Steve Smith discusses the benefits on having bigger fans for airflow, and how to correctly install, and purchase new fans for your computer.
Episode #3-27 released on March 31, 2013
Computers and their components generate a lot of heat while they are powered. This is the reason we have fans in all computers, and why components such as the processor, graphics card, and power supply always come with fans. Unlike the power supply, the processor, and any other components can have their fans safely changed, hence why we have content for this episode, at all.
Fans come in many sizes. They have many different types of blade designs. You have fans that work better when adjacent to radiator blocks. What they all have in common is their ability to push more air, the bigger they are.
Radiators and heat sinks are, also, available in many different shapes, thicknesses, and sizes. They are, also, better at dissipating heat the bigger and thicker they are.
Using a bigger fan for better and more airflow on a larger heat sink or radiator means you will have better cooling of your computer's components and processors.
The only catch, is you need to know how to install them correctly, in order, to get the best performance. Let's start with air flow direction. All fans have a specific direction they push air from. The open side, the side that intakes air, is the side that must point to the front of the computer box, or face the side of the box. On a processor, the fan must be set to blow air down. You should, also, maintain a positive air pressure in your box to avoid having dust come in through the smallest of cracks. You should, also, take into account normal thermal dynamics. Hot air rises, take advantage of it. If you can get a computer box with top mounted fans, get one. The bigger the better. I currently have a Cooler Master HAF-X. Allowing the hotter air to rise, and helping it along with top mounted fans makes the computer box cooler. The lower the internal ambient temperature, the cooler your components will be.
This is not a complicated guide, but it will help some of your figure out how you should install new fans, and how to do it in a way that benefits you, and your computer's components.
Next week, I talk about PCIE, and what you can do with the various types of slots it has in its full specifications, it promises to be an eye opener, as it was for myself.
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Host : Steve Smith | Music : Jonny Lee Hart | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Productions