Fan Wattage

[Guest Palindrome]

I've just got myself a Zalman Fan Mate 2 fan speed controller for the main exaust fan in my poor very hot PC (running SLI config with two Geforce 6600s which have been getting close to boiling point).

The case fan I've got evacuating my case of all those hot vapours works very well when getting the temperatures down to a reasonable level but it is a noisy beast, thus the fan controller.

Unfortunately the fan is 8 watts and the fan speed controller specifies a maximum of 6 watts. If I disregard the wattage spec am I in danger of turning my PC into a smoking mess? :?:

[Guest Samsonite]

most stuff with power ratings will label at a certain point with a safety margin involved.

this is kinda different tho as the controller is saying the max it wants to control. Does the fan source its current thru the controller? or is it independantly powered with the controller switching that supply? or does the controller power the fan as well as itself with the same source?

if the fan is powered thru the controller, then going over that rating by 25% is probably a bit dicey... if not, then i'd give it a go!!

i will admit to not having specific experience of messing about inside PCs so wouldnt really take my advice as gospel but i have got an electronics qualification and know a bit about Ohm's law!!

[Guest Palindrome]

This is the setup. The fan has a four pin plug which attaches to a 4 to 3 pin adapter. That is connected to the fan controller which has a knob that controls the current up to 11volts. It then leads out of the controller to a three pin connector that plugs into the chasis fan socket on the motherboard.

When I tried the controller it worked fine using this setup (although I wasn't brave enough to leave it alone for a long period of time). Eventually I decided that having a slightly noisey PC was far better than a possibly burnt out husk of a PC so I replaced the monster chasis fan with a lower powered fan.

This summer has been extremely hot and due to this I had added several fans to my PC to try and get the temperature down. Now the weather has cooled down a bit I replaced the chasis fan and took out the front intake fan, which I did this afternoon. The interesting thing is that the temperature readings on my CPU and GPUs has decreased a few degrees but the ambient chasis temperature has increased. When I had the monster fan running yesterday the chasis temperature was about 7 degrees lower than it is now but the CPU and GPUs were higher.

Should have listened more in physics lessons when learning about thermodynamics.

[Guest Samsonite]

hmmm not too sure what to suggest... it sounds like the fan draws its power thru the controller so i would be a bit wary of prolonged running due to power ratings given.... you're more likely to burn an internal fuse in the controller, that will cut the fan completely (unless it fails 'on', which i doubt) and before you know it, neee-nah neee-nah......Fireman Sam in attendance please!!

the IT guy at work here had hot running problems and simply cut a damn great hole in the side of his box and put another fan on it.. not the most glamourous job - the hole looked like it had been chewed thru by a rabid hamster!!!

[Guest Palindrome]

:o I do tend to take the side of the case off when playing Half-Life 2. Should be a great replacement for central heating in January.

EDIT: Actually, taking the case door off actually increases the temperature. The most effective way of cooling is to open the room's window and get the ambient temperature down. My poor neighbours.

Edited September 21, 2005 by Palindrome