# how do you install a cooling fan



## Snicker02

hey people, my pc has been getting too hot recently ang has gone to standby mode. as i have no additional fans except the obvious was going to get a couple. before i buy them can someone please tell me where they install/plug in inside the case, and whatr i have to do afterwards. think they said three pin or 4 pin molex.
i have a biostar m7ncd motherboard if this helps. chars :smile:


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## ebackhus

We'll also need to know what kinda case you have. Some have pre-drilled areas for installing fan and others require a bit of home drilling.

Generally, you want the exhaust fans to be located at the top back part of the case and intakes on the sides and towards the bottom front.


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## leroys1000

Most cases have at least 1 fan mount in the front and
1 in the back.
You will want to have the 1 in the front blowing in and the 1 in
the back blowing out.
You may have to remove the front of the case to install the front fan.
The M7NCD has 1 fan header for a system fan on the board.
You can use a 3 pin connector on that for the back fan.
Get a fan with a 4 pin molex connector for the front and
connect it to the power supply.You will have to check 
the fan mounts in your case for size.
Standard is 80mm(3"X3"),but also come in 120 and 90mm and
some smaller sizes.


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## manofsorrow

what kind of processor are you running? if your processor only has a heat sink with no fan, you may want to upgrade to a cpu cooler that has a fan. If you go to any computer store in your area that carrys alot of aftermarket computer parts they should be able to help you with this. Or of course you could liquid cool your system.


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## ebackhus

I hope he's not running a modern PC with no fan on the heatsink! He'd need one of the ginormous sinks to effectively remove heat otherwise. Liquid cooling right now is still a bit of a fad technique and should only be done if you don't mind the risk of a fluid leak and REALLY know what you're doing.


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## manofsorrow

my pentium celeron computer at 2 something ghz didnt come with a heat sink over the cpu, just one case fan to handle the cooling. I agree with you on the water cooling. I'm an instrument tech by trade and I run fluid tubing for controll systems. I guess you could say I REALLY know what I am doing considering the lines I run at work usually carry fluids under 3000psi+, as for the leak issue you can buy many products that are non-conductive the the point that they won't harm your hardware. You just have to keep your case clean to ensure that the fluid won't pick up any electrolytes from the dust.


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## ebackhus

I feel like hijacking the thread to talk about liquid cooling now. 

The "newest" CPU I've seen with just a heatsink was a Pentium III @ 550. The dual P3's in my server both have fans and generate quite a bit of heat each.


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## manofsorrow

Im not kidding about the celeron without a fan on the heatsink. If I can dig up the old heatsink I'll post a picture of it. on a side note I also have a PIII with no fan on the heatsink, but the way dell routed a duct to carry air from the case fan directly over the heatsink was nifty in my opinion.


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## forcifer

our p3 in our old comp doesnt hav a fan, same with the p4 in my other. but mine does. i wonder if my cuzins pentium has a fan


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## ebackhus

Last CPU I used that had no sink OR fan was my 386. Not that it could generate much heat at 16Mhz. I've seen the Dell cooling systems. I just don't like the way that they draw air warmed by other components over the CPU.

Forci, that case should be here Thursday! I can't wait to begin working with it!! :heartlove


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## forcifer

w00t that is sweet. my cousins comp is like 100 kh. it is slow, with 16 kb of ram. we use it for gaming (roller coaster tycoon lol)


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