80mm case fans - necessary?

[aaroncgi]

I'm putting together my system soon, and it's really the first I've done almost all from scratch. My case has spots for 3 80mm fans, one on the bottom front, and two at the very top above the power supply. The question is, do I need to add them? I will not be overclocking, here's what will be in my system -

Athlon 550
Matrox G400MAX
Kenwood 42X CD
Samsung & Matrox HD, both 5400rpm
Zoom PCI 56k modem
Yamaha PCI sound card

Later I will add -
SCSI card for -
CD-RW drive
DVD drive

My case is huge, Superpower Polaris I full tower, about 23" x 8" x 17".

No motherboard yet, so I don't know how loud the power supply is. I'd like fans that are as quiet as possible without spending a fortune, as I'd probably get all three.

Any recommendations? Thanks!

Aaron

[paulcs]

You absolutely want the front panel fan and one of the two fans above the power supply. All three would be best. The front panel fan should be blowing in cool air. All fans at the top back of the case should blow out.

Addtronics, the case manufacturer for Supermicro, sells Sunon fans. I've had very good luck with them. I think they are about $7.00 each, and since Addtronics has a presence in Northern California, and you're in Washington State, you should get them quickly.
http://www.addtronics.com

Good luck with that nice new case.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Rohde]

Well you MIGHT need it, depends on how warm it gets where you live. I have a 500 MHz Athlon (the 0.25 heatking) and I have a soundinculated big-tower, and no cabinet cooling at all.

Running smoothly with no problems.

But ok, I'm not saying that Paulc is absolutely wrong, I'm just saying that it is not an absolute must to have case cooling (depending on outside temperature).

Those 80 mm fans make a lot of noise, so why not just try without them, and if it gets to hot, grab a couple and plug 'em in.

Greets

Torben R

[aaroncgi]

Thanks for the advice Paul, I think I'll do as you suggest, though a may have a local supplier for the fans! I've been trying to get all my parts from places in CA, as it's only 3 days UPS ground. You would sure think that where I live, not far from Microsoft, one could find a local computer store that carries all the parts I want, but NOOO!

Torben - I consider it hot if it gets over 75 in my apartment. Fortunately summers are fairly cool near Seattle. So while yes I may not need cooling, can't hurt. I seriously doubt my new case is anywhere near as loud as the cheapo AT case I have now, the metal is twice as thick to begin with and it's built like a tank! (weighs over 40 lbs!)

Thanks again!

Aaron

[Brian R.]

My opinion would be to forget all the fans. You won't need them unless you put more hot stuff in the case than you predict. I have a tower and the power supply had more than enough fan to keep the case cool. I have an additional fan above the power supply running to exit the heat from my 10k IBM SCSI HD. That is the only heater in my case. The fans will definitely make the room noisy. Try it without the fans first. You will know if you need any if you lock-up in 3-D games after a few minutes. I bet you won't need them.

------------------
650e PIII @ 806 Mhz w/stock heatsink/fan, ABIT BE6, 256 MB Mushkin PC133 + G400 MAX, CL SB Live with Sennheiser HD-600 headphones, Sennheiser DSP360 Dolby processor, and Shure FP22 headphone amplifier, IBM Deskstar 13 GB ATA66 HD, Adaptec AHA2940 w/uw SCSI, IBM Ultrastar 9ZX 9.1GB 10K UW SCSI HD, WD Enterprise 4360 4.3GB 7.2k UW SCSI HD, Pioneer 303s SCSI DVD, Plexwriter 8/4/32A, Win2K, in a modified Supermicro SC750A case, and a partridge in a pear tree.

[paulcs]

I don't know. He's got a pretty hot CPU there. I bet it runs a lot hotter than that .18 core Coppermine.

Fans are cheap. If it gets too noisy, on cool days, he can unplug one.

We have freaky weather in the Pacific Northwest. 90-95% of the time, it's pretty cool, and home air conditioning is relatively rare. Then we get a freak heatwave, and suddenly doors and windows are opened, computer side panels are removed, etc. I just saw it happen last week (although I think Seattle was spared).

In my opinion, he should have decent airflow from the bottom front to the top back. I suspect that older Athlon will be the hotspot in his case.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 18 June 2000).]

[Dyre]

I agree with Paul... cooling is good. heat bad!

If you want queit fan look for Panasonic Panaflo fans. I have some and are much quieter than my Sunons (whihc are still GREAT fans). Of course the Panaflos move a little less air.