# CPU Case Fans



## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

Which of these brands are best for me?

The ZALMAN-F3 (BLUE LED) or The ANTEC TRICOOL (BLUE LED)

I just love the extra LED... LoL.. So please comment which one shoud i get for my fan.. i plan to get 3 pieces to replace my intake and exhaust fans..

btw.. my case has a side hole for the fan as well... should i use it to blow in the air or suck out? well the position is directly on the processor tho..


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hi d animality :wave:

I can't really recommend either of the fans, never having used 'em, but I suspect you'll get a few replies praising both equally :grin:

Re: Your side-fan, that tends to be 'Trial-and-error', depending on your particular PC. Having it sucking air in may cool the CPU somewhat, but it could just as easily disrupt the airflow from front to back and increase the temps, due to 'hot-spots' developing.

Try it one way and monitor your temps for a couple of days, then try it t'other way round as an exhaust and see what they are.


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

great thank you so much WereBo 

well as for the fans.. here at my country i hardly find a very good case fans.. those two are the best as i can see 5 star reviews from the newegg.com .. 

ZALMAN --> Newegg.com - ZALMAN ZM - F3 120mm Case Fan

ANTEC --> Newegg.com - Antec TRICOOL120MM 120mm Case Fan

i see the zalman gets more reviews tho..


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Both Zalman and Antec are good fans - From the posts here and from the reviews I've read about them, I suspect the Zalmans just beat the Antecs, but I wouldn't want to bet any money on them :grin:


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

then what are you suggesting?


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

As I say, I can't personally recommend one over t'other, as I've never used either - But from the evidence 'out there', Zalman appears to be the slightly better of the 2.


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

Ok thanks WereBo


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

You're welcome :smile: - Don't forget, tidy wiring and cabling can greatly help keep your PC cool too, especially if you have any wide 'IDE' drive ribbon-cables around. 

They're the worst offenders for diverting air-flows from where they should be going, although any of the large bundles can be as almost as bad :wink:


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

Great thanks will keep that in mind


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Try this one on for size... Don't know where you can order from in Brunei... but these Nexus fans have impressed me recently.

Newegg.com - Nexus PWM Series D12SL-12PWM 120mm Case Fan


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

okay will try to look for that brand also... hopefully i can get it cause its quite limited choices available here


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

gavinzach: i dont find that brand here anywhere i look for it.. LoL shame on us~~ 

thus i end up buying the zalman fans before it sold out cause only few left.. so i open it and found this thing included (attached pic)... what is it used for?? i tried one with it and and one without it... i dont see the difference.. maybe the one attached with it goes a bit low speed i think... correct me if im wrong...:sigh:


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

I like the tri cool fans


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## Jay_JWLH (Apr 30, 2008)

d_animality said:


> gavinzach: i dont find that brand here anywhere i look for it.. LoL shame on us~~
> 
> thus i end up buying the zalman fans before it sold out cause only few left.. so i open it and found this thing included (attached pic)... what is it used for?? i tried one with it and and one without it... i dont see the difference.. maybe the one attached with it goes a bit low speed i think... correct me if im wrong...:sigh:


It's a resister. I have a closed water cooling system for my CPU, and it had the similar additional cables. It slowed the fans down from 2000RPM, to a more silent 1700RPM. But I had enough, and purchased a fan controller to turn the fans off when I want it silent.


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

Lol bruce lee too little too late.. I just bought em today .. So just by any chance what that cable mentioned above used for?


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

Jay_JWLH said:


> It's a resister. I have a closed water cooling system for my CPU, and it had the similar additional cables. It slowed the fans down from 2000RPM, to a more silent 1700RPM. But I had enough, and purchased a fan controller to turn the fans off when I want it silent.


Thanks guess im on a right track!!


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

I really would want to buy that fan controller but how many fans does it usually support? Can it control the cpu fan as well? What brand and type is the best and affordable?


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## Jay_JWLH (Apr 30, 2008)

d_animality said:


> I really would want to buy that fan controller but how many fans does it usually support? Can it control the cpu fan as well? What brand and type is the best and affordable?


It varies considerably. Each fan, including the CPU fan, has a 3-4 pin connector. By having a fan controller, instead of the fan being plugged into the motherboard, it goes to the fan controller so that you can adjust the speeds. Although since your computer needs to keep control of your CPU fan for heat reasons (PWM function), it should work alongside the CPU fan plug as well (the fourth pin). This will all make sense when you buy one, and plug it in. I do hate all the extra cables though.

My one is quite basic, and has knobs. But you can get ones that have visual indicators on them that make them look quite fancy, and may be able to do more advanced things. Just make sure you get one that can control enough of your fans, especially if you have a lot of them.

This is my one:
Deepcool RockMan, Fan Controller, Black : Ascent Technology 394010


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

could be to do with the fan controller.


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## d_animality (Nov 25, 2007)

Great thanks for the thoughts and the link..will look fward to that


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