Computer Assembly - How To Assemble A PC
Install The Computer Case Fans
Ok. Everything checks out, so we're ready to close up the computer case. That means it's finally time for the computer case fans.
The two computer case fans I chose, the Sunon KD1208PTB2, strike a good balance between noise level and airflow amount. They are the standard 80mm size. Case fans can come with either a 3-pin connector that connects directly to the motherboard or a 4-pin connector for connecting to a plug from the power supply. I'd rather have the 3-pin connector so that none of my power supply connectors are tied up with the case fans. Besides, the motherboard has 3-pin connectors for just this use, so may as well use them.
It's more important to have exhaust than intake, but I think you should really have both. Exhaust airflow should equal or exceed intake airflow. Since the two case fans I'm using are identical, I'm guaranteed to have the exhaust airflow exceed the intake airflow - guaranteed because the power supply also has an exhaust fan, although one much less powerful than a separate 80mm case fan.
Here is the Sunon case fan along with it's mounting hardware. I used four round-head machine screws, size 8-32, length 1-1/4 inch (1.25 inches) with nuts, which I purchased at Home Depot. Others have been known to use double-sided tape and even wire-wrap ties to good effect.
The exhaust case fan is secured to the inside of the case at the location shown. The tricky questions is - which way does the fan face? Well, at least for the Sunon fan, the fan should face with its label toward the case wall.
The 3-pin connector coming off the Sunon exhaust case fan can be plugged into any 3-pin socket on the motherboard. The only one you can really use on the EPoX 8RDA+ is the one I've circled in red, which is the one next to the 3-pin connector that's already in use for the CPU cooler. The 3-pin connector is keyed to the socket so that it cannot be plugged in the wrong way around. Of course, by now the motherboard is a lot more cluttered than this picture shows, put you should still be able to work the plug onto the connector without too much trouble.
When installed, it looks like this.
Next is the intake fan. As I learned later, the intake fan does not make that much cooling difference. However, it does make the computer just a little bit noisier, even though it's a quiet fan, since it mounts on the very front of the computer below the externally accessible drives, which means it's going to be quite close to me. Given it did not provide any significant extra cooling, but did provide a noticeable amount of extra noise, I decided to leave it out of the final build. This worked out well since I've already used the 3-pin socket on the motherboard that's near the front-mounted case fan to connect the power supply exhaust fan as described on the Connect The Power Supply To The Motherboard page. Of course, it's possible to use a 3-pin to 4-pin converter and connect the extra fan directly to a plug coming from the power supply, if it had been worthwhile. But here, anyway, are the steps for installing the intake fan - which could possibly work out better in another computer that didn't need to make a connection for the power supply exhaust fan or where noise is less of an issue.
The intake fan installs a little differently. The Antec KS-282 case comes with a special plastic mounting bracket specifically designed to hold a 80mm case fan. It's located here:
The mount pops right out. As before, you need to be careful to install the fan such that the airflow is moving in the intended direction. For the Sunon fan, that means placing the mount on top of the fan with the fan facing as shown.
As with the exhaust fan, the 3-pin connector coming off the Sunon intake case fan can be plugged into any 3-pin socket on the motherboard. There should be one in close proximity to the intake fan location like the one I've circled in red on the EPoX 8RDA+ motherboard. The 3-pin connector is keyed to the socket so that it cannot be plugged in the wrong way around.
Snap the fan inside the mounting bracket and snap the mounting bracket back into the computer case. When installed, it looks like this. The wires coming from the fan have been led through one of the short slits in the mounting bracket. As usual, I've tried to keep the wires out of the airflow, but the wire is just long enough to make it to the 3-pin connector so I really didn't have much choice.
Well that's everything. Here's how the computer looks now with absolutely everything installed.
As you'll see below, the case fans made quite a difference, especially the exhaust fans I took temperature measurements as I went along, with the computer case on, to see the effect of each case fan. The CD-ROM that comes with your motherboard may include a utility for displaying the temperature readings of the CPU and System. If not, and I did not see one on the CD-ROM that came with the EPoX 8RDA+, then you can use a free utility like Motherboard Monitor, which is what I used.
Temperature settings should be checked when the CPU is under load. I used Prime95 to provide the load, and the temperatures definitely rise once it gets going! It takes about 30 minutes for My Super PC temperatures to stabilize and that's when I took the temperature reading. Here are the results I achieved. All temperature readings are in Centigrade. The fan speed is in rpm's (revolutions per minute).
| CPU | System | Volcano 9
Fan Speed | Cooling Components | Comments
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|---|
| 64
| 43
| 5443
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No case fans installed and the power supply exhaust fan disconnected.
| Youch! These temperatures are too high, especially the CPU temperature!
|
| 52
| 34
| 4963
|
Exhaust fan installed and power supply exhaust fan disconnected.
| Wow! Looks like an exhaust fan is pretty important!
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| 52
| 31
| 4963
|
Both an intake and exhaust fan installed, but with the power supply exhaust fan disconnected.
| Quite a nice improvement in the system temperature. But not much effect on the CPU temperature, unfortunately.
|
| 45
| 31
| 4963
|
Exhaust fan installed and power supply exhaust fan connected. No intake fan installed.
| Who would have thought that little power supply exhaust fan would make such a difference? It really underscores the importance of exhaust over intake.
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And just for interest, here are the readings with the computer idle.
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| 41
| 26
| 3341
|
Both an intake and exhaust fan installed.
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