Fan Mania!

No, this is not a Britney Spears or Madonna story. It’s not a story about a sports hero and the public. It’s about the inventions that keep the computer you are working on from melting into an amorphous mound of silicon and plastic.

I’m one of those who remembers back to the time when CPU and GPU chips had no fans, or heatsinks, for that matter.

What a long strange trip it’s been. I just purchased a new case for my ‘play’ machine, that uses a total of 8 fans. Seven of the eight can be either 120 mm or 140 mm (!). The last one is an 80 mm fan for the back of the motherboard, right where the metal backing plate for the CPU is located. How cool is that? If you think for a moment it is a very good place to be blowing a bit more fresh air on hot parts. If you count the fan in the PSU, that’s a total of nine.

I currently have only four running ( the case can use 8 but only comes with 3 and I haven’t ordered the 140 mm (quiet) monsters to fully ventilate the case yet) and the noise level is (subjectively) about 4-5 decibels lower than the older case that had 4 80 mm fans that were adjusted down in speed for quiet.

On another happy note, the overall case temp has dropped about 7° C. (Note that commonly accepted theory is that electrical component life doubles for every 10° drop)

But it is amazing the lengths that we must go through to do the things we do. I refer especially to 140 mm fans. I’m sure that in 1985 no one would have believed that we would have CPUs that needed huge all copper heatsinks, with huge fans running (briskly) to keep them from meltdown. Or cases like mine (only a mid tower, by the way) that would have use for 9 fans.

If a person looks online, there is a new fan design coming along almost monthly. All claim amazing amounts of flow with noise levels that would be difficult for dogs and cats to hear. Some have LED lighting, some go as far as having fluorescent rings to make the case (and owner) light up. Still others, laying claim to the efficiency crown have immediately noticeable changes to the fan blades, whether 7 or 9 are used. One company, Noctua, speaks of the institute where its designs were done in Europe (Eurochic I’m guessing). Another, Sharkoon, less popular now, but wildly popular last year, has dimples (like a golf ball) on the fan blades. Sharkoon is also a European maker, originating in Germany. I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Arctic Cooling (differentiated by their offer of a 6 year warranty) and Akasa also make very fine fans, with great performance and quality fit and finish.

On the other side of the world, in Asia, the makers of fans seem less concerned about noise than ease of cleaning and longevity. Enermax makes the ‘enlobal’ fan design, where there are no standard bearings, and the impeller spins on a cushion of air by magnetic repulsion. This does result in some reduction of noise, but the major benefit is the ability to simply pluck out the impeller, leaving the rest of the assembly in the case, to wash the accumulated dust from the blades, also allowing the inner surface of the assembly to be wiped clean. There is also no impending doom of the grit getting in the bearings and causing failure.

Because there are many roads to Rome, many of the quality brands in fans are very close in performance, and many times the difference between my purchase of one brand over another is what happens to be on sale, or fits in with the color scheme in use in the case. (Angry fruit salad is not a color scheme.)

There are many places to shop for fans online, and that is where you want to shop unless you have money to burn. Places like SVC, PC Toys, Frozen CPU, and Sidewinder Computers are good places to find either deals or specific brands and models. I am not compensated for any of these recommendations, but I have had satisfying results with all of them. I tend to buy for myself and for my business, yet I rarely buy in enough quantity to achieve a greater discount than anyone else might obtain. That speaks volumes for the great deals these places often have.

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When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn’t the old home you missed but your childhood. Sam Ewing