If I have a HSF w/ a side-mounted fan like the Scythe Mini Ninja as seen below (this is not my box but I'm looking to do a build in this case with this HSF)



And I want to put a second fan on the other side so air is pushed from the left thru the fins and out of the right

--air-->[Fan]|Heatsink fins|[Fan]--air-->

But my motherboard only has one CPU 4-pin fan header,

Is there any way to get both fans controlled by the motherboard so that their speeds are adjusted via PWM?

Alternatively, is it a bad idea to control the HSF fan(s) w/ a manual fan controller (as opposed to letting the mobo control them)?

Thanks in advance!

I think newegg.com has a powercable splitter for fans, just looking the correct one.

It's possibly this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812706023

I tried push-pull for a little bit on my CPU heatsink, but it didnt helped much. I ended up pointing the 2nd one at my videocard. I will be interested to hear about your results.

Why would you bother controlling the fans on something that massive on fans anyway? It's not going to do much.

also, very inefficient to have fans for both the intake and exhaust. just get an intake fan and have a passive exhaust (as in that picture you provided, assuming those are intake fans on the left), and just add more intake fans if you feel you need more cooling.

also,
is a bad idea.

I would just turn the fan around, if it's not blowing into it

Ah, thanks for the tip. I'll just stick with the one intake mounted on the hsf then. (The two larger fans on the left are also intake -- they're part of the case. There's only one exhaust and it's on the other side (can't see it in the picture) in the back, above the GPU.

Would you say using a fan controller for the two front intake fans is a good idea?



I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what you're saying, but in general this case (w/ the included 2 front intake + 1 rear exhaust) can get pretty quiet if you dial the fans down.

The reason why I had this thought/question in the first place is that I saw somebody using a Noctua U9B with (apparently) an intake/exhaust fan setup on the hsf

Eh, not sure about that. I always have passive intake and fans in the exhaust. This is what every major PC and server manufacturer has done since forever. I don't have any data to back it up, but I'm pretty sure it's better. With exhaust, you get much better control over the direction of the airflow. With a fan in the back, you KNOW there is strong airflow through the preceeding area. Intake just "shoves" air in and causes it to be forced out through any available opening.

I have another question

Would you pay about $180 more for an i7 setup over a Phenom II X4 940 one?
(This would be going into the case above ... I'm not sure if the i7 puts out more heat / is harder to cool than the PII =/)

General specs:

i7:

• i7 920
• 6GB DDR3 1333
• X58 mATX Mobo ($170 to $270 ... ouch)

PII 940:

• PII 940
• 8GB DDR2 800 (about the same price as the 6GB in the i7)
• Gigabyte AM2+ 780G mATX mobo (around $70 give or take)

Other components (same regardless of i7 or PII)

• Sapphire 4870
• WD Black HD
• HSF (Probably the one above... or a Noctua U9B)
• The case, PSU, etc.
• Fan controller(? prob not to save money)
• 23" monitor
• Keyboard
• Windows(? not figured in price)

Total i7 (before tax/ship): ~$1465
Total PII (before tax/ship): ~$1283
(These are including the monitor which is about $230)

Yay? Nay? I just read that intel is discontinuing the i7 920 and selling the slower, non-DDR3(?) i5 for the same price in the near future so it is making me nervous.

Tough call. Personally, I am pretty cheap so I would probably pick the PII 940 or even a fast 775 quad since most of the programs I use (gaming!) don't see an advantage from hyperthreading.

But don't be too scared to pick i7, this is Intel's server platform for the immediate future and they will be forced to support it for a long time even if the i5 is a success and offers almost as much performance for a lower price. The i7 will have plenty of upgrade options.

I would

Thanks guys, really appreciate the input

Last thing -- anyone know if the PII 940 puts out less heat (both idle/load) than the i7 920 at stock speeds? Seems like it should, but you never know ...