Cooling Fans

[MLM]

I recently had a hard-drive die on me and had it replaced with a larger/faster hard-drive.
It seems that since I had that done the system seems to be running hotter (as in heat) than before.
I don't stress the system like my wife and kids do but they tell me they gets hangs and sometimes even lockups. It seems the common factor in all the hangs/freezes is the heat.
Thinking I may want to add some cooling fans.
The only fans that I know of in my system is the one in the power supply and the one hanging atop the processor. Bout twice a year I do open the case up and blow the dust out but evenso I'm thinking more cooling is needed.
How hard is it installing a fan or two? What do I need to look for inside the case to determine if it would even be possible? What do I need to look for in the fan itself? I have a drive slot free on the front and a couple of card slots in the back. If it means anything the processing unit sits inside of the cabinet under the computer desk. Should I first consider taking the computer out of the cabinet and putting it somewhere in the open? Really don't have the space to do that and inside the cabinet is such a good spot for it.
One thing I worry about when installing a fan that whether I have it push or pull that it'll draw more dust into the case causing more trouble.
Any feedback?

[unixglocker]

Attack the top of the case with hole saw or a jig saw and slap a fan on top of that. They used to call it a blow hole. unsure if it's still the cool thing to do but it's the fastest cheapest thing with the best results.

[MLM]

I'm not even sure if there's a plug available to plug a fan in at. Where would I find such a creature in the case?
Inside the case there are miscellany cords and cables with nothing plugged into the end of them. How would I know I got the right cable. Are fan plugs idiot-proof?

[fastvfr]

There should be 'headers' on the mobo itself, three-pin outlets that look just like the one the CPU's HS fan attaches to.

Most case fans use the Molex plug, which has both the male & female versions of the plugs that come from the power supply.

Get a can of air (as is used for cleaning cameras and such) and your worries over dust buildup will be gone. Hint: unplug the PC and do the inaugural cleaning OUTSIDE if the dust is thick!

NOTE: Using the air by itself helps a great deal, but every 3 months or so (and I just did this yest. AM) you should remove the fan from the CPU heatsink (NOT on a newer Athlon or P4 with factory cooling, though-the HS will come off of the CPU if you try this with that design).

There are always a few little 'bunnies' in there under the fan or hiding between the fins that will only come out with the four screws removed and the fan out of the way.

I think a blowhole is the simplest solution, too. But make sure all of the mounting points in the case have fans as well. It sounds like you are using just the power supply's fans for ventilation. And as you can see, that isn't enough.

By the way, the accepted fan-placement standard for case cooling is: Front-Intake; Side-Intake; Top-Exhaust; and Rear-Exhaust.

Any fans installed to those locations need to be aimed properly or they'll just cancel each other out and cause more troubles due to the power they use from the PSU.

Best regards,

FastVFR

[chevrofreak]

I have just a few fans in my system. All of them 80mm.

I added two to cool the hard drives (the wires and switch you see dangling there) and my HD temps dropped from 46 degrees to 26.

Yes thats an 80mm fan glued to my video card :P

I get so damned tired of these midget fans burning out that I just replace them with big ones.