Would a PCI slot bracket mounted fan be the best way to cool an HBA card in a non-server case?

[BotchedIllusion]

I bought an LSI 9305-16i but it doesn't have a good place to securely mount a 40mm fan on the heat sink. Should I just mount an 80mm fan in a PCI bracket next to it? Thanks

[johnt]

It depends if the fan is blowing air in or out. A PCI mount would work very well as long as it is blow air to the card (not sucking it away and out of the case). I just have a fan loosely pointed at my card. 

 

Edit: I use a Noctua fan with the rubber feet around the edges. This prevents vibration and movement. A straight plastic fan that is lightweight might not work as well.

[Levent]

I have a 120mm fan ziptied on the case where it blows to my HBAs at an non optimal angle. After replacing the thermal paste, they run more than cool enough (+15c above ambient, way below their rated max temperature).

[OhioYJ]

You just need air flow on the card. A PCI fan mount will work. I've used a couple other methods before. In one case with a side vent I spaced a fan out to be closer to my HBAs:

 

 

In my current case I have some angle brackets mounted to the PSU shroud to mount a fan to:

 

 

[tkitch]

https://www.amazon.com/SCCCF-Graphic-Graphics-Cooler-Video/dp/B09298ST7K

 

one of those would do the trick

[mariushm]

The card's around 65-70 mm tall (including the edge connector)... a 60 mm fan would probably more suitable.

 

Couple examples ... 15mm thick, 4$ :  HA60151V4-1000U-A99 (if you want very low noise but very poor at static pressure, which don't matter with that heatsink) or 

the 8$ in between version (a bit more noisy, a bit more static pressure) MF60151V3-1000U-A99 or 8$ for the higher static pressure, higher rpm model MF60151VX-1000U-A99

 

This delta model also looks ok : AUB0612HHB-A

 

Ideally, I would drill 4 holes in the fins and use thin zip ties or plain solid core wire to attach the fan to the fins.

[twin_savage]

I've got a fan shroud model for the LSI 9306-24i, it might be possible to adapt it to clear the chunkier SFF-8643 connectors:

 

9306-24i baffle v4m.zip

[BotchedIllusion]

Thanks for all the different methods you’ve shared. I’m sure more that one of these methods will work for me.