Spec me some fans

bbbearrr · 27 Apr 2013 at 14:09

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine has been given a job in the us of a and has given me his old gaming PC.

its in need of a good clear out and the fans currently installed in the case are quite noisy.

I'm after 3 x 80mm PWM fans.

also, may take the cpu cooler off and give that a clean so will need some thermal paste, recommendations for this ? its a noctua cooler,not sure on model. cooling an OC'd i7 920.

Thanks in advance.

Resident · 27 Apr 2013 at 14:47

I'd have thought a case with an i7 in it would be recent enough to take 120mm fans, which you'll find it easier to source PWM fans.

Do you know what the case is or could you post a pic so that the more case astute members can identify if you're unable?

bbbearrr · 27 Apr 2013 at 15:00

It's a lian Li pc60.

Just going by the specs I've found for fan sizes. Haven't measured them myself.

2 at the front, one at the back and one on top, so i'd need four i guess.

Resident · 27 Apr 2013 at 15:47

bbbearrr said:
It's a lian Li pc60.

Just going by the specs I've found for fan sizes. Haven't measured them myself.

2 at the front, one at the back and one on top, so i'd need four i guess.

Wow, that's an old case :eek:

I found a review dated August 2000!

I'd be tempted tbh to re-case it. Might initially be more expensive than sourcing 80mm PWM, which can be found, I just can't link you to any as they're competitor sites. But re-casing will hold you in better stead choice and future upgrade wise.

bbbearrr · 27 Apr 2013 at 16:02

That's sounds like a good idea in all honesty. I'd have to strip it out to give a clean anyway.

Could recommend a case for around £50 ? Give or take.

Resident · 27 Apr 2013 at 16:09

bbbearrr said:
That's sounds like a good idea in all honesty. I'd have to strip it out to give a clean anyway.

Could recommend a case for around £50 ? Give or take.

For that I'll refer you to the case gurus of the case section of the forum. They'll know more than I on that subject.

I paid £80 for my last case on a "cheap" budget.

doyll · 27 Apr 2013 at 16:52

Arctic Cooling F8 PWM £2.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-027-AR&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=819

Arctic Cooling F8 TC £2.99 These have temp sensors so they increase speed as case gets hotter.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-034-AR&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=

As it's an aluminum case it's quite easy to modify and put bigger fans in. I think it's wide enough you can enlarge the back fan to 120mm, don't think there's room in front for 120mm, but could use taller feet and put a nice 140 in bottom and maybe a 120 between PSU and optical drive in top.

Arctic Cooling F12 TC £4.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-036-AR&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

A grill for top fan and a filter on the bottom. Leave the back fan open.. unless you think it need a grill. and you got a very nice cooling classic case.

Lian Li cases are very nice cases.
£21.00 for fans, simple wire grills are £3-4.00 at most, 120mm Silverstone filter is £4.00 so a total cost of £33.00 is cheap for a very nice quiet case.

Defconluke · 27 Apr 2013 at 17:00

Arctic F8 PWM fans: >>LINK<<

£2.99 each - job jobbed and much cheaper than a new case. No need for filters on the intake either as, judging by an old review, the case has a built in filter for the front intake fans.

My favourite thing about the Arctic PWM fans is that they come ready-wired to be daisy chained together. If you wanted to, you could run all 3 off the CPU cooler header so they only increase in speed when the case requires extra airflow to keep the CPU cool.

doyll · 27 Apr 2013 at 17:18

£8.97 for 3 fans... it's cheap to find out if case will cool. And if it doesn't you can cut a bottom and top vent and add a couple of the £4.99 fans. Than you should have plenty of cooling. Just measured my PC-50 as it's same size as and it's same size as and there's plenty of room between optical drive and TX650 for a 140mm vent & fan in top.

bbbearrr · 27 Apr 2013 at 17:28

Defconluke said:
My favourite thing about the Arctic PWM fans is that they come ready-wired to be daisy chained together. If you wanted to, you could run all 3 off the CPU cooler header so they only increase in speed when the case requires extra airflow to keep the CPU cool.

This may be a daft question...

where do you plug the CPU fan if you use the header for case fans ?

doyll · 27 Apr 2013 at 17:37

Get a PWM splitter with molex to plug into PSU . This will keep the power load off of motherboard while using the PWM signal. Just plug the CPU fan in as master.

Something like this Akasa for £3.59. I prefer Gelid because they have single leads from molex and fan plug than split them to go to fans farther back.. so all are not pulling/flexing right into the plugs.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-031-AK