one website with them, but it's a shady Yahoo site. After my recent bad experience loosing over $100 to one of those, I'll never shop at a Yahoo site again. Are there any reputable sources for these things?

Or is Bitt right, am I going to blow up my power supply by trying to replace the fan? I don't know enough about electronics to make that determination. All I know is I don't want to throw out a perfectly functioning 300W power supply because of the manufacturers planned obsolescence by using the cheapest fan with the shortest lifespan that they possibly could.

As long as the specs match, you should be fine. I would not worry about an adapter. You might be better off removing one of the connectors and replacing it with either the correct connector or just attaching the wires directly.

I unfortunately have 0 solder ability (and an ancient solder gun that doesn't get warm when I plug it in). I'd hack the connector in a heartbeat if I could, but since it's dealing with power and it's close to the mother of all power sources, I'm trying to play it safe. (ha, but how safe is hacking the PSU anyway, right?)