Talk:Computer fan

Sleeve bearing proper mounting
under the section Sleeve bearings, its stated that a fan works best mounted vertical. i think this needs to elaborated.99.11.157.27 (talk) 06:35, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

12 June 2010
WHy is the computer fan called a muffin fan?
 * Because the gods ordained it to be so.
 * Because it is smaller than the older pancake fan? --Gadget850 ( Ed) 20:51, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Proposed merge
I'm hereby proposing that computer cooling fan should be merged into computer fan (this direction of merge because a computer fan is always for cooling, with the former name feeling a bit redundant). -- Northgrove 09:44, 29 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Done. There was a lot of overlap between the articles, so the result is much slimmer and hopefully better. I've stuffed some references in there too for good measure. ~ Matticus78 19:57, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Info about MAG LEV fans
Can anyone post info about hours of life, mtbf, if they produce more/less noise than the others, etc?.

regarding ball bearing mttf, if this helps any, my mother's windows 98 pc has been operating since circa 1998 or 1999 so it's got about (2010-1998)*52*40=24,960hours on the power supply fan which is probably ball bearing. I don't think cheapo sleeve bearing fans came out in pc's until later in about 2006 (guess) or somewhere thereafter. sleeve bearing fans last about 3-6 months in a pc before they fail. can't stand them. my 2004 pc is still running and it gets used 12-16 hours a day 7 days a week. (2012-2004)*(52/8)*(6*12*7+2*24*7)=43,680 hours assuming a 2 month span period where 2 weeks of that time are 24 hours and the rest are 12 hours. the machine is still running just fine as long as I clean the dust out. due to the lifespan and age, I am almost sure the cpu and PSU are ball bearing fans. we have a windows 3.1 machine that is still running with I think the original AT power supply since 1990 when I bought it (most likely a ball bearing fan). kept it clean of dust. I hope that gives you a clue as to longevity... answer is, "don't know yet the real MTTF". that pc was used 12x7 from 1990 to at least 1998 and then it was used from 1999 to 2002 or so for I think 3x5 so that would be about (1998-1990)*52*12*7+(2002-1999)*3*5*52=37,284 hours. I guess when it comes to ball bearing fans, pc's aren't in service long enough to really find out real MTTF unless they are a server, then it's 24x7 and you have a better chance of finding out - you should probably ask someone who does maintenance (schedules) for a data center or hosting company about real mttf... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.22.56.37 (talk) 06:28, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Dates
cv by —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.58.205.51 (talk) 09:27, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

"Active cooling on CPUs started to appear on the retail Intel Pentium, and by 1997 was standard on all desktop processors" False, it appeared on 486 processors, so it was standard by 1992 more or less.

--Licurgo 05:09, 23 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The Pentium was introduced in 1993, and the retail boxed ones came with fansinks, but there were plenty of 486s and Pentiums that used only passive cooling for some time after its introduction. I stripped out a few old units some months back at work - machines from 1995 or so that still used passive cooling (heatsinks without fans), so active cooling clearly wasn't universal then. There were 486DX4s that were actively cooled, but that wasn't released until 1994. Active cooling wasn't standard on all new desktop PC processors until some time later. If you can find a reliable source that supports these earlier dates, by all means make the change to the article, but at present the reference for these dates seems pretty reliable. 85.210.140.133 01:46, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Pros / Cons
Would like to see a section mentioning merits and drawbacks of fans vs. other cooling. Came here looking for info about (quieter) alternatives but none to be found, not even a link. (OK I guess "see also: computer cooling" counts, but sometimes a bit stronger nudge in the right direction is helpful, especially when one is researching a topic with which he/she is not farmiliar...)

Orientation
The article describes fan bearings as horizontal or vertical but the meaning is with reference to the (plane of the track of the) blades, not the bearing axis.

It would be clearer to write of vertical (or horizontal) axis bearings or of bearings with the shaft vertical (or horizontal). --Nh5h (talk) 11:30, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Connectors
The usual fan connectors don't look anything like the Molex connectors in the Wikipedia article on Molex connectors.--Nh5h (talk) 12:42, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Also, would it be possible to have pictures of the types of fan connectors next to their description? It would be very helpful thnak you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.34.230.125 (talk) 18:57, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

I would like to see the connector pinouts and signal specifications. and as the first person said, the Molex connector page does not list these connectors. The Molex company makes lots of different types of connectors. see http://www.molex.com motherboard manufacturers have a layer of tech support who only know about what's in the motherboard manual, which says nothing about the specifications I am looking for. see if there is some sort of PC motherboard specification somewhere with regards to fans.

Which industry?
"A set of 4 industry standard 80 mm fans," - In what industry are these fans standard? What kind of description is that? And by the way, there needs to be a hyphen between "industry" and "standard" if they're both part of one adjective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.231.126.231 (talk) 04:57, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

That would be an interesting industry indeed, because the *Desktop* PC industry standard changed - and so did the case sizes - along with airflow and airflow requirements. years and years ago (circa 2004, don't know the year ranges) 80mm fans were used throughout PC Cases/Chassis. 80mm fans might still be used in some power supplies, but if they are it is only a very few indeed due to today's requirements. next we started seeing 120mm fans, then 140mm fans, then 140mm fans and 200mm fans (some still may include a 120mm fan in one tight place)... decent pc cases (and thus the fans) seem to be getting somewhat bigger (at least the cases I am interested in). cases have a high turnaround so this is only good for a short time. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103073 this one has Four Blue LED Fans-1x 140mm rear fan, 1x 200mm top fan, 1x 200mm side fan, and 1x 230mm front fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119239 and there's also this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100&Tpk=twelve%20hundred%20v3 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.22.56.37 (talk) 05:20, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Wording
"Motherboards sunk in liquid oil provides excellent convection cooling" -Um, no. Motherboards do not provide cooling. The oil does. And it's "motherboards provide", not "motherboards provides". And what kinds of oil are you familiar with besides liquid? So in English then, it would be: "Motherboards submerged in oil benefit from excellent convection cooling" or similar wording. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.231.126.231 (talk) 05:13, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

pointless article
after quickly flicking through, I see no reason why this information doesn't just stay on the Fan page. There appears to be absolutely no difference between a fan and a computer fan. Owen214 (talk) 13:31, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

80 mm fans, common?
The description of a picture is "A 3D illustration of four 80 mm fans, a type of fan commonly used in personal computers"

Has this ever been the case? 120 mm fans are common, ... HalloniKanada (talk) 20:45, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

The *Desktop* PC industry standard (at least) changed - and so did the case sizes - along with airflow and airflow requirements. years and years ago (circa 2004, don't know the year ranges) 80mm fans were used throughout PC Cases/Chassis. 80mm fans might still be used in some power supplies, but if they are it is only a very few indeed due to today's requirements. next we started seeing 120mm fans, then 140mm fans, then 140mm fans and 200mm fans (some still may include a 120mm fan in one tight place)... decent pc cases (and thus the fans) seem to be getting somewhat bigger (at least the cases I am interested in). cases have a high turnaround so this is only good for a short time. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103073 this one has Four Blue LED Fans-1x 140mm rear fan, 1x 200mm top fan, 1x 200mm side fan, and 1x 230mm front fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119239 and there's also this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100&Tpk=twelve%20hundred%20v3 power supplies typically have a larger fan now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.22.56.37 (talk) 05:27, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
 * There might be a difference between costum built PCs and OEM-built PCs (latter make the majority of all PCs): OEM-PCs often use low-cost parts, especially for things the average user doesn't recognize, like the motherboard or the interior of the case or how the system is cooled. --MrBurns (talk) 16:26, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

this articlke is out of date
Most CPU-coolers actually use fans between 80mm and 120mm nowadays and there are much larger standard sizes available then 120mm, up to 250mm. Although fans with over 140mm are uncommon, 140mm fans ae more common then 40mm and 60mm. because of this I will add the 140mm size to the article. --MrBurns (talk) 20:37, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Case Fan Screws
I notice there is no section, or even a mention, of the standard screw sizes used for computer case fans. This seems to be an important subject to the topic of this article and should be included. While the screws are standards sizes, I am unable to find specific information on what the standard sizes are. Another Wiki article, Computer case screws, is also missing this information and so it would seem there is no information on case fan screws provided anywhere on WIkipedia. Should this information not be included, or were reliable sources just not able to be found? Jchap1590 (talk) 18:32, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Do server fans also count?
If yes, there are also 20mm computer fans available (top be exact: 20x20x10mm). maybe even lower sizes like 15mm, but I didn't search for lower sizes. The source for is http://de.aliexpress[dot]com/item/ADDA-2010-server-cooling-fan-5V-0-08A-AD2005LB-G73-20X20X10MM-2CM/1339287026.html?isOrig=true#extend (I had to replace the .com with [dot]com because of the spamfilter) --MrBurns (talk) 16:29, 31 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Hello! Yes, why wouldn't they count?  However, why would 20×20 mm fans be limited to servers, and where are they used anyway?  In some compact redundant PSUs, perhaps? &mdash; Dsimic (talk | contribs) 18:06, 31 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I don't know for what exactly these very small fans are used. I just googled for small computer fans and found a 20x20x10mm fan on AliExpress and it is described as a server fan on AliExpress. Another possible usage would be as fans for (very small) chipset coolers, but chipset coolers usually have 40mm- or 50mm-fans (or maybe actively cooling memory chips on graphics cards, but I am not sure if this is necessary, many graphics cards don't even cool the memory passively). --MrBurns (talk) 03:36, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Perhaps we should determine what these 20×20 mm fans are used for first, and then include this fan dimension into the article. Beside the use in compact redundant PSUs (such as this one, though those fans seem to be 40×40 mm), or maybe in some old CD burners (such as what's mentioned here or here), I really don't see where else such small fans could be used. &mdash; Dsimic (talk | contribs) 04:09, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * (moved down after edit conflict) PS: Titan also has 17x17x8mm fans. they are not explicitly sold as computer fans or case fans, but (like all Titan fans) only as "DC fans", but they seem to have the standard 3-pin connector: --MrBurns (talk) 04:10, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * What in the world are those 17×17×8 mm fans used for? :) &mdash; Dsimic (talk | contribs) 04:19, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * I don't know, maybe chipset coolers? But they seem to be too small even for this purpose. This 20mm fan as marketed for the Raspberry Pi, but it has a 2-pin connector which is very different from all fan connectors I know from PCs, including the 2-pin connectors I mentioned in the section below.. --MrBurns (talk) 04:26, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, they could be applied to a Raspberry Pi in a way like this. Though, that might be a total overkill anyway, as a passive heatsink should be good enough in most applications. &mdash; Dsimic (talk | contribs) 04:38, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Two-pin connector
Some computer fans, especially smaller ones (80mm or less) use a 2-pin connector, which is present on graphics cards. It is somehow similar to the 3-pin Molex connector used for fans, but it is not just a 3-pin Molex with one pin less. You cannot plug these connectors into 3-pin Molex headers. Many of these fans can be found here e.g. and. --MrBurns (talk) 03:52, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Good point! I know what you're referring to, but unfortunately can't recall (I used to know, but...) how is that connector type called.  Any chances, please, for Googling that out as well?  We'd need that to expand the  section. &mdash; Dsimic (talk | contribs) 04:25, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Air flow increases quadratically with air pressure?
According to the formula given in section "Air pressure and flow":

(fan diameter)^2 * (air pressure)^2 / (100 * 28.51875) = air flow

the air flow would quadratically increase with air pressure. This is not likely to be true. HeWhoMowedTheLawn (talk) 22:46, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

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science
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