Direction of coolers in the system unit. Maximum and minimum rotation speed
A computer is a complex device with many components that must operate continuously. Cooling is an integral part of this entire complex system, since each part gives off heat while consuming electricity. If there were no cooling, the risk of sudden “burnout” would increase tenfold. But what to do if the old cooling fails? Definitely, you need to look for a replacement and take on the installation. How to properly install fans in a computer case? You can find the answer to this question in this article.
A little about the main thing
It will be no secret to anyone that all components of a personal computer tend to heat up. Some of these elements get very hot. The CPU, GPU and motherboard are the hottest parts inside the system unit. That is why every user should take care of proper cooling and high-quality removal of heat flows.
Most often used in computers air cooling, because it is very practical and cheap. The operating principle of this mechanism is very simple: the elements give off heat to the air around them, and the hot air is blown out of the system unit case using fans. Also, quite often, PC parts are equipped with heat sink elements (radiators).
The importance of the cooling system is simply obvious, but how to properly install the cooler on the processor and other device components?
Selecting new components
Before you start looking for additional coolers, you should carefully examine your gadget:
- Remove the cover of the system unit case, determine the number of places for installing additional components.
- It is also worth taking a look at the motherboard, as this is where all the connectors for the parts are located.
Here are some tips to help you choose:
- It is better to choose devices with the largest suitable size.
- Give preference to devices with a large number of blades. Such devices are quieter.
- When purchasing, you should pay attention to the stickers on the devices, because they indicate the noise level.
- If your motherboard has four-pin headers, then it's worth purchasing a four-wire fan.
If all devices have been purchased, then you must be wondering how to properly install coolers in system unit. Now we will answer this question.
Installing new components
In order to install parts into a computer, it is worth familiarizing yourself with several main location variations. We will talk here only about standard cases, since everything is individual for everyone.
When there are no additional cooling elements in the case
This layout is standard for almost all modern personal computers that are sold in stores electronic technology. Hot air always rises, and the fan in the PSU (power supply) removes it outside.
Important! This arrangement has one noticeable drawback - all the heat that passes through the power supply only heats it up more. Heat transfer also worsens due to the fact that cold air is sucked into the housing chaotically and from all sides.
But even this method is better than incorrect placement of additional equipment.
We place the cooler on the back of the case
This method is relevant only if we have only one place for an additional cooler. The device should be located directly under the power supply, which will help ensure proper air circulation without serious consequences for the aforementioned power supply.
Important! And there is one drawback here - dust will accumulate faster than usual, and the reason for this is the increased rarefaction.
How can I install an additional cooler in the system unit in another way? Read on!
Location on the front of the system unit
This option is also suitable only for those cases in which there is only one seat. The fan should be placed on the front of the PC case, but set to “Blow”. The part must be positioned so that it is opposite the hard drive(s), since all the cold air that enters the device will blow over them.
Important! Such an installation is one of the most effective, because with its help, almost ideal circulation of cold air flows is achieved, and dust will not linger inside. The overall noise level is very low.
We put two coolers in one case
Of course, this method will be the most effective of all. Here the installation process is quite simple:
- One fan is installed on the front wall of the case and operates as a blower.
- On back panel a second cooler is installed on the personal computer case, but this time for “blowing”.
Important! A constant directed air flow will circulate through your device, which will help avoid overheating in any part of the PC. Dust will not settle inside the case at all, the overall noise level will decrease, and the pressure inside will stabilize.
Now you know how to install an additional cooler in a system unit, but what should you be afraid of during installation? Let's talk about incorrect installation.
Important! System overheating also occurs due to increased load in terms of clogging operating system junk files.
To reduce the risk of such an adverse event, be sure to install and use.
How not to install coolers?
In order to figure it out, let’s pay a little attention to the following cases of incorrect installation.
The cooler at the back works on “blowing”
Such cooling will not bring any effect, since all the heat that the power supply gives off to the environment will be immediately absorbed back, and in the lower part of the system unit the air will not move at all. This method will not work for anyone.
The cooler is located at the front and works as a blower
Using this method of arrangement, you will turn your computer into a real dust collector, since there will be very rarefied pressure inside the case. The fans will work in overload mode, and all neighboring components will overheat terribly.
The cooler at the back works on “blowing”, and on the front – on “blowing”
This location creates a closed air ring that prevents hot air from rising. At this rate, you can only achieve increased low pressure overloads inside, which, again, will affect cleanliness.
Both components work on “injection”
In this case, the pressure will be excessively high, which directly proportionally affects the load on the coolers.
Cooling various components- one of the favorite topics of overclockers (though not only them). It is of great importance here good ventilation case - after all, by lowering the temperature in it by at least a couple of degrees, we will reduce the temperature of all the elements inside by the same amount. Unfortunately, I have not yet come across a more or less accurate method for calculating housing ventilation. But in abundance, general recommendations wander from article to article, which from frequent use have become bronzed and are no longer perceived critically.
Here are the most common of these myths:
- The performance of the intake fans should be approximately equal to the performance of the exhaust fans
- Cold air must be admitted from below and released from above.
- The more expansion slots and 5-inch bays a case is filled with, the worse its ventilation
- Replacing conventional cables with round ones significantly improves the ventilation of the case.
- The front fan significantly reduces the temperature in the case.
As a result, the struggle for ventilation of the case often comes down to installing fans of the maximum possible size and performance in all regular places, after which you pick up a drill (hacksaw, jigsaw, chisel, sledgehammer, grinder, autogen - underline as necessary :-), and fans stuck in unusual places. After this, for greater effect, a pair of fans are added inside the case - usually to blow over the video card and hard drive.
It’s better not to talk about the time, effort and money spent on all this. True, the result is usually not bad, but the noise emitted by this “battery” at full speed goes beyond all imaginable limits, and it sucks dust at the speed of a vacuum cleaner. As a result, soon the body begins to become overgrown with fenbass and reobass, becoming similar to mixing console average. And the process of starting the game, instead of simply clicking the mouse, now resembles preparing for the takeoff of an airliner - you must remember to turn up the speed on all these fans. In this article I will try to show how you can achieve a similar effect with little blood.
Running diagonally
All mass-produced cases can be divided into three types - desktop, tower with top (horizontal) power supply and tower with side (vertical) power supply. The last two occupy the main market share. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the third type is considered the worst in terms of ventilation - here the processor ends up in a windproof “pocket” next to the power supply, and it is quite difficult to organize the supply of fresh air there.
The general principles of ventilation are quite simple. Firstly, fans should not interfere with natural convection (from bottom to top), but help it. Secondly, it is undesirable to have windproof stagnant zones, especially in places where natural convection is difficult (primarily the lower surfaces horizontal elements). Thirdly, the greater the volume of air pumped through the housing, the smaller the temperature difference in it compared to the “outboard” air. Fourthly, the flow really does not like various “tricks” - changes in direction, narrowing-expansion, etc.
How does air exchange occur? Let's say a fan pumps air into the case, and the pressure in it increases. The dependence of flow rate on pressure is called the fan operating characteristic. The higher the pressure, the less air the fan will pump in and the more air will come out through the vents. At some point, the amount of air pumped in will equal the amount of air coming out, and the pressure will not increase further. The larger the area of the ventilation holes, the lower the pressure this will happen and the better the ventilation will be. Therefore, simply increasing the area of these holes “without noise and dust” can sometimes achieve more than installing additional fans. But what will change if the fan does not blow in, but blows air out of the case? Only the direction of the flow will change, the flow rate will remain the same.
“Classical” options for organizing ventilation of a case with an upper power supply are shown in Fig. 1-3. Actually, these are actually three varieties of the same method, when the air flows diagonally across the body (from the front lower corner to the rear upper corner). Windproof areas are shown in red. The resistance to the flow does not depend in any way on how densely they are filled - it still passes by them. Pay attention to the lower zone where the video card is located - one of the most critical computer components to overheating. Installing a front fan allows you to supply some fresh air to it (and at the same time to the south bridge), lowering the temperature by a couple of degrees. True, in this case, the hard drive ends up “on the sidelines” (if it is installed in its normal place). Figure 4 shows why this happens. Here is a schematic representation of the air flow through the fan (darker color corresponds to higher speed). From the suction side, air enters evenly from all sides, while its speed decreases rapidly as it moves away from the fan. On the discharge side, the “range” of the air flow is noticeably greater, but only along the axis - an unblown zone is formed to the side of it. The same “aerodynamic shadow” is obtained behind the fan hub, but it quickly disappears.
To illustrate, I will give an example from life. Looking for the best way cooling my desktop, I turned the fan in the power supply to blow. In theory, this should improve the cooling of the power supply - after all, now it is blown with fresh air, and not used air from the case. However, the PSU temperature sensor showed exactly the opposite - the temperature increased by 2 degrees! How could this happen? The answer is simple - the board with the sensor is installed away from the fan and therefore ends up in the aerodynamic shadow. Since some other elements were in this shadow along with the temperature sensor, the status quo was restored to avoid their failure.
Criterion of truth
Now let's move from theory to practice. Our the main task- increase the area of the ventilation holes, preferably quickly and without the use of plumbing tools. Their area should be at least equal to the effective area of the fan (that is, the area swept by the blades), and it is better to exceed it by one and a half times. For example, for an 80mm fan the effective area is approximately 33 sq.cm. If there are several fans and they all work for exhaust (or, conversely, all for blowing), their effective area is added up. This measure is especially relevant for cases of older designs, which still remember the Pentium-2 and nevertheless continue to be produced (and sold) until the dies are completely worn out.
My Codegen desktop, which has already survived three motherboards, is one of these “veterans”. As a “convenience”, it has a place under a 90 mm front fan, which, according to the designers, should suck air through a slot at the bottom of the front panel with an area of only 5 square meters. see, and symbolic holes with a diameter of 1.5 mm opposite it (later I drilled them in a checkerboard pattern to 4 mm - it became even more beautiful). Of course, the hull is not a submarine; air will be sucked in through other small cracks and leaks, the exact accounting of which is impossible. But still, ventilation in normal mode resembles running in a gas mask.
Computer configuration during testing:
- CPU Athlon T-red-B 1.6v. 1800+@166X11, Evercool ND15-715 cooler connected via 3-pos. switch (second speed used, 2700 rpm)
- M/b Epox 8RDA3, bridge airflow disabled
- video Asus 8440 Deluxe (GF4ti4400), act. The cooler covers the chip and memory.
- 512 Mb RAM Hynix
- HDD Samsung 7200 rpm
- CD-ROM, FDD, Rack container
- Modem
- TV/capture card Flyvideo
- PSU Codegen 250w
- Total power (without power supply) - about 180 W
The temperature of the processor was measured through Sandra, the video cards - using the built-in sensors through SmartDoctor, in the case under the top cover above the processor (don't forget - it's a desktop case) there was an external sensor of an electronic thermometer, the second sensor of this thermometer measured the temperature in the room. The results were then normalized to an external temperature of 23 degrees.
The system was loaded by running the 3DMark2001SE game test cycle. In the initial state, the temperature in the case was 15 degrees higher than the external temperature, the temperature of the video card (chip/memory) was higher by 55/38 degrees, and the processor by 39 degrees. For comparison, measurements were taken with open lid. Results: the video card temperature is 44/30 degrees higher than the external one, the processor temperature is 26 degrees higher.
First, let's try to go the traditional route. What is the first thought that comes to mind when looking at this building? “Since there is a hole for the fan, there must be at least something there” (quite like “The Golden Calf”). Well, let's put it on. What is the result? The temperature sensor in the case did not respond to our manipulations at all, the processor temperature dropped by 1 degree, and the video card by 4-5 degrees (by the way, another traditional step gave approximately the same result - installing the Gembird SB-A blower next to the video card). Actually, this is where the “traditional path” ends.
Now let's return everything to its original state and go the other way - remove the two plugs for the expansion slots next to the video card. This kills two birds with one stone: a new “hole” appears for ventilation of the case and the stagnation zone near the video card is eliminated. In addition, we will break out the protective “comb” at the front air intake (fortunately, it is at the bottom and is still not visible) - its area will triple, and the total size of the ventilation holes will be 45 square meters. cm.
The result was not long in coming - the temperature in the case dropped by two degrees, and the video card pleased us even more, immediately dropping 9 degrees on the chip and 7 degrees on the memory. Agree, a good result, and completely free. This option can be recommended for cards with a passive cooler as an alternative to installing a fan. What if this is not enough? Adding a front blower fan leads to a paradoxical result - the temperature of both the case and the video card... increases! A little, just one degree, but nevertheless... This is explained simply - now more air enters the case through the front hole and less through the back, past the video card.
What if you put it on blower? This is a completely different matter. Both fans (in the power supply and the additional one) are now turned on in parallel, their costs are added up, and here is the result - the video card “cooled” another 3-4 degrees, and the overall temperature drop compared to the original version was 12 degrees for the video chip, 10 degrees for video memory and 5 degrees in the case (and, accordingly, in the processor). Please note that the video card is cooler here than in an open case! Expenses were limited to the purchase of one medium-power case fan.
Finally, the last option, “extreme” - all three fans (BP, front and blower) are blown out, additionally we open another slot at the back. The blower was installed in the lower (of two) five-inch compartments instead of the removed Rack container. The results are that the processor has cooled down by 4 degrees compared to the previous version (and is now the same 4 degrees hotter than itself in an open case), and the video card has dropped another couple of degrees. True, the temperature sensor in the case did not show any decrease - cold air passes below it, since additional fans take air not from above, but from the middle of the case. General results tabulated. It shows the absolute temperature of the components, normalized to 23 degrees in the room.
From bottom to top, obliquely
Now that we have understood and tested in practice the general principles of effective ventilation, we will apply them to the most common case - a tower with an upper power supply.
Figure 6 shows the most effective method cooling such a case. The additional fan on the rear wall actually provides the same airflow as in my last experiment. Since almost half of the heat is generated by the processor, it makes sense to supply some of the cold air directly to the area where it operates. This is done through a free three-inch or five-inch compartment on the front wall - both of its plugs (plastic and metal) are removed, and how to decorate the resulting hole is a matter of skill and imagination. In the simplest case, you can buy a socket with a couple of small fans (which you can immediately remove, they are of no use), since such “bells and whistles” for five-inch bays are available in many varieties - from a regular grille to sockets with a built-in electronic indicator, USB ports or fanbuses (although they have a smaller lattice area).
Good ventilation is also ensured by installing a Rack container. Please note that all this equipment must be placed in the lowest compartment. The choice of a specific option depends on what needs to be “frozen” first. If the processor or memory overheats, you need to make larger holes, and if you have a video card, you can do without them altogether, but open more slots at the bottom. The total area of the holes should be at least 70-80 square meters. see depending on the size of the fans. For reference: the area of one slot hole is 13 square meters. cm., open three-inch compartment - 30 sq. cm, five-inch - 15-30 sq. see with the above decorative grille and 60 sq. cm for fully open. Another 10-15 sq. see Removing the plugs from the holes for the ports on the rear wall can help. Oh yes, I almost forgot, there is also a standard air intake at the bottom of the front panel with an area of 5-30 square meters. see, and some cases also have holes in the side walls.
If there is a standard hole for a fan on the top panel, it would be a sin not to use it. Put something there that isn't too powerful to blow. If there is no such hole, there is no need to cut it. It is better to buy a special blower and install it in the top 5-inch compartment (Fig. 7). This will be especially useful for those who, for some reason, do not have a hole under additional fan under the power supply or it is used for direct cooling of the processor. But in this option, it is worth making an air duct that directs fresh air from the lower five- or three-inch compartment to the processor area. Without it, a significant part of this flow may immediately go into the blower, without capturing enough heat along the way.
In Fig. Figure 8 shows a rather exotic circuit with a bottom fan operating as a blower. It is worse than the previous two and can only be used as a last resort, when you first need to cool the video card. In fact, this circuit provides two independent flows - the first (lower, from the back wall to the front) cools the video card, expansion cards and south bridge, and the second (from the front wall to the back) cools the upper half of the case. The advantages of this scheme are that the total performance of the blowing fans increases, a significant part of the hot air from the video card is immediately removed outside, less total resistance flow in the housing.
But there are also significant drawbacks. The main one is that, for the sake of design, the lower holes in the front wall through which air is blown usually have an area much smaller than the effective area of the front fan. In addition, the flow has to change direction twice, which it really doesn’t like. The result is the same “running in a gas mask” - for example, if the hole in the housing is half as large as that of the fan, the performance of the latter also drops by about half, and this is without taking into account the back pressure in the housing. But the noise, on the contrary, will be greater - leaking through narrow cracks, small holes, intricate “squiggles” and other design delights in the front panel, the air flow may produce a whistle that is not at all artistic. In addition, the noise of the front fan (unlike the rear one) is not shielded by the case.
You can increase the efficiency of the front fan by introducing additional air into the cavity between the front panel and the metal front wall of the case. To do this, let's go along the beaten path - take out the plastic (this time only plastic!) plug of the lower three-inch compartment. But we also need to supply cold air to the upper half of the body, and also from the front. These flows must be separated using a partition under the lower five-inch compartment.
Now let's look at the flow movement in the housing. In the first and second schemes, the main flow moves from bottom to top. Flow resistance is determined by the narrowest point in its path. IN in this case This is a section at the level of the video card: it itself occupies a good half of the case, and on the other side there is a hard drive with a protruding cable. Since the video card cannot be moved to another location, all that remains is to rearrange the hard drive. It can be lowered down or placed in one of the 5-inch compartments (preferably the one used as an air intake). In both cases, the hard drive will have excellent airflow, which will have a beneficial effect on its health. However, the narrowest point in the flow path is actually not here, but at the entrance to the body - there its speed is an order of magnitude greater, and the aerodynamic losses are proportional to the square of the speed. Therefore, “slicking” and laying down the trains gives practically nothing from the point of view of air exchange.
I hear and hear sarcastic voices - but what about the horror stories about dust, which, when all the fans are set to blow out, will supposedly be sucked in in wild quantities through CD-ROM and FDD? I answer. Air follows the path of least resistance and, with good ventilation, will not flow into narrow cracks when there are large windows nearby. Yes, and the standard ventilation system, let me remind you, works as a blower, and in branded cases and laptops too (and there are no fools sitting there, as some colleagues like to say when other arguments run out :-)
In conclusion, let’s say a few words about towers with a side power supply. Despite a large number of holes located in the most unexpected places, the ventilation of these cases is disgusting. If the airflow of the video card can still be improved in the traditional way (by opening adjacent slots), then you will have to tinker with the processor. To properly blow through its “pocket,” you need to somehow remove hot air from there. The most effective way is to insert a blow-out fan into the top panel, but this is very labor-intensive. So let's try alternative ways. In InWin cases, there are ventilation holes at the top of the rear wall of unknown purpose - warm air will not escape from there, because... There is a vacuum in the case from the power supply fan, and the supply of cold air right up to the ceiling is ineffective. To prevent them from disappearing, put the blower there to blow. In cases where this is not available, the blower can be directed forward and connected by an air duct to an empty five-inch compartment (of course, by removing both plugs from it, Fig. 9).
Another option is to install a power supply with a powerful fan, in which air is taken only from the “pocket” side. There are power supplies on sale that have a 120 mm fan on the side wall - in theory, this should be enough for good ventilation. You can do the opposite - use a fan or blower to supply fresh air through the air duct into this area in the hope that the jet will “reach” the unventilated corners. In general, these buildings provide an immense field for experimentation.
There are still a few myths about choosing fans... but this issue deserves a separate article.
Vladimir Kuvaev aka kv1
A processor cooler or CPU cooler is one of the components of a personal computer that a significant portion of users do not pay much attention to. Moreover, it is quite possible that many users probably do not know about the existence of such a component. Meanwhile, the processor cooler hardly deserves such a disdainful attitude, since its function in the system unit is quite important. We can say that without this auxiliary device the functioning of the heart of the computer - the central processor - is impossible.
It's no secret that one of the main features of a central processor is its significant heat generation. This property of the processor is quite natural, because it has to work “by the sweat of its brow”, processing in a split second great amount data and performing billions of operations simultaneously. As a result, a significant amount of fluid flows through the processor crystal. electricity, causing it to heat up greatly.
Consequently, if the processor is not specifically cooled, its temperature will constantly increase. However, the processor cannot heat up above a certain value, as this may cause it to fail. Additionally, constant exposure to high temperatures can adversely affect the performance and longevity of the processor.
Therefore, cooling devices are used to cool the processor and keep its temperature within safe limits. Cooling devices are usually divided into passive and active. Passive coolers remove heat from the source and disperse it into space. An example of a passive cooler is a radiator. However, the disadvantage of cooling devices of this type is that they do not use the flow of cold medium into the heat generation zone. Last method used in active cooling devices.
Radiators are an example of passive processor cooling.
An example of such a device is a processor fan, or, as it is also often called, a cooler. And if we take the fan itself separately, it can be considered one of the most common cooling devices in a computer. Its scope of application includes not only cooling the central processor, but also cooling other heat-intensive components, such as the power supply, graphics card, hard drive, motherboard chipset, etc. The main advantages of the fan are simplicity of design, low cost and fairly high reliability.
As a rule, most processors are equipped with standard coolers by their manufacturers. However, such cooling devices have rather average characteristics, and therefore, in some cases, in order to provide sufficient cooling of the CPU, the user may need a more efficient CPU cooler than the stock one.
Principle of operation
The name “cooler” comes from the English word “cooler” - cooler. Meanwhile, not every cooling device can be classified as a cooler. Usually cooler in computer terminology called a cooling device, the main component of which is a fan. Often the cooling fan itself is called a cooler, although strictly speaking, a cooler is actually a combination of a fan and a radiator. Thus, the cooler uses both active and passive cooling methods.
Radiators are devices made of metal with high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum. There are also coolers made of copper, which has an even higher thermal conductivity than aluminum, but copper radiators are more expensive and less common. One of the main features of the radiator is its complex profile. As a rule, a radiator consists of many metal plates located parallel or at an angle to each other. Thanks to this, the radiator has a large surface area, which also contributes to intensive heat dissipation. In addition, a radiator can usually be divided into two parts - the base, which is in direct contact with the processor, and the main cooling section.
There are also coolers that use not only a radiator, but also special aluminum or copper tubes, which contain a certain amount of coolant. The principle of operation of the tubes is that a liquid with a low boiling point evaporates in an area of intense heat input, taking a large amount of energy, and then releases heat, condensing in a cold area of the cooler, blown by a fan. This design of a cooling device came into computer use from the field of industrial cooling systems. Although not so long ago, coolers using heat pipes seemed like exotic devices, but in currently they occupy a significant part of the market. There are two main types of coolers with cooling tubes - coolers in which the tubes border directly on the surface of the processor, and coolers in which the tubes are soldered into the radiator, but do not directly touch the surface of the processor.
An example of a heatsink design with heat pipes is shown below:
Cooler with cooling tubes in contact with the surface of the CPU (left) and soldered into the radiator without contact with the processor (right)
Despite the great importance of the radiator, the fan is an equally important component of a processor cooler. It is designed to create a powerful air flow, thanks to which the warm air passing through the radiator is removed into the internal space of the system unit. Typically, the heat flow created by a fan has a direction coinciding with the axis of its rotation, but there are also fans that create a radial flow, that is, perpendicular to the axis of rotation. Such fans are called blowers. Today, it is also often possible to find a cooler that has not one, but several fans at once.
CPU cooler fan:
Blower and cooler creating a radial air flow cooling the processor
Connecting the cooler
To connect the cooler to motherboard a special connector located on it is used. This connector supplies power that rotates the fan. In addition, the connector may have one or two auxiliary data lines. The cooler connector, depending on the type of motherboard, may have 2, 3 or 4 contacts.
Let's briefly look at the features that each connector has. The two-pin connector only supports the power lines that correspond to the black and red wires in the fan cable. The three-pin connector means that there is another additional control line designed to control the rotation speed of the cooler. The four-pin connector supports another line – the PWM fan speed control line. As a rule, modern motherboards have a four-pin connector, although it can also include fans that have cables with fewer wires.
The cooler is installed, more precisely, the cooler radiator is installed on the top cover of the processor. Typically, between the heatsink and the processor there is a layer of special conductive paste - the so-called thermal paste. The purpose of thermal paste is to ensure a tight fit of the base of the heatsink to the surface of the processor and to prevent the appearance of air cavities between these devices. A fan is installed on top and sometimes on the side of the radiator. To secure the cooler to the motherboard, special latches and clamps are used, and in many cases, screws.
Main parameters of the cooler
The main requirement for a cooler is its ability to efficient cooling central processor. As a rule, to determine the efficiency of a cooler, a parameter such as thermal or thermal resistance is used. This parameter determines the number of degrees by which the processor temperature will rise when it emits a watt of thermal energy. From this we can understand that the lower the thermal resistance of the cooler, the better the cooling capacity it has, and, as a result, the lower the temperature of the processor chip on which it is installed will be. It is worth keeping in mind, however, that a cooler with a high thermal resistance is not necessarily of low quality; it can simply be designed for a processor with relatively low heat dissipation.
However, thermal resistance is not the only criterion characterizing the efficiency and quality of a cooler. Also good cooler should, if possible, have the following properties:
- Compatible with a wide range of processor types.
- The presence of a reliable and easily removable mount to the processor.
- High wear resistance and durability.
- Low vibration and noise levels.
- Small dimensions and light weight.
Also, when choosing a cooler, you should pay attention to whether it supports adjusting the rotation speed depending on the processor load. This feature allows you to significantly reduce the noise level produced by the cooler fan. On this moment Most cooler fans are equipped with a similar function.
Setting cooler parameters in BIOS
Almost any modern BIOS there are options related to various parameters fan operation. These can be either purely informational options, like the option that shows the fan rotation speed, or options that allow you to adjust the cooler parameters, in particular, its rotation speed. There are options, for example, that allow you to set the cooler speed indirectly, by linking it to a specific CPU temperature.
In many BIOS you can also find options such as CPU Smart FAN Mode, which allow you to select the type of fan rotation control - by changing the voltage or by direct speed control.
Conclusion
CPU cooler is one of the most important auxiliary devices of a computer, without which it would be impossible to normal operation. As a rule, a cooler is a combination of a powerful cooling fan, which can be connected to any motherboard via a special connector, and a radiator made of metal with high thermal conductivity - copper or aluminum. The main purpose of the cooler is to cool the central processor and ensure normal temperature conditions for its operation. Therefore, the quality, reliability and efficiency of the cooler should never be neglected.
Faced with the need to install additional coolers (fans) on a computer case, users often wonder how to determine the size of the cooler for the case. The problem is that usually computer case There are no indications about what size cooler you need to install. There is only a seat for the cooler and it is not so easy to determine which cooler is suitable for it.
If you know the name of your model, then you can find out the size of the coolers on the manufacturer’s website. For example, let's take such a popular case as FRACTAL DESIGN Core 2500.
If you enter its name in any search engine, then you can easily find the manufacturer’s official website.
And already on the manufacturer’s website you can find detailed information about all the seats for case coolers, as well as their size and location.
But, unfortunately, in most cases this method does not work. Most often, the case was purchased a long time ago and there is no information about it on the Internet, or it is impossible to determine the manufacturer and model of the case. In such situations, you need to independently measure the seat for the cooler and determine suitable model. The easiest way to measure the seat is between the centers of the mounting holes.
Below are the distances between the centers of the mounting holes for case coolers of popular sizes.
| Distance between mounting holes | Cooler size |
| 32 mm | 40×40 mm |
| 50 mm | 60×60 mm |
| 71.5 mm | 80×80 mm |
| 82.5 mm | 92×92 mm |
| 105 mm | 120×120 mm |
| 125 mm | 140×140 mm |
| 154 mm | 200×200 mm |
| Information on cooler sizes was taken from the sites noctua.at and arctic.ac. | |
Using this table You can easily determine the size of cooler you need for your case.
How to choose a cooler for your case
Once you have determined which size cooler fits your case, you need to select specific model cooler. At this stage, you need to pay attention mainly to the noise level that the cooler produces. The noise level is usually indicated in decibels and the lower it is, the better.
Also important is the type of bearing used in the cooler design. The simplest option is plain bearings; it is characterized by quiet operation but a short service life. A slightly better option is a ball bearing or a rolling bearing; it works a little louder, but its service life is much longer. The ball bearing cooler can last up to 15 thousand hours. The most modern option is a hydrodynamic bearing, it is characterized by quiet operation and a long service life, but coolers using it are noticeably more expensive.
Another important point is the way the cooler is connected. Study the instructions for your motherboard to find out which connector for connecting case coolers is used on it (3 or 4 pin) and, accordingly, take this into account when choosing a cooler.
Technologies are constantly improving, specialized programs And latest games demand more and more powerful computers. Processors, video cards and other computer components are upgraded every year, and this leads to the release of more heat. Excessive heating can lead to freezes and breakdowns. individual elements and the increasing hum of coolers. Dust accumulating in the case only aggravates the situation.
Fans come to the rescue. Today they are almost always installed on the power supply, on the processor and on powerful video cards. But often this is not enough: these fans only serve their part, throwing hot air into the case. This process not only reduces the efficiency of coolers, which suck in the same hot air again, but also causes other parts of the computer to heat up. Therefore, proper ventilation is necessary in the housing so that air is supplied from the outside and blown out from the inside. This is what case fans are for.
Unfortunately, for many it is a matter of the amount remaining from the change. Moreover, when choosing a case fan, buyers often focus only on its size. This is fundamentally wrong, since an incorrectly selected fan will lead to unnecessary annoying noise and will last very little. If you take the issue seriously, you need to understand the parameters of case fans.
What are the differences between case fans?
Fan size
We are talking about the physical dimensions of the frame, which help to navigate when selecting fans for various components and for the case. This is the most important characteristic, because if the case parameters do not match, the fan simply cannot be inserted. There are many standard fan sizes: from 25x25 mm to 200x200 mm.
Fans ranging in size from 25x25 to 70x70 mm are needed for cooling small areas, for example, northern or south bridge on the motherboard. Due to the specifics of use, the choice of such fans is not so wide. Used in thin servers to ventilate the housing at high speeds.
Fans of 80x80 and 92x92 mm are standard for small cases. They can be used, for example, in office computers. Such fans are quite popular and widespread. They are also used for special purposes, such as cooling motherboards small sizes. About 12-15 years ago they were used almost everywhere in standard ATX cases.
Fans measuring 120x120 and 140x140 mm are used on large cases. They are perfect for powerful computers, such as gaming ones. It must be taken into account that the larger the fan, the lower the rotation speed it requires to create a certain air flow. Consequently, large fans are noticeably less noisy than small ones.
Fans of sizes 150x140 and 200x200 mm are used when additional powerful air flow is required in a large case. They are usually placed on the top or side of the case. The choice of models of this size is not so large.
There are also fans of non-standard sizes, when the fan diameter more distance between the mounting holes (as in the picture below). Take this into account in a case with a dense fan layout. Two such fans with a mount of 120x120 mm, but an impeller diameter of 140 mm, cannot be placed next to each other in a housing with space for mounting 120 mm fans.
Maximum and minimum rotation speed
Rotation speed is measured in the number of revolutions per minute. With the same dimensions of the frame and blades, a fan with higher speed rotation will cool the system unit more efficiently. The average rotation speed is considered to be: for fans measuring 80 mm - 2000–2700 rpm, 90–92 mm - 1300–2500 rpm, 120 mm - 800–1600 rpm. Fans with rotation speeds greater than 3000 rpm are used for specific purposes, e.g. fluid systems cooling.The difference between the minimum and maximum speed fan rotation indicates the possibility of its adjustment. However, it is worth noting that the higher the rotation speed, the more noise the fan makes.
Maximum and minimum noise levels
The fan spins, an air flow is created, friction of parts occurs - the result of all this is noise. Noise is measured in decibels - dB. The louder the fan, the more tiring it is to work next to it, so it is better to choose the quietest models. The optimal noise level is no more than 30–35 dB.In general, the most difficult aspect when choosing a fan is finding a compromise between rotation speed, air flow and noise. Expensive and most efficient fans are famous for their low noise levels with a fairly powerful air flow.
Speed adjustment
It is necessary to regulate the number of fan revolutions per minute in order to optimize cooling performance. For example, the temperature in the case is quite low, and the fan spins at a speed of 2500 rpm - it makes sense to reduce the number of its revolutions in order to reduce the noise level and power consumption. If, on the contrary, the temperature in the case is too high, it is better to increase the fan speed. When choosing a fan, you should take into account the parameters of the motherboard and the type of power connector. Adjusting the rotation speed of the fan impeller can be done in several ways.
The first is automatic adjustment. In this option, the fan speed is controlled motherboard automatically or through user commands (for example, using special device, installed on the computer case - reobass). The motherboard itself analyzes the degree of heating of PC components.
The second method is smooth manual adjustment. In this option, to adjust the speed, the user needs to turn the control resistor knob to special block. At the same time, the fan rotation speed changes smoothly, that is, it can be reduced or increased both by large values and by very small ones. The problem with manual adjustment is the risk of overheating the PC if you do not monitor the temperature of the components. If the rotation speed is insufficient, the air inside the case will naturally heat up more, which can lead to crashes and freezes.
The third method is stepwise manual adjustment. It is made in the form of special adapters, through which a fan can be connected, the user can change its rotation speed. It should be taken into account that the number of steps, and therefore the number of revolutions, will be strictly fixed.
Power connector type
Today there are four types of fan connections: 2-pin, 3-pin, 4-pin and molex.
2-pin - specific connector. It is used in power supplies, but is not found in ordinary PCs on modern motherboards.
3-pin is a connection to the motherboard with the ability to monitor the fan speed through the motherboard. It is worth noting that 3-pin cables can also be connected to a 4-pin connector.
4-pin is a connection to the motherboard with the ability automatic adjustment fan rotation speed depending on the temperature in the system. Such fans are usually found on processors and video cards. It is possible to connect a 4-pin cable to a 3-pin connector, but the automatic rotation speed control function will not be available.
Molex is a direct connection to the power supply with the ability to manually adjust the fan speed.
Bearing type
As you know, bearings are needed to rotate the fan around the hub. Since this is the main place of friction of parts, the bearing is most susceptible to destruction, and it is its quality that is responsible for the noise level. Case fans are equipped with one of four types bearings: sliding, rolling, hydrodynamic and with magnetic centering.
A plain bearing is the simplest bearing design in which two polished surfaces rub. This is the cheapest and quietest option, however, it has a short service life and deterioration in performance when high temperatures. Also, due to its design, it can only be used in a vertical position.
A rolling bearing or ball bearing is a more complex design that contains a special ring with balls placed between the moving part (attached to the axle) and the stationary part (attached to the base). Rolling balls provide less friction than plain bearings and higher reliability. The service life of such fans can reach 15,000 hours of continuous operation; they can be used at high temperatures and in any position. The main disadvantage of this design is that it is more high level noise due to friction of moving bearing parts, especially at high speeds.
A hydrodynamic bearing is essentially an improved plain bearing. It is filled with a special liquid that creates a layer along which the moving part of the bearing slides. In this way, direct contact between hard surfaces is avoided and friction is significantly reduced. Hydrodynamic bearings are more durable than their predecessors and are also virtually silent.
Magnetic centering bearings are based on the principle of magnetic levitation. The basis of the design is a rotating axis, “suspended” in a magnetic field. In this way, contact between hard surfaces is avoided and friction is further reduced. This is the most advanced, durable and silent type of bearings. Its disadvantage is its high cost.
Airflow at maximum speed
This characteristic is one of the most important when choosing a fan for a case. It refers to the number of cubic feet of air per minute that the cooling system fan can move through itself. The higher this number, the more efficient the cooling will be. The air flow depends on many factors such as the diameter of the fan, the size of the blades, the rotation speed, and the material from which the fan is made. At various combinations These parameters should pay special attention to the air flow.
Design
Among other things, the fans differ appearance: from the color of the blades to the presence of backlight. Of course, if your computer is hidden deep under your desk, this is unlikely to matter to you. But for professionals, especially gamers, who are setting up their gaming space, this characteristic can play a role.
Criterias of choice
Case fans play an important role in extending the life of a computer. But choosing them is not so easy, since different models are suitable for different purposes. We have divided the fans into groups based on user needs.For computer regular user or office computer Any inexpensive fans corresponding to the case size are suitable, with or without automatic, step-by-step speed control.
If you are sensitive to noise, they will be more expensive as manufacturers invest a lot in research and development of custom blade designs to ensure good airflow at minimum rpm.