A fan for cooling the internal space of a computer or the central processor is called a cooler. On especially powerful PCs, the installation of an additional cooler is a must. Higher temperatures can affect the overall stability of the system. The temperature inside the case is higher than the ambient temperature, and a cooler is used to circulate the air.

You will need a cooler, it comes in different sizes - from 4 to 12 and even 25 cm! But if you have a simple personal computer, two standard sizes are suitable - 8 or 12 cm. It already depends on your goals. Disconnect your computer from the network. Open the side cover system unit, there is a place for a cooler on the back wall. Attach the fan using the bolts. At the end of the cooler, arrows indicate the direction of rotation of the impeller and the direction of flow. Install so as to achieve the desired effect - drawing in or out of air. Now you need to connect it for it to work. To do this, determine what to connect it to. Depending on which connector you bought the cooler with, connect directly to the power supply or to motherboard... Recently, coolers have been sold immediately with adapters for 2 types of connectors. The plug has protrusions or cut edges, this is done so that the installation is correct, without short circuits. Connect directly to the plug from the power supply via the PC plug connector. This connector connects hard disks, DVD-ROMs, etc. If there is an adapter or a hybrid connector, the cooler is connected in sequential order: Device - Cooler - Power supply. There is also a MOLEX connector for connecting to the motherboard, it looks like a small block with 2-4 wires. The different number of wires depends on the functions of the cooler. Two-wire, the most simple circuit- black minus (in all variants minus is indicated in black) and red plus. Three-wire - minus, plus and speed sensor. Four-wire - minus, plus, speed sensor and speed control. The latter connection scheme is used mainly for coolers installed on central processors. They are expensive and have a narrow specialization. We need a two- or three-wire cooler, with a constant RPM. Connecting the cooler directly to the motherboard has its advantages, the rotation speed is controlled automatically, depending on the temperature inside. There are free connectors on the motherboard, they are signed: SYS_FAN, CPU_FAN or CHA_FAN1. The lettering may differ, but the designation FAN (cooler) will be required. We attach a narrow fan block to this connector. We connect, observing the polarity. This is where curly protrusions and truncated corners on the connectors come in handy. Be careful not to move other plugs. The fan inlets and outlets must not be covered or touched by the impeller.

It's no secret that when a computer is running, all of its electronic components heat up. Some elements get very hot. The processor, video card, north and south bridges of the motherboard are the warmest elements of the system unit. Overheating is generally dangerous and leads to an emergency shutdown of the computer.

Therefore, the main problem of the entire electronic part of computing is proper cooling and efficient heat dissipation. The vast majority of computers, both industrial and home, useair cooling... It gained its popularity due to its simplicity and cheapness. The principle of this type of cooling is as follows. All the heat from the heated elements is transferred to the ambient air, and hot air, in turn, is removed from the case of the system unit with the help of fans. To improve heat dissipation and cooling efficiency, the hottest components are equipped with copper or aluminum heatsinks with fans mounted on them.

But the fact that heat is removed by air movement does not mean at all that the more fans are installed, the better the overall cooling will be. Several incorrectly installed fans can do much more harm than solve the problem of overheating, when one correctly installed fan can solve this problem very effectively.

Choice of additional fans.

Take a good look at your computer before purchasing and installing additional fans. Open the case cover, calculate and find out the dimensions of the mounting places for additional case coolers. Look carefully at the motherboard - what connectors it has for connecting additional fans.

Choose the largest fan size that suits you. For standard cases, this is 80x80mm. But quite often (especially recently) fans with dimensions 92x92 and 120x120 mm can be installed in cases. With the same electrical characteristics, a large fan will run much quieter.

Try to buy fans with more blades - they are also quieter. Pay attention to the stickers - they indicate the noise level. If the motherboard has 4-pin connectors for powering the coolers, then buy exactly four-wire fans. They are very quiet and have a fairly wide range of automatic revs.

Between the fans receiving power from the power supply viaMolex connectorand working from the motherboard, definitely choose the second option.

Fans on real ball bearings are available for sale - these are the best option in terms of durability.

Installation of additional fans.

Let's take a look at the basics of properly installing case fans for most system units. Here we will provide tips specifically for standard cases, since non-standard fan arrangements are so diverse that it makes no sense to describe them - everything is individual. Moreover, in non-standard cases, the dimensions of the fans can reach up to 30cm in diameter.

There are no additional fans in the chassis.

This is the standard layout for almost all computers sold in stores. All hot air rises to the top of the computer and is forced out by a fan in the power supply.

The big disadvantage of this type of cooling is that all the heated air passes through the power supply, heating it even more. And therefore, it is the power supply unit of such computers that breaks down most often. Also, all the cold air is not sucked in in a controlled manner, but from all the slots in the case, which only reduces the efficiency of heat transfer. Another disadvantage is the rarefaction of the air obtained with this type of cooling, which leads to the accumulation of dust inside the case. But still, it is in any case better than improper installation of additional fans.

One fan on the back of the case.

This method is used more out of hopelessness, since there is only one place in the case for installing an additional cooler - on the back wall under the power supply. In order to reduce the amount of hot air passing through the power supply, one fan is installed, working to "blow" out of the case.

Most of the heated air from the motherboard, processor, video card, hard drives comes out through an additional fan. And the power supply heats up much less. Also, the total flow of moving air increases. But the sparseness increases, so the dust will accumulate even more.

Additional front fan in the case.

When the case has only one seat on the front of the case, or it is not possible to turn on two fans at once (there is nowhere to connect), then this is the most ideal option for you. It is necessary to put on "blowing" one fan on the front part of the case.

The fan must be installed opposite the hard drives. And it would be more correct to write that the hard drives need to be put in front of the fan. So the cold incoming air will immediately blow over them. This setup is much more effective than the previous one. A directed air flow is created. The vacuum inside the computer decreases - dust does not linger. When additional coolers are powered from the motherboard, the overall noise is reduced, as the fan speed decreases.

Installing two fans in the case.

The most efficient method of installing fans for additional cooling of the system unit. On the front wall of the case, a fan is installed for "blowing", and on the rear wall - for "blowing":

A powerful constant airflow and directional flow is created. The power supply unit works without overheating, since the heated air is removed by the fan installed under it. If a power supply unit with a variable speed fan is installed, then the overall noise will be noticeably reduced, and more importantly, the pressure inside the case will equalize. The dust will not settle.

Incorrect installation of fans.

Below are examples of unacceptable installation of additional coolers in a PC case.

One rear fan is set to “blow in”.

A closed air ring is created between the power supply and the auxiliary fan. Some of the hot air from the power supply is immediately sucked back inside. At the same time, there is no air movement in the lower part of the system unit, and therefore the cooling is ineffective.

One front fan is set to “blow out”.

If you put only one front cooler, and it works for blowing, then you end up with a very low pressure inside the case, and ineffective computer cooling. Moreover, due to the reduced pressure, the fans themselves will be overloaded, since they will have to overcome the back pressure of the air. The computer components will heat up, resulting in increased operating noise as the fan speeds increase.

The rear fan is for “blowing in”, and the front fan is for “blowing out”.

An air short circuit is created between the PSU and the rear fan. The air around the central processor works in a circle.

The front fan tries to “lower” the hot air against the natural convection rise, working under increased load and creating a vacuum in the casing.


Two additional coolers are for "blowing in".

An air short circuit is created at the top of the housing.

At the same time, the effect of the incoming cold air is felt only for hard drives, since then it gets into the oncoming flow from the rear fan. Overpressure builds up inside the chassis, making it difficult for additional fans to operate.

Two additional coolers work for "blowing".

The most severe duty of the cooling system.

There is reduced air pressure inside the case, all case fans and inside the power supply operate under suction back pressure. There is not enough air movement inside the air, and therefore all components work overheating.

These are, in principle, all the main points that will help you in organizing the correct ventilation system for your personal computer. If there is a special plastic corrugation on the side cover of the case, use it to supply cold air to the central processor. All other installation issues are resolved depending on the structure of the case.

Unfortunately, the work of any electronics is accompanied by the generation of heat. There is no escape from this, no one canceled Ohm's law, and the current, flowing through various electronic devices, causes them to heat up. Due to the design features of modern electronics, all central processing units (CPUs) require the connection of a cooling system (CO) to dissipate the heat generated on them.

This system consists of a heatsink with a large surface area (tens or even hundreds of times larger than the surface of a CPU crystal) and a special fan that blows this surface to accelerate heat transfer. Another name for such a fan is a cooler. Sometimes a cooler is called the entire CO, but this is not entirely correct. Let's consider how to connect a cooler to a motherboard (MP).

Installing a cooler

As a rule, CO is a single structure. Indeed, individually, each of its elements is absolutely useless: a radiator will not be able to provide a sufficient heat transfer rate, and a fan designed for a specific cooling system is difficult to apply elsewhere.

Installation of CO on the CPU is carried out using special clips designed for a particular type of socket.

Important! Typically, COs are designed for a particular type of socket. That is, it is physically impossible to install the CO intended for the s-1151 socket on the s-2011 socket. You should pay attention to this when purchasing CO.

After the CPU and the corresponding CO are installed, the latter must be connected to the power supply. Usually, the power connector for the cooling system is located on the motherboard, but there is a certain unpleasant moment here.

The fact is that there can be several such connectors on the MP. They are absolutely identical (they consist of four pins and have a key for correct connection), however, we are only interested in the one that is intended for the processor.

Important! Currently, all motherboards have a CPU thermal overheat protection system. In this case, the control of the CO rotation frequency is carried out using a special control channel located on the power connector. If the CO is connected incorrectly, the motherboard simply will not be able to control its rotational speed.

How can you determine which of the power connectors you need to connect the processor fan to? It's very simple: it is always signed on the MP backing. It can be called like this: CPU-fan, CPU-cool, etc. The main thing here is the presence of the abbreviation CPU (central processing unit).

How to connect additional fans to the motherboard

In some cases, the computer will require additional ventilation. This may be due to the increased temperature inside the system unit. To improve the cooling of the system unit, the motherboard has additional connectors for connecting cables of several additional coolers.

Typically, these fans are installed on the front and rear panels of the system unit and work to create a flow of air directed in a certain way. At the same time, the device on the back wall blows out the air, and on the front wall it sucks in. Thus, an inflow of fresh cold air and an outflow of "waste" warm air are created.

The connection of these devices is carried out using the remaining power connectors on the MP. They may not have the ability to regulate the speed, but it, in fact, is not needed. These coolers operate at standard speeds of 1000, 1200 or 1500 rpm.

The connectors for connection are also labeled on the motherboard substrate. Usually, they are called System-fan, Chassis-fan, Front-fan, etc.

Some MPs have functionality for controlling the frequency of these coolers. However, users traditionally set their rotational speed to the minimum allowable value. The efficiency of the additional ventilation system, both at high speeds and at low speeds, is practically the same, but the noise level is significantly lower.

Temperature directly affects the quality and duration of the computer components. That is why it is important to control the literacy of the cooling system. Dust should not accumulate in it, all computer fans must work normally, increasing the speed if necessary during serious loads.

Most of the users work at the computer in standard mode, without loading components in productive games and applications. At the same time, the coolers on the computer may not be configured, and in such a situation they will work at maximum or close to maximum speed. To reduce the noise when the computer is running, you need to adjust the operation of the coolers by lowering the rotational speed of their fans.

How you can adjust the speed of computer coolers

The rotation speed of the computer cooling fans is initially set at the motherboard level. It is determined in the BIOS, and quite often the automatically set settings turn out to be incorrect. In most cases, the rotational speed of coolers is set to maximum, which is why the computer makes a lot of noise during operation, but does not need such serious cooling.

There are 3 main ways to adjust the rotation speed of computer coolers:

Within the framework of this article, we will consider the third option for software adjustment of the rotational speed of computer coolers.

How to adjust the rotation speed of computer coolers

There are hundreds of applications that allow you to adjust the rotational speed of your computer's coolers. However, some programs allow only the fan speed control of certain components.

One of the most convenient and simple programs for adjusting the rotation speed of computer coolers is SpeedFan. The app is free and can be downloaded from the developers website or other trusted sources on the internet. After downloading the program, you will need to install it, and then run it. When you start SpeedFan for the first time, an informational message may appear that needs to be closed.

Checking the rotational speed of coolers

This is followed by a block of indicators of the rotational speed of coolers (measured in RPM - the number of revolutions per minute) and the temperature of the computer components. Let's figure out what each of the indicators means:

It should be noted that all of the above designations are indicative and may vary. Not every motherboard gives information about the name of a particular connector for connecting a cooler on it. For example, on some motherboards in SpeedFan, you can see the picture as in the image below, that is, all coolers will be connected to the Fan1 - Fan5 connectors, without specifying the purpose of each of them.

It is also important to note that the SpeedFan program only allows you to control the coolers that are connected to the motherboard. The fact is that the 3-pin connector from the fan can be powered from the motherboard or from the power supply directly. If it is powered from a power supply, then it will not work to regulate its rotation speed. It is recommended to connect all coolers to the motherboard.

To the right of the designations of the rotational speed of coolers is a block with information about the temperature of computer components. It should be noted that SpeedFan is not the most accurate diagnostic tool in this regard, and it does not always accurately determine the temperature. If you have doubts about one or more indicators, it is recommended to download more professional temperature monitoring software, for example, AIDA64 or HWMonitor.

Adjusting the rotation speed of coolers

As you can see, in the upper window of the SpeedFan program there are blocks with information about the operation of coolers. Below are the tools for adjusting the intensity of rotation of the fans in the computer. They can be designated Pwm1 - Pwm3 or, for example, Speed01 - Speed06. There is no particular difference, since it is impossible to determine by such names which cooler a particular adjustment is responsible for.

To decrease or increase the rotation speed of the cooler, you need to press the corresponding buttons up and down in the columns with the fan rotation intensity. When pressed, observe the reaction of coolers in the diagnostic information above. Thus, it will be possible to determine which fan is responsible for this or that setting.

Important: When lowering the rotation speed of the fans to reduce the noise level during the operation of the computer, do not forget to control the temperature of the system unit components to avoid overheating.

Every house has accumulated a lot of computer fans: coolers from the processor, video card and PC power supplies. They can be replaced with burnt ones, or they can be connected to the power supply directly. There can be a lot of applications for this: as a blower in hot weather, airing the workplace from smoke when soldering, in electronic toys and so on.

Fans usually come in standard sizes, of which the 80mm and 120mm coolers are by far the most popular. Their wiring is also standardized, so all you need to know is the pinouts for the 2, 3 and 4 pin connectors.

On modern 6th or 7th generation motherboards intel processors As a rule, only 4 pin connectors are wired, and 3 pins are already a thing of the past, so we will see them only in older generations of coolers and fans. As for the place of their installation - on a power supply unit, video adapter or processor, this does not matter, since the connection is standard and the main thing here is the pinout of the connector.

4 pin cooler wire pinout

Here, the rotation speed can not only be read, but also changed. This is done using a pulse from the motherboard. It is able to return information to the tachogenerator in real time (the 3-pin is not capable of this, since the sensor and the controller sit on the same power supply branch).

Cooler connector pinout 3 pin

The most common fan type is 3 pin. In addition to the minus and the 12-volt wire, a third, "tacho" -wiring appears here. It sits directly on the sensor leg.

• Black wire - ground (Ground / -12V);
• Red wire - plus (+ 12V);
• Yellow wire - revolutions (RPM).

Pinout of wires of the cooler 2 pin

The simplest cooler with two wires. The most common colors are black and red. Black - working "minus" of the board, red - 12V power supply.

Here, the coils create a magnetic field that causes the rotor to spin within the magnetic field created by the magnet, and the Hall sensor estimates the rotation (position) of the rotor.

How to connect a 3-pin cooler to a 4-pin

To connect a 3-pin cooler to a 4-pin connector on the motherboard for the possibility of software speed control, the following diagram is used:

When a 3-wire fan is directly connected to a 4-pin connector on the motherboard, the fan will always rotate, because the motherboard will not be able to control the 3-pin fan and adjust the fan speed.

Connecting the cooler to a power supply unit or battery

To connect to the power supply, use the standard connectors, but if you need to change the number of revolutions (speed), you just need to reduce the voltage supplied to the cooler, and this is done very simply - by rearranging the wires on the socket:

So you can connect any fan, and the lower the voltage, the lower the speed, respectively, the quieter its operation. If the computer is not very hot, but very noisy, you can use this method.

To power it from batteries or accumulators, just feed the plus to the red, and the minus to the black wire of the cooler. It starts to rotate already from 3 volts, the maximum speed will be somewhere around 15. It is impossible to increase the voltage more - the motor windings will burn out from overheating. The current consumption will be approximately 50-100 milliamps.

PC cooler device and repair

In order to disassemble the fan, you need to remove the glued nameplate from the side of the wires, opening access to the rubber plug, which we extract.

Let's pick up a plastic or metal half-ring with any object with a sharp end (office knife, watch screwdriver with a flat slot, etc.) and remove it from the shaft. The gaze opens a motor powered by direct current on a brushless principle. On the plastic base of the rotor with the impeller, an all-metal magnet is fixed in a circle around the shaft, on the stator there is a magnetic circuit on a copper coil.

Then clean the hole under the axle and drop a little machine oil there, put it back, put a plug (so that the dust does not get clogged) and use the already much quieter fan further.

All such fans have a brushless rotation mechanism: this is reliability, efficiency, quietness and the ability to adjust the speed.

In modern coolers, the connectors are much smaller, where the first contact is numbered and is a "minus", the second is a "plus", the third transmits data on the current rotation speed of the impeller, and the fourth one controls the rotation speed.