CPU fan Replacement

[mike4784]

So heres my problem, One of my computers I built a few years ago continually overheats. The alarm sounds every few minutes under minimal load, my parents use it to surf the internet and play solitaire. I took a look at the fans and heatsinks and cleaned out the dust. I notices that the bracket that holds the fan and heatsink to the processor has a broken tab. Now I am shopping for a new fan and bracket. I have a 1.8ghz pentium 4 478pin Northwood processor and all the replacement fans I have found use the stock bracket. Can anyone recommend a fan that uses an aftermarket bracket or comes with a replacement. My budget is about $25. Thanks in advance.

[HAVOC]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835133009 is about all that looks promising. A bit over your budget, but for how it's made, probably a good price. This review (http://www.modthebox.com/review485_2.shtml) goes over how it installs on mPGA478 CPUs, and it does replace the bracket. Most everything else uses the stock bracket.

The mobo maker could probably provide a replacement bracket, one would think.

[IndyGunFreak]

Originally posted by mike4784
So heres my problem, One of my computers I built a few years ago continually overheats. The alarm sounds every few minutes under minimal load, my parents use it to surf the internet and play solitaire. I took a look at the fans and heatsinks and cleaned out the dust. I notices that the bracket that holds the fan and heatsink to the processor has a broken tab. Now I am shopping for a new fan and bracket. I have a 1.8ghz pentium 4 478pin Northwood processor and all the replacement fans I have found use the stock bracket. Can anyone recommend a fan that uses an aftermarket bracket or comes with a replacement. My budget is about $25. Thanks in advance.

$25? Well, whatever you get, its not gonna be very good. It might be cheaper to spend $50-60, rather than $25, 2 or 3x.

I have no experience with the model fan Havoc posted, but I would try to stick with Thermaltake, as I've not had problems with them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106024

Or if you can spring a few dollars more, this one has some pretty good reviews...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835112011

IGF

[HAVOC]

Originally posted by IndyGunFreak
$25? Well, whatever you get, its not gonna be very good. It might be cheaper to spend $50-60, rather than $25, 2 or 3x.

I have no experience with the model fan Havoc posted, but I would try to stick with Thermaltake, as I've not had problems with them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106024

Or if you can spring a few dollars more, this one has some pretty good reviews...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835112011

IGF


ThermalTake is mediocre, at best, and the one you linked uses the standard 478 clips, so it won't work in this instance.

That big Alpha is kick-ass, and bolts right to the board so it'll solve his broken clip trouble. That Delta fan is a howler, though. Strictly for a geek box. Either need to replace it, or put a controller on it.

Neither of them are in-stock. You can find the Alpha at Plycon (http://www.plycon.com/cpuc/an_pal8942.htm) for $25, but it'll need a fan. That's another $12-$15. The bare sink doesn't have transfer compound, either. Another $2. It really is an awesome heat sink, but massive overkill on a 1.8 in a mom-box. You'd also have to disassemble the PC, as it through-bolts to the motherboard.

I've never worked with the one I linked, either. It looks like a faily reliable knock-off of the Zalman coolers, which are excellent. The only thing that concerns me is the fan. When it dies, it's not a normal form-factor, so replacing it might be an issue.

[IndyGunFreak]

Yeah, my mistake. I missed the part about the broken clip.

I've never had a problem with Thermaltake. Actually, I've rarely had problems with CPU fans period. I think the only one thats ever died on me, was one that came with a Compaq Pentium II(and what spurred me to learn to build my own)

Coolermaster supposedly makes some pretty good ones to, but I don't recall ever using one.

Good luck...

IGF

[HAVOC]

Originally posted by IndyGunFreak
Yeah, my mistake. I missed the part about the broken clip.

I've never had a problem with Thermaltake. Actually, I've rarely had problems with CPU fans period. I think the only one thats ever died on me, was one that came with a Compaq Pentium II(and what spurred me to learn to build my own)

Coolermaster supposedly makes some pretty good ones to, but I don't recall ever using one.

Good luck...

IGF

T-T is the only cooler I've ever had a catastrophic failure with. And I've had two. Both times a blade came off of the fan. Nothing died but the fan, but boy did it make a racket. Eventually every fan will die, but the heat sink should be OK, and MOST of the time the fan is easy to replace.

[mike4784]

I think I'm going to get the one from nMEDIAPC. Thanks for the link on the installation as well. I did look for a replacement bracket from ABIT but they were $8 and ebay had them for $2 with $5 shipping so I figured get a replacement bracket with the new fan. The bolt through heatsink would be nice but I want to get this fixed as soon as possible. Thanks for all the suggestions.