I need to replace my Antec 3-fan, but with which fan?

[winterwonderland]

you supreme overlords of pc... can you please help me with 1 matter? below, you see my 2 fans. the fan to the left (antec 3) belongs to the fan on TOP of my pc, which is the one i want to replace wit a new fan, but i don't know it's dimensions, unfortunately. and as you can see, one its blades = broken, which again is causing my pc to be rather shaky...

the 2nd fan, is a Noctua NF-S12A PWM 120mm. and as you can see on the 2nd photo, the Noctua-fan (marked with 1 on the photo), has a smaller 4-pin power cable than the Antec 3 (marked 2 on the photo). the smaller 4-pin power cable does not fit to my pc (because it's old).

sooo basically, i need to find 1) a bigger fan than the Noctua (which is 120mm) so it matches the Antec 3-fan dimensions and 2) a fan that has the same power cable as my Antec 3 does (or can i use an adapter?)

other requirements:
- the fan should have speed adjustment options (i.e low/hi)
- a budget fan (costing somewhat $10-30)
- obviously, i need it to be quiet
- IMPORTANT: NON-FLASHY! i dislike if the fan is too bright/making colors etc. so that's not cool...

so. WHICH fan should i go for that matches those (picky) requirements? any suggestions?

also, if you cannot give me a specific fan-suggestion, can you at least tell me what i should be looking for when it comes to dimensions (so it matches the dimensions of the antec 3-fan) AND the power cable? what sort of power cable is it? (pardon my noobness...)

thanks in advance once again, my overlords!

 

[johnspack]

Big fan is a 200 mm, antec still makes them. You can use any 120 mm for the front, I used a 10 buck thermaltake on mine. Same 4 blue leds ect. Use your mobo's pwm controller to adjust fan speed. You can also get 120 mm antec fans still with the tri-switch. I own an old antec case, so I've had to start hunting for new fans too. If you want to make it simple, just replace with the same antec fans, otherwise any 200 and 120mm fans will do.

 

[Caring1]

140mm fan, not 200
The small four pin PWM connector should still attach to the three pin header on your motherboard, you just lose the PWM function.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Measure it and find out. As johnspack suggested it could be a 200mm but looking at your photo, it looks more like a 140mm to me too since 20mm is just over 3/4 inch longer than 120mm. 60mm more would be over 2.25 inches wider.

Case fans are measured from outside edge of the fan housing to the opposite outside edge (from the flat side to the other flat side with this Big Boy).

Replacement Antec "Big Boy" 200mm are ~$20 on Amazon. It should be noted that Antec makes excellent fans (if you keep your knuckles out of the spinning blades), but certainly you don't have to buy Antec.

 

[winterwonderland]

ok, i did some measuring, and if i've done it right, it says 140mm... this is correct, right?


so, i then need a 140mm-fan, huh?

and about the pin.. well, i do have one old pc, so i dont know if i really have that on my pc or not.. hm... my motherboard = gigabyte ga-ma790x - and i cannot spot anywhere where that 4-pin cable would fit....

also, i cannot attach the 120mm noctua fan where the antec 3 fan is located on, right? it's simply too small...

thanks again.

 

[Bill_Bright]

if i've done it right

You didn't do it right. Don't measure case vent openings. You need to measure the fan itself. It looks like it is 140mm but measure the fan or your mounting holes may not line up.

 

[winterwonderland]

what about now then? did i do it right this time, or? (yes, the numbers are in 'cm')


i guess we can state that the big Antec 3-fan i've got on the top of my "tower" is a 140mm-fan..

if it's a 140mm, i got a refund option available from the store... which of these 140mm fans would be best, based on my above-mentioned requirements:
- Noctua NF-A14 PWM 140mm
- Noctua NF-A14 FLX 140mm (connector difference from the PWM?)

or any other suggestions that will fit my motherboard?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Yeah, that's 140mm.

As far as which would be better, that depends on what you are looking for. It looks like the PWM moves more air so that would be better for cooling while the FLX still moves a lot of air, it is quieter. I like quiet - but only if I have sufficient cooling.

 

[winterwonderland]

thanks a lot for your inputs, bill! that certainly made my decision very easy. i like quiet too. but, what about the power cables and all? will either of the noctua PWM or FLX fit on my motherboard, you reckon?

 

[FR@NK]

There is a 4 pin near the bottom corner labeled sys_fan. You would need a long enough cable for that to reach.

 

[Caring1]

It will also connect to the three pin header on the motherboard, near the yellow USB connectors.

 

[chuck216]

This page should have direct replacements for your fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007998 50001516 600035590&IsNodeId=1

 

[winterwonderland]

I found out that my CPU_FAN slot (on the far right side of the above photo of the motherboard) is not in use.. can i plug the fan there, perhaps?

Also, seeing that i need a new fan with a BIG 4-pin cable and not the small 4-pin cable, what is the name of those kind of cables??

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Caring1]

Also, seeing that i need a new fan with a BIG 4-pin cable and not the small 4-pin cable, what is the name of those kind of cables??

Thanks for the suggestions.

Yes you can plug the fan to the CPU fan header.
The large four pin connector is called a Molex connection, you may need an adapter as most fans have the small connections.

 

[winterwonderland]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Ok here is my setup now. I connected the fan to that cpu_fan-slot. But is the fan mounted correctly in terms of airflow, or? It seems right to me, but i just wanna be sure on that.

 

[INSTG8R]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Ok here is my setup now. I connected the fan to that cpu_fan-slot. But is the fan mounted correctly in terms of airflow, or? It seems right to me, but i just wanna be sure on that.
View attachment 77135

Other way. It should be exhaust

 

[winterwonderland]

Ohh.. i see. Was trying to follow this guys setup:

So i just flip the noctua fan the other way then?

 

[INSTG8R]

Ohh.. i see. Was trying to follow this guys setup:

So i just flip the noctua fan the other way then?

Yep.

 

[winterwonderland]

Nice. That seemed to do the trick as they are all working like a charm now.

Now, i just need to find the proper replacement 140mm for the antec 3 fan..

You guys... best pc help forums i have ever been a member of! Aweesome stuff!

 

[chuck216]

Nice. That seemed to do the trick as they are all working like a charm now.

Now, i just need to find the proper replacement 140mm for the antec 3 fan..

You guys... best pc help forums i have ever been a member of! Aweesome stuff!

Try here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1516 600035592 8000&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&page=1

 

[Caring1]

Other way. It should be exhaust

Actually that rear fan isn't even required unless he changes the direction of the CPU cooler 90 degrees to exhaust out the rear.
That Noctua fan would be better placed on the front or bottom of the case to increase flow through the case.

 

[Bill_Bright]

The best way to remember is you generally want front-to-back flow through the case. So front fans intake and rear fans exhaust. The reason you want front-to-back is only because power supplies mount to the back of cases and exhaust their heat out the back. So to keep the air flowing in the same direction, you orient case fans for front-to-back too.

If you have bottom and/or top "blowhole" fans, you want to "work with nature" and help the heat rise out the top. So bottom fans should intake and top fans exhaust.

For heatsinks with fans that don't blow sideways, you want the fan to blow onto the heatsink as that directs the most force on the heatsink and creates the most turbulence across the heatsink (a good thing).

Note many, if not most fans are labeled or have molded in the plastic housing, two arrows. One arrow designates the direction of air flow, and the other the direction of fan rotation.

 

[chuck216]

A couple things: First, rotate your heatsink 90 degrees so the fans face front to back on it.

Second the easiest way to find out the airflow direction of a fan is to simply look at the curve of the blades, the direction the air flows in will be the inside of the curve of the blades.

 

[winterwonderland]

Ok so..

1: heatsink/cooler - is that the silver metal thing (with a fan attached to it)? If so, is it this what you want me to turn 90 degrees so it faces the top fan?

2: yes, i currently have only 3 fans, as you can see on the photo above. Also, the gpu too has a fan, of course. Im not sure if Antec 300 lets you have a fan in front... it is a rather small/narrow cabinet... hmm...

3: i landed on a 140mm noctua fan to replace the top fan with the broken blade. But now i have one spare 120mm antec fan. Should i mount that one anywhere, or will these 3 fans do it?

4: wait.. the rear fan is now the previously mentioned 120mm noctua fan, but since i was told that i had to turn the fan the other way around (unlike in the photo), did i do it correctly, or?

 

[chuck216]

Ok so..

1: heatsink/cooler - is that the silver metal thing (with a fan attached to it)? If so, is it this what you want me to turn 90 degrees so it faces the top fan?

2: yes, i currently have only 3 fans, as you can see on the photo above. Also, the gpu too has a fan, of course. Im not sure if Antec 300 lets you have a fan in front... it is a rather small/narrow cabinet... hmm...

3: i landed on a 140mm noctua fan to replace the top fan with the broken blade. But now i have one spare 120mm antec fan. Should i mount that one anywhere, or will these 3 fans do it?

4: wait.. the rear fan is now the previously mentioned 120mm noctua fan, but since i was told that i had to turn the fan the other way around (unlike in the photo), did i do it correctly, or?

1. Yes it's the silver/metal thing, However I didn't realize the case has a top exhaust fan, the position it's in now will work fine.

2 and 3: The Antec 300 can fit a 120 mm fan in the front bays in front of the hard drives etc. as intakes.

4: If you changed it from the way it was in post 15 then you're fine.

The best way to remember is you generally want front-to-back flow through the case. So front fans intake and rear fans exhaust. The reason you want front-to-back is only because power supplies mount to the back of cases and exhaust their heat out the back. So to keep the air flowing in the same direction, you orient case fans for front-to-back too.

If you have bottom and/or top "blowhole" fans, you want to "work with nature" and help the heat rise out the top. So bottom fans should intake and top fans exhaust.

For heatsinks with fans that don't blow sideways, you want the fan to blow onto the heatsink as that directs the most force on the heatsink and creates the most turbulence across the heatsink (a good thing).

Note many, if not most fans are labeled or have molded in the plastic housing, two arrows. One arrow designates the direction of air flow, and the other the direction of fan rotation.

Bill, his particular case, the Antec 300 has a bottom mounted PSU and exhaust fand on the top and back. It's basically a budget slightly smaller version of the Classic Antec 900, his heatsink will work in either direction, though he might get more airflow over the memory and VRMs with a front top back config. But the HSF looks like a Hyper 212 which requires removing the motherboard and unscrewing the Backplate, etc. to changethe direction of the heatsink. He should be fine as long as he has both the rear and top fans set as exhausts.