Do you need two fans on a processor? Designing a computer cooling system

This is the company's own development. Fans with a 112 mm impeller are equipped with PWM control, thanks to which they can change their speed in the range from 800 to 1800 rpm, creating an air flow of 23.0-68.5 CFM, static pressure of 0.39-2.07 mm H 2 O and noise level 21.9-27.6 dBA.

Hidden under the metal cover on the 41mm fan stator is a proprietary UFB (Updraft Floating Balance) bearing with a claimed service life of 150,000 hours, or more than 12 years of continuous operation.

The electrical characteristics of the “turntables” are also at the same level: according to the results of our measurements, each fan consumes no more than 1.8 W and starts at 4 V. The length of the four-wire braided cables is 400 mm.

Silicone rings inserted into the fan mounting holes are used as anti-vibration dampers, and the fastening itself is carried out using wire staples and plastic nails with holes for these brackets.

The main thing is to install the fans correctly on the radiator, so that one of them works to blow in, and the other works to blow out the air flow from the radiator.

As for the installation procedure, the fully versatile Phanteks PH-TC12DX is mounted on an LGA2011 processor quite quickly and with just one Phillips screwdriver. But first, threaded support pins are screwed into the mounting holes.

And only then to the guides, screwed to these studs, with a clamping bar with two spring-loaded screws the cooler is attracted.

The clamping force is very high so that the heatsink does not move or rotate on the processor.

In terms of compatibility with tall heatsinks on memory or power elements, the situation is twofold. It would seem that the distance from the board to the bottom edge of the fans is 48 mm, which is not enough for the recently fashionable memory modules with comb radiators.

However, let us remember that the cooler is relatively narrow, so if it blocks the memory slots, then only one or two closest to the processor socket - and nothing more.

In terms of height, the Phanteks PH-TC12DX will fit even in relatively narrow cases, since after installation on the processor it is no higher than 165 mm.

Let's see what new things will please us with today's competitor Phanteks PH-TC12DX.

⇡ Thermaltake NiC C5 (CLP0608)

As we already mentioned in the introduction of today’s article, Thermaltake has released four coolers of the new NiC line. Model C5 (CLP0608) is the oldest and most expensive of them. The NiC (Non-interference Cooler) series of coolers is designed specifically for systems with memory modules equipped with high radiators, which have recently become very popular.

The box, made of thick cardboard, is no less informative than that of Phanteks. Here and technical specifications, and a description of key features with photographs, and a list of supported platforms.

Inside the cardboard box there are soft polyurethane inserts in the shape of the cooler, in which it is fixed. Accessories are sealed in a separate box. These include steel guides and a set of fasteners, a plastic reinforcing plate, as well as instructions and thermal paste.

The Thermaltake NiC C5 costs $5 more than the Phanteks, which is $55. The cooling system comes with a three-year warranty. Country of origin: China.

Thermaltake NiC C5 is a bright and catchy mid-sized cooler. The red fan frames contrast with the black impellers and black plastic “shells” that cover the radiator.

You simply can’t help but pay attention to such a cooler. Its height is 160 mm, width is 148 mm, and thickness is only 93 mm, which is really not much for a cooler with two fans.

The fans are set to blow-in and blow-out and are secured in plastic shells that leave the sides of the radiator open...

...as well as its top and bottom in the heat pipe areas.

The radiator itself is made of 52 aluminum plates 0.4 mm thick, pressed onto heat pipes with an interfin distance of 1.7 mm.

The area of ​​this radiator is slightly larger than that of the Phanteks PH-TC12DX - it is 5780 cm2.

Five six-millimeter nickel-plated heat pipes are soldered to the base in grooves in which they are laid without gaps.

The nickel-plated copper plate measures 40x40 mm and has a minimum thickness of 1.5 mm (under the tubes) and is perfectly polished.

However, unlike the Phanteks base, its evenness leaves much to be desired. The bulge in the center of the base did not fail to affect the usefulness of the contact between the cooler radiator and the processor heat spreader.

Two fans of standard size 120x120x25 mm rotate synchronously and are equipped with a speed controller.

It is installed on a short cable extending from the three-pin connector for connecting fans to the motherboard.

In our opinion, this method of adjustment is inconvenient, since to change the fan speed you will have to open the system unit case each time. As for the fans themselves, they are interesting in the shape of the blades, consisting of two sail-shaped halves.

The description of Thermaltake NiC C5 does not explain this solution in any way, which is strange, because marketers are so fond of such “features”. In our opinion, these blades are made to increase the pressure of the air flow pumped between the fins of the radiator, because the NiC C5 has a relatively dense air flow.

The fan speed can be adjusted from 1000 to 2000 rpm. The maximum airflow is stated at 99.1 CFM, the static pressure is 2.99 mm H 2 O, and the noise level should vary from 20 to 39.9 dBA.

The sticker on the 40mm stator shows the name of the fan model and its electrical characteristics.

With 3.8 W stated in the specifications for each “turntable,” one fan consumed a little more than 4 W, which is twice as much as Phanteks. But the starting voltage turned out to be slightly lower - 3.8 V. Cable length - 300 mm. The bearing is ordinary - sliding, with a standard service life of 40,000 hours, or more than 4.6 years of continuous operation.

The installation procedure for NiC C5 is described in detail in the instructions, but in our case - for a platform with an LGA2011 connector - it is no different from installing the Phanteks PH-TC12DX.

Once installed on the board, the distance to the bottom edge of Thermaltake NiC C5 is only 36 mm.

However, as we mentioned above, he at Same as most other dual-fan coolers, so unlikely to interfere with module installations RAM with high radiators.

Thermaltake is only 3 mm taller than Phanteks, so it will most likely fit into narrow system unit cases without any problems.

Well, in our opinion, it looks more attractive. However, it depends on the taste and color, as they say...

⇡ Test configuration, tools and testing methodology

Testing of cooling systems was carried out in a closed case of a system unit with the following configuration:

• Motherboard: Intel Siler DX79SR (Intel X79 Express, LGA2011, BIOS 0559 from 03/05/2013);
• Central processor: Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition 3.5-4.0 GHz (Sandy Bridge-E, C2, 1.1 V, 6x256 KB L2, 15 MB L3);
• Thermal interface: ARCTIC MX-4;
• RAM: DDR3 4x8 GB G.SKILL TridentX F3-2133C9Q-32GTX (2133 MHz, 9-11-11-31, 1.6 V);
• Video card: AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1 GB GDDR5 128 bit 1000/4500 MHz (with Deepcool V4000 passive copper heatsink);
• System disk: SSD 256 GB Crucial m4 (SATA-III, CT256M4SSD2, BIOS v0009);
• Disk for programs and games: Western Digital VelociRaptor (SATA-II, 300 GB, 10000 rpm, 16 MB, NCQ) in a Scythe Quiet Drive 3.5″ box;
• Archive disk: Samsung Ecogreen F4 HD204UI (SATA-II, 2 TB, 5400 rpm, 32 MB, NCQ);
• Case: Antec Twelve Hundred (front wall - three Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe S-Series MF12-S2 at 1020 rpm; rear - two Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPRO PL-1 at 1020 rpm; top - standard 200 mm fan at 400 rpm);
• Control and monitoring panel: Zalman ZM-MFC3;
• Power supply: Corsair AX1200i (1200 W), 120 mm fan.

To conduct basic tests, the six-core processor at a reference frequency of 100 MHz with a multiplier fixed at 44 and the Load-Line Calibration function activated was overclocked to 4,4 GHz with increasing the voltage in the motherboard BIOS to 1.245~1.250 V. Turbo Boost technology was turned off during testing, but Hyper-Threading was activated to increase heat dissipation. The voltage of the RAM modules was fixed at 1.6 V, and its frequency was 2.133 GHz with timings of 9-11-11-31. Other BIOS parameters related to overclocking the processor or RAM were not changed.

Testing carried out in the operating system Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1. Software, used for the test is the following:

• LinX AVX Edition v0.6.4 - to create a load on the processor (the amount of allocated memory is 4500 MB, Problem Size is 24234, two cycles of 11 minutes each);
• Real Temp GT v3.70 - for monitoring the temperature of processor cores;
• Intel Extreme Tuning Utility v4.0.6.102 - for monitoring and visual control of all system parameters during overclocking.

A full screenshot of one of the testing cycles looks like this:

The CPU load was created by two consecutive LinX AVX cycles with the above settings. It took 8-10 minutes for the processor temperature to stabilize between cycles. The final result that you will see in the diagram is based on the maximum temperature of the hottest of the six CPU cores at peak load and in idle mode. In addition, a separate table will show the temperatures of all processor cores and their average values. The room temperature was controlled by an electronic thermometer installed next to the system unit with a measurement accuracy of 0.1 °C and the ability to hourly monitor changes in room temperature over the last 6 hours. During this testing, the ambient temperature was atypically high, as the summer heat set in outside the window - it fluctuated in the range 27,6-28,0 °C.

The noise level of cooling systems was measured using an electronic sound level meter CENTER-321 in the period from one to three o'clock in the morning in a completely closed room with an area of ​​about 20 m 2 with double-glazed windows. The noise level was measured outside the system case, when the only source of noise in the room was the cooler itself and its fan. The sound level meter, fixed on a tripod, was always located strictly at one point at a distance of exactly 150 mm from the fan stator. The cooling systems were placed at the very corner of the table on a polyurethane foam backing. The lower measurement limit of the sound level meter is 29.8 dBA, and the subjectively comfortable (please do not confuse with low!) noise level of coolers when measured from such a distance is around 36 dBA. The rotation speed of the fans was changed over the entire range of their operation using a special controller by changing the supply voltage in steps of 0.5 V. Test results and their analysis

Cooling efficiency

The results of testing the efficiency of cooling systems are presented in the table and diagram:

Frankly speaking, both new products did not impress us with their effectiveness. Thermaltake NiC C5 is capable of demonstrating the same efficiency as the legendary Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140, but only at high speeds of its two fans and, naturally, inferior to the TRUE Spirit 140 in noise level. At a quiet 800 rpm, the efficiency of the NiC C5 is quite mediocre - in this mode it loses just 4 degrees Celsius to the TRUE Spirit 140 in terms of peak processor temperature. As for the Phanteks PH-TC12DX, unlike its older brother, it is an even less efficient cooling system. For example, at the maximum speed of its two fans, Phanteks demonstrates the same efficiency as the cheaper TRUE Spirit 140 with one fan at 800 rpm. And at 800 rpm, the PH-TC12DX did not cope with cooling the overclocked processor at all, as well as at 1000 rpm. We understand that the ambient temperature during these tests was relatively high, but in the summary chart, where all results are based on an ambient temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, the Phanteks PH-TC12DX and Thermaltake NiC C5 do not shine in terms of efficiency. We turn to it now.

Let's enter the results into a summary table* and a diagram where all tested coolers are presented in their standard configurations in quiet mode and at maximum speed of the fan(s) when overclocking the processor to 4.4 GHz and a voltage of 1,245~1,250 V:

* The peak temperature of the hottest processor core is shown in the diagram taking into account the delta from room temperature and for all cooling systems is reduced to 25 degrees Celsius.

The Thermaltake NiC C5, at maximum speeds of two fans, was able to take its place in middle group coolers, but its noise level is the highest. In quiet mode at 800 rpm, this model is only the fourth from the bottom. In turn, the even less efficient Phanteks PH-TC12DX leads in the third group of coolers, albeit only in terms of noise level, and in efficiency it loses to the Noctua NH-U14S and the same Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 at 800 rpm. And even with a colossal difference in noise level.

It is logical that with such efficiency it is pointless to talk about further overclocking the processor when cooling it using Phanteks PH-TC12DX, but Thermaltake NiC C5 allowed Intel Core The i7-3970X Extreme Edition remains stable at 4600 MHz at 1.3 V and a peak temperature of the hottest core of 84 degrees Celsius:

Thus, if you ignore high level noise, Thermaltake NiC C5 in our “Table of Ranks” with maximum processor overclocking looks quite confident.

Well, Phanteks PH-TC12DX is the leader in the top three coolers with basic overclocking of the processor, inferior to two brothers in misfortune - Deepcool Ice Blade Pro and Noctua NH-U12S - in terms of noise level. We now turn to the assessment and analysis of the latter.

Noise level

The noise level of the participants in our testing today was measured over the entire operating range of their fans according to the methodology outlined in the corresponding section of the article and is presented on the graph:

In short, both new products are noisy. It's not so much the significant loss compared to the single-fan Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140, but the noisy pairs of Phanteks PH-TC12DX and Thermaltake NiC C5 fans themselves. This is especially true for the Thermaltake model, which stands out not only for the characteristic resonance of the fans installed for injection and exhaust, but also for the uneven change in their noise depending on the speed, which is clearly visible from the broken curve. Phanteks PH-TC12DX looks preferable in this regard; it remains comfortable at fan speeds of about 950 rpm, while Thermaltake NiC C5 is comfortable at 890 rpm. Both new products can be called quiet only if their fan speed does not exceed 800 rpm.

⇡ Conclusion

Both new dual-fan coolers that we reviewed and tested today failed to please us with either outstanding efficiency or low noise levels. The Thermaltake NiC C5 of this pair is more efficient, but looks rather pale in comparison with a lot of other air coolers, including more affordable ones. Phanteks PH-TC12DX is quieter, but really quiet only at speeds when it can no longer handle even moderate overclocking of a six-core processor. The Thermaltake NiC C5 fans are equipped with a manual stepless controller on a short and inconvenient cable, while the Phanteks PH-TC12DX fans are equipped with PWM control. Also, among the differences, we note the mirror base of Thermaltake, a slight difference in cost, more durable and economical fans, as well as a 7 mm higher fit above the board in favor of Phanteks. Otherwise, these coolers are the same. They are versatile, easy to install, and each of them looks attractive in its own way. But whether these advantages are enough and whether you choose one of them to cool the processor is up to you to decide.

PrefaceIn my humble opinion, Japanese Scythe Co., Ltd. is a leader among companies producing air cooling systems for central processors. To come to this conclusion, it is necessary to evaluate its main competitors. For example, Thermalright produces the most highly efficient coolers, but offers them at high prices, does not bother to control the levelness of the bases, and has a poorly developed dealer network, which is why it is often simply impossible to purchase its products, especially far from large cities. The well-known Korean company Zalman in the field of air cooling systems, by and large, has only a big name left, earned at the very beginning of the millennium. Thermaltake produces good coolers, but it does so quite rarely, although this situation has recently begun to improve. ZEROtherm and the new ThermoLab are too rare guests on the market. Cooler Master is perhaps Scythe's most formidable competitor today, as its range includes both excellent coolers in terms of price/performance ratio (Hyper TX 2 and Hyper 212) and expensive super coolers V8 and V10. In addition, two more new products will appear very soon, and the products of this brand are widely distributed throughout the world. Who else have you forgotten? Titan, ASUSTek, Noctua and Xigmatek - these companies also rarely spoil us with new products, and their products are poorly distributed on the market, with the possible exception of Xigmatek, which produces coolers only with direct contact technology, which does not work well with all modern processors.

Unlike competitors, Scythe products can be purchased almost all over the world, and, compared to other brands, Scythe coolers stand out at quite reasonable prices: the cost of its coolers ranges from one to two thousand rubles, which is relatively little for products of this class (for comparison, more than half of the Thermalright coolers available in our store are more than two thousand rubles). The range of products is quite wide: from the neat Katana II and the ultra-compact Shuriken to the gigantic and very expensive Orochi. Cooling system lines are updated with consistency that is enviable for other manufacturers. Every now and then Scythe announces this or that cooler. Among the new products that have already been released, but not yet tested by us, we can note the Katana III (SCKTN-3000), REEVEN (RCCT-0901SP) or KILLER WHALE coolers. In addition, the company's product range includes a wide selection of fans of various sizes and purposes, as well as other useful accessories. There is only one thing missing - a cooler, which could be called the absolute leader among air cooling systems. But, as it turned out, with the release of Mugen 2, Scythe successfully bridged this gap.

The first version of “infinity” (and this is how the name of the cooler is translated from English “Infinity”) appeared in 2006, which was distant by the standards of the Hi-Tech industry. At that time, the Scythe Infinity cooler was generally recognized as, if not the best, then one of the best in terms of cooling efficiency. Almost a year later, the second revision of Infinity was released onto the market, renamed “Mugen” - this word also means “infinity”, only now translated from Japanese. Then the changes affected only the fan (a more efficient and lightweight “Slip Stream” model was installed). Finally, at the very beginning of 2009, Scythe released the second version of the Mugen cooler, with a completely new radiator, a new fan and a different mounting system.

But - first things first.

Scythe Mugen 2 (SCMG-2000) cooler review

Socket 478Socket 754/939/940/AM2(+)/AM3LGA 775/1366

Socket 478LGA 775LGA 1366


Socket 754/939/940Socket AM2(+)/AM3

Test configuration, tools and testing methodology

Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY DK X48-T2RS (Intel X48, LGA 775, BIOS 10/03/2008);
Central processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, (3.0 GHz, 1.15 V, L2 2 x 6 MB, FSB 333 MHz x 4, Yorkfield, C0);
Thermal interface: Arctic Silver 5;
RAM DDR2:

1 x 1024 MB Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-9136C5D (1142 MHz, 5-5-5-18, 2.1 V);
2 x 1024 MB CSX DIABLO CSXO-XAC-1200-2GB-KIT (1200 MHz, 5-5-5-16, 2.4 V);

Video card: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 260 AMP2! Edition 896 MB, 650/1400/2100 MHz (1030 rpm);
Disk subsystem: Western Digital VelociRaptor (SATA-II, 300 GB, 10,000 rpm, 16 MB buffer, NCQ);
HDD cooling and sound insulation system: Scythe Quiet Drive for 3.5" HDD;
Optical drive: Samsung SH-S183L;
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred (standard 120 mm fans replaced with four Scythe Slip Stream at 800 rpm, at the bottom on the front wall there is a 120 mm Scythe Gentle Typhoon at 800 rpm, on top there is a standard 200 mm fan at 400 rpm );
Control and monitoring panel: Zalman ZM-MFC2;
Power supply: Zalman ZM1000-HP 1000 W, 140 mm fan;

Real Temp 3.0 - for monitoring the temperature of processor cores;
RightMark CPU Clock Utility 2.35.0 - for monitoring the operation of the processor thermal protection (clock skip mode);
Linpack 32-bit in the LinX 0.5.7 shell - for processor load (double test cycle with 20 Linpack passes in each cycle with a used RAM of 1600 MB);
RivaTuner 2.23 - for visual monitoring of temperature changes (with RTCore plugin).

Cooler efficiency testing results

Scythe Mugen 2 (2x1860 RPM)ThermoLab BARAM (2x1860RPM)

Conclusion

Check availability and cost of Scythe coolers

Other materials on this topic

Review of Thermaltake TMG IA1 and Scythe Kama Angle coolers
Thermalright AXP-140: Low Profile, High Efficiency Cooler
Cooler Master V10: 10 heat pipes, 3 radiators, 2 fans and a Peltier module. Supercooler?

Often used to build a large radiator heat pipes(English: heat pipe) hermetically sealed and specially arranged metal tubes (usually copper). They transfer heat very efficiently from one end to the other: thus, even the outermost fins of a large radiator work effectively in cooling. This is how the popular cooler works, for example.

To cool modern high-performance GPUs, the same methods are used: large radiators, copper cores of cooling systems or all-copper radiators, heat pipes to transfer heat to additional radiators:

The recommendations for selection here are the same: use slow and large fans, and the largest possible radiators. For example, this is what popular video card cooling systems and Zalman VF900 look like:

Typically, fans of video card cooling systems only mixed the air inside the system unit, which is not very effective in terms of cooling the entire computer. Only recently, to cool video cards, they began to use cooling systems that carry hot air outside the case: the first to use a similar design were from the brand:

Similar cooling systems are installed on the most powerful modern video cards ( nVidia GeForce 8800, ATI x1800XT and older). This design is often more justified, from the point of view of the correct organization of air flows inside the computer case, than traditional designs. Air flow organization

Modern standards for the design of computer cases, among other things, also regulate the method of constructing a cooling system. Starting with , the production of which began in 1997, the technology of cooling a computer with a through air flow directed from the front wall of the case to the back has been introduced (additionally, air for cooling is sucked in through the left wall):

I refer those interested in details to the latest versions of the ATX standard.

At least one fan is installed in the computer power supply (many modern models have two fans, which can significantly reduce the rotation speed of each of them, and, therefore, noise during operation). Additional fans can be installed anywhere inside the computer case to increase air flow. Be sure to follow the rule: On the front and left side walls, air is forced into the body; on the rear wall, hot air is thrown out. You also need to make sure that the flow of hot air from the back wall of the computer does not go directly into the air intake on the left wall of the computer (this happens at certain positions of the system unit relative to the walls of the room and furniture). Which fans to install depends primarily on the availability of appropriate fasteners in the case walls. Fan noise is mainly determined by its rotation speed (see section), so it is recommended to use slow (quiet) fan models. With equal installation dimensions and rotation speeds, the fans on the rear wall of the case are subjectively noisier than the front ones: firstly, they are located further from the user, and secondly, there are almost transparent grilles at the back of the case, while in front there are various decorative elements. Often noise is created due to the air flow bending around the elements of the front panel: if the transferred volume of air flow exceeds a certain limit, vortex turbulent flows are formed on the front panel of the computer case, which create a characteristic noise (it resembles the hiss of a vacuum cleaner, but much quieter).

Choosing a computer case

Almost the vast majority of computer cases on the market today comply with one of the versions of the ATX standard, including in terms of cooling. The cheapest cases are not equipped with a power supply or additional accessories. More expensive cases are equipped with fans to cool the case, less often - adapters for connecting fans in various ways; sometimes even a special controller equipped with thermal sensors, which allows you to smoothly regulate the rotation speed of one or more fans depending on the temperature of the main components (see, for example). The power supply is not always included in the kit: many buyers prefer to choose a power supply themselves. Among other options for additional equipment, it is worth noting special mounts for side walls, hard drives, optical drives, expansion cards, which allow you to assemble a computer without a screwdriver; dust filters that prevent dirt from entering the computer through the ventilation holes; various pipes for directing air flow inside the housing. Let's explore the fan

For air transfer in cooling systems they use fans(English: fan).

Fan device

The fan consists of a housing (usually in the form of a frame), an electric motor and an impeller mounted with bearings on the same axis as the motor:

The reliability of the fan depends on the type of bearings installed. Manufacturers say this typical time MTBF (the number of years is based on round-the-clock operation):

Taking into account the obsolescence of computer equipment (for home and office use this is 2-3 years), fans with ball bearings can be considered “eternal”: their service life is no less than the typical service life of a computer. For more serious applications, where the computer must work around the clock for many years, it is worth choosing more reliable fans.

Many have encountered old fans in which the sliding bearings have exhausted their service life: the impeller shaft rattles and vibrates during operation, producing a characteristic growling sound. In principle, such a bearing can be repaired by lubricating it with solid lubricant, but how many would agree to repair a fan that costs only a couple of dollars?

Fan characteristics

Fans vary in size and thickness: usually in computers there are standard sizes of 40x40x10 mm, for cooling video cards and hard drive pockets, as well as 80x80x25, 92x92x25, 120x120x25 mm for case cooling. Fans also differ in the type and design of the installed electric motors: they consume different currents and provide different impeller rotation speeds. The performance depends on the size of the fan and the speed of rotation of the impeller blades: the created static pressure and the maximum volume of transported air.

The volume of air carried by the fan (flow rate) is measured in cubic meters per minute or cubic feet per minute (CFM, cubic feet per minute). The fan performance indicated in the specifications is measured at zero pressure: the fan operates in open space. Inside the computer case, a fan blows system unit of a certain size, therefore it creates excess pressure in the serviced volume. Naturally, volumetric productivity will be approximately inversely proportional to the pressure created. Specific view flow characteristics depends on the shape of the impeller used and other parameters of the specific model. For example, the corresponding graph for a fan:

A simple conclusion follows from this: the more intense the fans work in the back of the computer case, the more air can be pumped through the entire system, and the more efficient the cooling will be.

Fan noise level

The noise level created by the fan during operation depends on its various characteristics (you can read more about the reasons for its occurrence in the article). It's easy to establish a relationship between performance and fan noise. On the website of a large manufacturer of popular cooling systems, we see: many fans of the same size are equipped with different electric motors, which are designed for different rotation speeds. Since the same impeller is used, we obtain the data we are interested in: the characteristics of the same fan at different rotation speeds. We are compiling a table for the three most common sizes: thickness 25 mm, and.

The most popular types of fans are highlighted in bold.

Having calculated the proportionality coefficient of air flow and noise level to revolutions, we see an almost complete coincidence. To clear our conscience, we count deviations from the average: less than 5%. Thus, we received three linear dependencies, 5 points each. God knows what statistics, but for a linear relationship this is enough: we consider the hypothesis confirmed.

The volumetric performance of the fan is proportional to the number of revolutions of the impeller, the same is true for the noise level.

Using the obtained hypothesis, we can extrapolate the results obtained using the least squares method (OLS): in the table, these values ​​are highlighted in italic font. It must be remembered, however, that the scope of this model is limited. The studied dependence is linear in a certain range of rotation speeds; it is logical to assume that the linear nature of the dependence will remain in some vicinity of this range; but at very high and very low speeds the picture can change significantly.

Now let's look at a line of fans from another manufacturer: , and . Let's make a similar table:

Calculated data is highlighted in italic font.
As mentioned above, at fan speed values ​​that differ significantly from those studied, the linear model may be incorrect. The values ​​obtained by extrapolation should be understood as a rough estimate.

Let us pay attention to two circumstances. Firstly, GlacialTech fans work slower, and secondly, they are more efficient. This is obviously the result of using an impeller with a more complex blade shape: even at the same speed, the GlacialTech fan moves more air than the Titan: see graph increase. A The noise level at the same speed is approximately equal: the proportion is maintained even for fans from different manufacturers with different impeller shapes.

You need to understand that the actual noise characteristics of a fan depend on its technical design, the pressure created, the volume of pumped air, and the type and shape of obstacles in the path of air flow; that is, on the type of computer case. Since the housings used are very different, it is not possible to directly use the measurements measured in ideal conditions quantitative characteristics of fans they can only be compared with each other for different fan models.

Fan price categories

Let's consider the cost factor. For example, let’s take the same online store and: the results are listed in the tables above (fans with two ball bearings were considered). As you can see, the fans of these two manufacturers belong to two different classes: GlacialTech operate at lower speeds, therefore making less noise; at the same rpm they are more efficient than the Titan - but they are always a dollar or two more expensive. If you need to assemble the least noisy cooling system (for example, for a home computer), you will have to fork out for more expensive fans with complex blade shapes. In the absence of such strict requirements or with a limited budget (for example, for an office computer), simpler fans are quite suitable. Various type The impeller suspension used in fans (for more details, see section) also affects the cost: the fan is more expensive, the more complex bearings are used.

The connector key is the beveled corners on one side. The wires are connected as follows: two central ones - “ground”, common contact (black wire); +5 V - red, +12 V - yellow. To power the fan via the Molex connector, only two wires are used, usually black (ground) and red (supply voltage). By connecting them to different pins of the connector, you can get different fan rotation speeds. A standard voltage of 12 V will start the fan at normal speed, a voltage of 5-7 V provides approximately half the rotation speed. It is preferable to use more high voltage, since not every electric motor is able to reliably start at too low a supply voltage.

As experience shows, the fan rotation speed when connected to +5 V, +6 V and +7 V is approximately the same(with an accuracy of 10%, which is comparable to the accuracy of measurements: the rotation speed is constantly changing and depends on many factors, such as air temperature, the slightest draft in the room, etc.)

I remind you that the manufacturer guarantees stable operation of its devices only when using a standard supply voltage. But, as practice shows, the vast majority of fans start perfectly even at low voltage.

The contacts are fixed in the plastic part of the connector using a pair of bendable metal “antennae”. It is not difficult to remove the contact by pressing down the protruding parts with a thin awl or a small screwdriver. After this, the “antennae” must be bent to the sides again, and the contact must be inserted into the corresponding socket of the plastic part of the connector:

Sometimes coolers and fans are equipped with two connectors: parallel-connected molex and three- (or four-) pin. In that case You only need to connect power through one of them:

In some cases, not one Molex connector is used, but a female-male pair: this way you can connect the fan to the same wire from the power supply that powers the hard drive or optical drive. If you are rearranging the pins in a connector to get a non-standard voltage on the fan, pay special attention to rearranging the pins in the second connector in exactly the same order. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the incorrect supply voltage being supplied to the hard drive or optical drive, which will certainly lead to their immediate failure.

In three-pin connectors, the installation key is a pair of protruding guides on one side:

The mating part is located on the contact pad; when connected, it fits between the guides, also acting as a latch. The corresponding connectors for powering the fans are located on the motherboard (usually several in different places on the board) or on the board of a special controller that controls the fans:

In addition to ground (black wire) and +12 V (usually red, less often yellow), there is also a tachometer contact: it is used to control the fan speed (white, blue, yellow or green wire). If you do not need the ability to control the fan speed, then this contact does not need to be connected. If the fan power is supplied separately (for example, through a Molex connector), it is permissible to connect only the speed control contact and the common wire using a three-pin connector - this circuit is often used to monitor the rotation speed of the power supply fan, which is powered and controlled by the internal circuits of the power supply unit.

Four-pin connectors appeared relatively recently on motherboards with LGA 775 and socket AM2 processor sockets. They differ in the presence of an additional fourth contact, while being completely mechanically and electrically compatible with three-pin connectors:

Two identical fans with three-pin connectors can be connected in series to one power connector. Thus, each of the electric motors will receive 6 V of supply voltage, both fans will rotate at half speed. For such a connection, it is convenient to use the fan power connectors: the contacts can be easily removed from the plastic case by pressing the locking “tab” with a screwdriver. The connection diagram is shown in the figure below. One of the connectors is connected to the motherboard as usual: it will supply power to both fans. In the second connector, using a piece of wire, you need to short-circuit two contacts, and then insulate it with tape or tape:

It is strongly not recommended to connect two different electric motors in this way.: due to the inequality of electrical characteristics in different operating modes (start-up, acceleration, stable rotation), one of the fans may not start at all (which can cause the electric motor to fail) or require an excessively high current to start (which can lead to failure of the control circuits).

Often, to limit the fan rotation speed, fixed or variable resistors are used in series in the power circuit. By changing the resistance of the variable resistor, you can adjust the rotation speed: this is how many manual fan speed controllers are designed. When designing such a circuit, you need to remember that, firstly, the resistors heat up, dissipating part of the electrical power in the form of heat - this does not contribute to more efficient cooling; secondly, the electrical characteristics of the electric motor in different operating modes (starting, acceleration, stable rotation) are not the same, the resistor parameters must be selected taking into account all these modes. To select resistor parameters, it is enough to know Ohm’s law; You need to use resistors designed for a current no less than that consumed by the electric motor. However, I personally do not favor manual cooling control, since I believe that a computer is a perfectly suitable device to control the cooling system automatically, without user intervention.

Fan monitoring and control

Most modern motherboards allow you to control the rotation speed of fans connected to some three- or four-pin connectors. Moreover, some of the connectors support software control of the rotation speed of the connected fan. Not all connectors located on the board provide such capabilities: for example, on the popular Asus A8N-E board there are five connectors for powering fans, only three of them support rotation speed control (CPU, CHIP, CHA1), and only one supports fan speed control (CPU); motherboard Asus P5B has four connectors, all four support rotation speed control, rotation speed control has two channels: CPU, CASE1/2 (the speed of two case fans changes synchronously). The number of connectors with the ability to control or control the rotation speed does not depend on the chipset or south bridge used, but on the specific model of the motherboard: models from different manufacturers may vary in this regard. Often, board developers deliberately deprive cheaper models of the ability to control fan speed. For example, the motherboard for Intel Pentiun 4 processors Asus P4P800 SE is capable of adjusting the speed of the processor cooler, but its cheaper version Asus P4P800-X is not. In this case, you can use special devices that are capable of controlling the speed of several fans (and, usually, provide for the connection of a number of temperature sensors) - more and more of them are appearing on the modern market.

You can control fan speed values ​​using BIOS Setup. As a rule, if the motherboard supports changing the fan speed, here in BIOS Setup you can configure the parameters of the speed control algorithm. The set of parameters varies for different motherboards; Typically, the algorithm uses the readings of thermal sensors built into the processor and motherboard. There are a number of programs for various operating systems that allow you to control and regulate fan speeds, as well as monitor the temperature of various components inside the computer. Manufacturers of some motherboards complete their products with proprietary programs for Windows: Asus PC Probe, MSI CoreCenter, Abit µGuru, Gigabyte EasyTune, Foxconn SuperStep, etc. Several universal programs are widespread, among them: (shareware, $20-30), (distributed free of charge, not updated since 2004). The most popular program in this class is:

These programs allow you to monitor a range of temperature sensors that are installed in modern processors, motherboards, video cards and hard drives. The program also monitors the rotation speed of fans that are connected to the motherboard connectors with appropriate support. Finally, the program is able to automatically adjust the fan speed depending on the temperature of the observed objects (if the manufacturer motherboard implemented hardware support for this feature). In the above figure, the program is configured to control only the processor fan: when the CPU temperature is low (36°C), it rotates at a speed of about 1000 rpm, which is 35% of the maximum speed (2800 rpm). Setting up such programs comes down to three steps:

1. determining which of the motherboard controller channels the fans are connected to, and which of them can be controlled by software;
2. indicating which temperatures should affect the speed of various fans;
3. setting temperature thresholds for each temperature sensor and operating speed range for fans.

Many programs for testing and fine-tuning computers also have monitoring capabilities:, etc.

Many modern video cards also allow you to adjust the speed of the cooling fan depending on the heating of the GPU. Using special programs, you can even change the settings of the cooling mechanism, reducing the noise level from the video card when there is no load. This is what the optimal settings for the HIS X800GTO IceQ II video card look like in the program:

Passive Cooling systems are usually called those that do not contain fans. Individual computer components can be satisfied with passive cooling, provided that their radiators are placed in sufficient air flow created by “foreign” fans: for example, the chipset chip is often cooled by a large radiator located near the installation site of the processor cooler. Passive cooling systems for video cards are also popular, for example:

Obviously, the more radiators one fan has to blow through, the greater the flow resistance it needs to overcome; Thus, when increasing the number of radiators, it is often necessary to increase the rotation speed of the impeller. It is more efficient to use many low-speed, large-diameter fans, and it is preferable to avoid passive cooling systems. Despite the fact that passive radiators for processors, video cards with passive cooling, and even fanless power supplies (FSP Zen) are available, an attempt to assemble a computer without any fans from all these components will certainly lead to constant overheating. Because a modern high-performance computer dissipates too much heat to be cooled by passive systems alone. Due to the low thermal conductivity of air, it is difficult to organize effective passive cooling for the entire computer, unless you turn the entire computer case into a radiator, as is done in:

Perhaps completely passive cooling will be sufficient for low-power specialized computers (for accessing the Internet, listening to music and watching videos, etc.) Economical cooling

In the old days, when the power consumption of processors had not yet reached critical values ​​- a small radiator was enough to cool them - the question was “what will the computer do when nothing needs to be done?” The solution was simple: while there is no need to execute user commands or running programs, the OS gives the processor the NOP command (No OPeration, no operation). This command forces the processor to perform a meaningless, ineffective operation, the result of which is ignored. This wastes not only time, but also electricity, which, in turn, is converted into heat. A typical home or office computer, in the absence of resource-intensive tasks, is usually only 10% loaded - anyone can verify this by launching the Manager Windows tasks and observing the CPU (Central Processing Unit) load chronology. Thus, with the old approach, about 90% of the processor time was wasted: the CPU was busy executing unnecessary commands. Newer operating systems (Windows 2000 and later) act more wisely in a similar situation: using the HLT (Halt, stop) command, the processor completely stops for a short time - this, obviously, allows you to reduce energy consumption and processor temperature in the absence of resource-intensive tasks.

Experienced computer geeks can recall a number of programs for “software processor cooling”: when running under Windows 95/98/ME, they stopped the processor using HLT, instead of repeating meaningless NOPs, thereby reducing the temperature of the processor in the absence of computing tasks. Accordingly, the use of such programs under Windows 2000 and newer operating systems makes no sense.

Modern processors consume so much energy (which means they dissipate it in the form of heat, that is, they heat up) that developers have created additional technical measures to combat possible overheating, as well as means that increase the efficiency of saving mechanisms when the computer is idle.

CPU thermal protection

To protect the processor from overheating and failure, so-called thermal throttling is used (usually not translated: throttling). The essence of this mechanism is simple: if the processor temperature exceeds the permissible temperature, the processor is forcibly stopped by the HLT command so that the crystal has the opportunity to cool down. In early implementations of this mechanism, through BIOS Setup it was possible to configure how much time the processor would be idle (CPU Throttling Duty Cycle parameter: xx%); new implementations “slow down” the processor automatically until the temperature of the crystal drops to an acceptable level. Of course, the user is interested in ensuring that the processor does not cool down (literally!), but does useful work; for this, a sufficiently efficient cooling system must be used. You can check whether the processor thermal protection mechanism (throttling) is activated using special utilities, for example:

Minimizing energy consumption

Almost all modern processors support special technologies to reduce energy consumption (and, accordingly, heating). Different manufacturers call such technologies differently, for example: Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), AMD Cool’n’Quiet (CnQ, C&Q) - but they essentially work the same way. When the computer is idle and the processor is not loaded with computing tasks, the clock speed and supply voltage of the processor are reduced. Both reduce the processor's power consumption, which in turn reduces heat dissipation. As soon as the processor load increases, the full speed of the processor is automatically restored: the operation of such a power saving scheme is completely transparent to the user and the programs being launched. To enable such a system you need:

1. enable the use of supported technology in BIOS Setup;
2. install the appropriate drivers in the operating system you are using (usually a processor driver);
3. In the Windows Control Panel, in the Power Management section, on the Power Schemes tab, select the Minimal Power Management scheme from the list.

For example, for an Asus A8N-E motherboard with a processor you need (detailed instructions are provided in the User Manual):

1. in BIOS Setup in the Advanced > CPU Configuration > AMD CPU Cool & Quiet Configuration section, switch the Cool N "Quiet parameter to Enabled; and in the section Power parameter ACPI 2.0 Support switch to Yes;
2. install ;
3. see above.

You can check that the processor frequency is changing using any program that displays clock frequency processor: from specialized types, right up to the Windows Control Panel, System section:

Often, motherboard manufacturers additionally equip their products with visual programs that clearly demonstrate the operation of the mechanism for changing the frequency and voltage of the processor, for example, Asus Cool&Quiet:

The processor frequency varies from maximum (in the presence of a computing load) to a certain minimum (in the absence of CPU load).

RMClock utility

During the development of a set of programs for comprehensive testing of processors, the RightMark CPU Clock/Power Utility was created: it is designed to monitor, configure and manage the energy-saving capabilities of modern processors. The utility supports all modern processors and a variety of energy management systems (frequency, voltage...). The program allows you to monitor the occurrence of throttling, changes in the frequency and voltage of the processor supply. Using RMClock, you can configure and use everything that standard tools allow: BIOS Setup, power management from the OS using the processor driver. But the capabilities of this utility are much wider: with its help you can configure a number of parameters that are not available for configuration in a standard way. This is especially important when using overclocked systems, when the processor runs faster than the standard frequency.

Auto overclocking of a video card

Video card developers also use a similar method: the full power of the graphics processor is needed only in 3D mode, and a modern graphics chip can cope with a desktop in 2D mode even at a reduced frequency. Many modern video cards are configured so that the graphics chip serves the desktop (2D mode) with reduced frequency, power consumption and heat dissipation; Accordingly, the cooling fan spins slower and makes less noise. The video card starts working at full capacity only when running 3D applications, for example, computer games. Similar logic can be implemented programmatically, using various utilities for fine-tuning and overclocking video cards. For example, this is what the automatic overclocking settings look like in the program for the HIS X800GTO IceQ II video card:

From the user's point of view, a computer whose noise does not exceed the surrounding background noise will be considered sufficiently quiet. During the day, taking into account the noise of the street outside the window, as well as the noise in the office or factory, the computer is allowed to make a little more noise. A home computer that is intended to be used 24/7 should be quieter at night. As practice has shown, almost any modern powerful computer can be made to work quite quietly. I will describe several examples from my practice.

Example 1: Intel Pentium 4 platform

My office uses 10 Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz computers with standard CPU coolers. All machines are assembled in inexpensive Fortex cases priced up to $30, with Chieftec 310-102 power supplies installed (310 W, 1 fan 80x80x25 mm). In each of the cases, an 80×80×25 mm fan (3000 rpm, noise 33 dBA) was installed on the rear wall - they were replaced by fans with the same performance 120×120×25 mm (950 rpm, noise 19 dBA ). On a file server local network For additional cooling of hard drives, 2 80x80x25 mm fans are installed on the front wall, connected in series (speed 1500 rpm, noise 20 dBA). Most computers use the Asus P4P800 SE motherboard, which is capable of adjusting the speed of the processor cooler. Two computers have cheaper Asus P4P800-X boards, where the cooler speed is not regulated; To reduce the noise from these machines, the processor coolers were replaced (1900 rpm, noise 20 dBA).
Result: computers are quieter than air conditioners; they are practically inaudible.

Example 2: Intel Core 2 Duo platform

A home computer on the new Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 processor (2.13 GHz) with a standard processor cooler was assembled in an inexpensive aigo case priced at $25, and a Chieftec 360-102DF power supply (360 W, 2 80x80x25 mm fans) was installed. There are 2 80x80x25 mm fans installed in the front and rear walls of the case, connected in series (speed adjustable, from 750 to 1500 rpm, noise up to 20 dBA). The motherboard used is Asus P5B, which is capable of regulating the speed of the processor cooler and case fans. A video card with a passive cooling system is installed.
Result: the computer is so noisy that during the day you can’t hear it over the usual noise in the apartment (conversations, steps, the street outside the window, etc.).

Example 3: AMD Athlon 64 platform

My home computer on an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor (1.8 GHz) was assembled in an inexpensive Delux case costing up to $30, initially containing a CoolerMaster RS-380 power supply (380 W, 1 80x80x25 mm fan) and a GlacialTech SilentBlade video card GT80252BDL-1 connected to +5 V (about 850 rpm, noise less than 17 dBA). The motherboard used is Asus A8N-E, which is capable of adjusting the speed of the processor cooler (up to 2800 rpm, noise up to 26 dBA, in idle mode the cooler rotates about 1000 rpm and noise less than 18 dBA). The problem with this motherboard: cooling the nVidia nForce 4 chipset chip, Asus installs a small 40x40x10 mm fan with a rotation speed of 5800 rpm, which whistles quite loudly and unpleasantly (in addition, the fan is equipped with a plain bearing, which has a very short lifespan) . To cool the chipset, a cooler for video cards with a copper radiator was installed; against its background, the clicks of the positioning of the hard drive heads are clearly audible. A working computer does not interfere with sleeping in the same room where it is installed.
Recently, the video card was replaced by HIS X800GTO IceQ II, for the installation of which it was necessary to modify the chipset heatsink: bend the fins so that they do not interfere with the installation of a video card with a large cooling fan. Fifteen minutes of work with pliers - and the computer continues to work quietly even with a fairly powerful video card.

Example 4: AMD Athlon 64 X2 platform

A home computer on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor (2.0 GHz) with a processor cooler (up to 1900 rpm, noise up to 20 dBA) is assembled in a 3R System R101 case (includes 2 fans 120x120x25 mm, up to 1500 rpm, installed on the front and rear walls of the case, connected to the standard monitoring and automatic fan control system), installed FSP Blue Storm 350 power supply (350 W, 1 fan 120x120x25 mm). A motherboard is used (passive cooling of chipset chips), which is capable of regulating the speed of the processor cooler. A GeCube Radeon X800XT video card was used, the cooling system was replaced with a Zalman VF900-Cu. A hard drive known for its low noise level was chosen for the computer.
Result: The computer is so quiet that you can hear the noise of the hard drive motor. A working computer does not interfere with sleeping in the same room where it is installed (the neighbors talking even louder behind the wall).