Need a 120mm or 140mm fan, help please.

Armadillo

Armadillo

Armadillo

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I need to get a decent 120mm or 140mm fan, but there's so many I'm not sure what to get. I need it to replace a graphics card fan, which sounds odd, but I'm following on from this thread here

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18261249

As you can see my specific card has a nice big open heatsink, which seems such a shame to waste, so I'm going try the suggestion of just strapping on a decent fan to replace the noisy one.


So what I need from a fan is, 120mm or 140mm. Either will do and will fit, I'm guessing 140 would be quieter for the same amount of airflow, doesn't need to be super quiet though, as if all goes well it'll be spinning up and down as needed.

Needs to be 3 pin as powercolor are cheap and don't use a mini 4 pin pwn fan on it and instead use a mini 3 pin controlled by voltage adjustment and I want the card to attempt to control it. 4 pin would be fine though if you can just hook up 3 and still control via voltage rather than pwm. Only other thing is it can't draw more than 0.35A, although most fans seem to be under that.

So suggestions?, really not sure what to get :(.

Thanks.
 
I suppose you should determine the sort of cfm you need before deciding on the fan to fit.

Any idea what the stock fan went up to? If it's 80mm it should be simple enough to cross reference against any 80mm.

I also wonder if the shroud on that cooler helps with containing the air flowing around the heatsink and allows it to pass over your vrm sink.

Surely you must have a spare 120mm fan somewhere for testing purposes?
 
Unfortunately, I have no idea what the stock fan goes to. About the only thing I can find is apparently it's 92mm. No rpm readout in CCC, just a speed percentage.

The shroud, seems to do pretty much nothing, seems like it's more of fancy mount for the fan than anything else. It doesn't sit right down on the card, there's a gap all around the edge, air can pretty much go where it likes. Even with the fan set to 100% there is barely anything coming out the vent at the back of the case.

Only 120mm fans I have here that aren't in use are some old crappy generic case fans which barely push any air :(.

It really is going to have to be a shot in the dark with a fan, if it doesn't work, then I'll find another use for it, won't go to waste.
 
Quick bump of this thread, manage to dig up some more info

Fan on it is a pla09215d12m, and while I couldn't manage to find any info on it, I did manage to find the specs of the pla09215b12m.

Which according to powerlogics labelling system is identical, apart from bearing type. D is a sleeve and ball bearing, B is 2 ball bearings.

Anyway out with the specs

12V
45.5CFM
static pressue 3.12
2500rpm
34dB.

I did have a look around for a pla09215b12m as it would be a straight swap, but I couldn't find one :(. I assume power logic is oem stuff only? Unless anyone knows where to get them :D.

So with them specs, the viper still a good choice to replace?
 
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If you need it to be 3pin, bare in mind Vipers/Apaches are 4pin PWM as standard, although you could easily probably mod (just pay a bit more). One of the best 120mm 3pin fans is the Sharkmoon Silent Eagle 2000, which uses about 0.2A I believe. The Thermalright TY-140 is aslo one of the best dBA/CFM ratio 140mm fans you can get.

Zalman ZM-F3 would be my pick if you wanted a good performing cheaper fan.

Just remember when you first install the fan to check out GPUZ while running a few benchmarks to check that you have the VRM and memory temps covered.
 
The viper plugs in to my 3pin fan socket on my motherboard with no problem, even has notches to stop you plugging it into a 3 pin socket wrong.
 
Exsurgo said:
If you need it to be 3pin, bare in mind Vipers/Apaches are 4pin PWM as standard, although you could easily probably mod (just pay a bit more). One of the best 120mm 3pin fans is the Sharkmoon Silent Eagle 2000, which uses about 0.2A I believe. The Thermalright TY-140 is aslo one of the best dBA/CFM ratio 140mm fans you can get.

Zalman ZM-F3 would be my pick if you wanted a good performing cheaper fan.

Just remember when you first install the fan to check out GPUZ while running a few benchmarks to check that you have the VRM and memory temps covered.
Click to expand...

Well in yet another brilliant move of the non-reference design, you can't read the vrm temps.

They have there own heatsink though. So it'll be pretty much the same, just instead of the shroud and 92mm fan, it'll be no shroud and a 120mm fan. Shroud has gaps all around the edge, so I really don't think it does much. Can't really feel any air coming out that end even with the fan set to 100%. Memory just sits there, no cooling at all on this card.

Last time I ever get a non-reference design card.

The fans do need to be 3pin as the card controls it by voltage rather than a pwm signal, but I thought you could hook pwm up to 3pin, you just lose pwm control, but as this card does it via voltage, it should be fine and still controllable?

Definitely a lot of fans to consider now though. I'll have to get reading.
 
Yep most 4pin fans will coneect fine to 3pin sockets etc. I am in the same boat with a non-reference 5 series card. It's making watercooling a lot more complicated than it should be :S And I cannot justify spending £70 on a one card use full cover block :P
 
Hmm... I have a quick question, as I will be installing a custom cooler in a few days and I am using a TY-140 fan for it. My question, could I just plug the fan straight into the GPU, or will it not physically fit?
 
iBSOD said:
Hmm... I have a quick question, as I will be installing a custom cooler in a few days and I am using a TY-140 fan for it. My question, could I just plug the fan straight into the GPU, or will it not physically fit?
Click to expand...

Won't fit. Cards use either a mini 4 pin, or in my case a mini 3 pin. Can get an adapter for it, just have to make sure the fan you're putting on doesn't draw more current than the original.
 
Armadillo said:
Won't fit. Cards use either a mini 4 pin, or in my case a mini 3 pin. Can get an adapter for it, just have to make sure the fan you're putting on doesn't draw more current than the original.
Click to expand...

Can't find anything anywhere. My trust is enabled.
 
Forgot about this, what type are you looking for? If it's mini 3 pin, you have to make your own :(. Doesn't seem to be common so no one makes one. Search for Jumper Wire - 3-Pin JST on google will get you the right connector (I think). If it's a mini 4 pin. Gelid make an adapter, searching for Gelid Solutions PWM Adaptor Cable should find it.
 
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