Jump to content

Is it OK to replace a 92mm fan in a pre-built Dell PC with any other 92mm fan, or is it restricted?

hsjj3
By hsjj3
in Cooling
 Share
Posted

My PC is 3.5 years old, and I believe the case fan that exhausts air out of the PC is getting pretty loud. It's a basic case fan in the Dell PC, a 92mm fan. This is it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiron-660-SUNON-37-5-CFM-Case-Fan-EE92251S3-D020-C99-OEM-0X755M-A-GLP-/401007715553

 

Now, my question is, would it be possible to change this to something else? I can see there are many other quieter 92mm case fan models that are capable of moving more CFM.

 

Or, am I restricted to only switching to the exact same model that came with the PC?

 

This case fan is connected to the motherboard by a 3-pin connection.

 

Also, another question of mine is that, typically, how long does it take before a case fan loses its effectiveness (such as making more noise when spinning at a certain RPM)?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Go ahead. It's fine. :D It'd be a bit dumb to get a less efficient fan but otherwise it's all the same, what you get. Noctuas are nice and silent. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

You can replace it, no problem. As far as I know (might be horrible wrong though) fans shouldn't actually get any louder, since the blades that produce the sound don't change over time. 

 

PSU tier list // Motherboard tier list // Community Standards 

My System:

Spoiler

AMD Ryzen 5 3600, Gigabyte RTX 3060TI Gaming OC Pro, Fractal Design Meshify C TG, 2x8GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200MHz, MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max, Samsung 850 EVO 512GB, 2TB WD Blue, Corsair RM850x, LG 27GL83A-B

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
2 minutes ago, martward said:

You can replace it, no problem. As far as I know (might be horrible wrong though) fans shouldn't actually get any louder, since the blades that produce the sound don't change over time. 

 

They will get louder as more and more dust accumulates on the fans, making them heavier. However, if he has non-PWM fans he should replace them because fans running at 100% speed all the time are incredibly loud.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
1 minute ago, martward said:

You can replace it, no problem. As far as I know (might be horrible wrong though) fans shouldn't actually get any louder, since the blades that produce the sound don't change over time. 

 

Hmm, I can most certainly say my fan has gotten louder when spinning at 1200RPM at idle. Now, this may be a placebo effect or due to some other factor, but I am inclined to believe this is the case.

 

Regardless, even if my above observation is not true and perhaps it isdown to the fact only recently I have started paying much attention to this...most "branded" case fans should be quieter than the one that came in the Dell right? I'm looking at some Cooler Master, Arctic and Noctua fans on Amazon that have got good reviews. Only thing is I cannot get the dBa rating of my current fan.

 

And just to confirm, will this new fan be able to be regulated automatically by temperature as my current case fan is?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
2 minutes ago, Lehti said:

They will get louder as more and more dust accumulates on the fans, making them heavier. However, if he has non-PWM fans he should replace them because fans running at 100% speed all the time are incredibly loud.

 

No my fan is PWM. It runs based on temperature. I do clean out the fans and take out the dust every few months.

 

I had read somewhere that these fans get "noisy" over time due to lack of lubricant...not sure how true is it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
2 minutes ago, Lehti said:

They will get louder as more and more dust accumulates on the fans, making them heavier. However, if he has non-PWM fans he should replace them because fans running at 100% speed all the time are incredibly loud.

Yeah okay, if you never clean them... :P

If OP has a PWM port than it would certainly help to replace it, if possible with a bigger fan since they usually spin on a lower RPM.

PSU tier list // Motherboard tier list // Community Standards 

My System:

Spoiler

AMD Ryzen 5 3600, Gigabyte RTX 3060TI Gaming OC Pro, Fractal Design Meshify C TG, 2x8GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200MHz, MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max, Samsung 850 EVO 512GB, 2TB WD Blue, Corsair RM850x, LG 27GL83A-B

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
1 minute ago, hsjj3 said:

No my fan is PWM

 

11 minutes ago, hsjj3 said:

This case fan is connected to the motherboard by a 3-pin connection

3 pin fans always run at 100%. what you can do is get a noctua fan and use the lna or ulna adaptor to run at 50%~75% max speed

Altair - Firestrike: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/13945459

CPU:  i7-4790 @ 3.6 GHz Motherboard: Gigabyte B85M-DS3H-A RAM: 16GB @ 1600MHz CL11 GPU: XFX RX 470 RS Storage: ADATA SP550 240GB | WD Blue 1TB | Toshiba 2TB PSU: EVGA B2 750W Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro Fans: Phanteks PH-F200SP (Front) | Phanteks PH-F140SP (Rear) | Noctua NF-A15 (Top)

Mouse: Logitech G502 | Keyboard: Corsair K70 MX Brown | Audio: Sennheiser HD 558

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
4 minutes ago, DrM said:

 

3 pin fans always run at 100%. what you can do is get a noctua fan and use the lna or ulna adaptor to run at 50%~75% max speed

I think you can regulate the speed by regulating the voltage. At least that's what the fan controller in the Define R4 does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
1 minute ago, Lehti said:

I think you can regulate the speed by regulating the voltage. At least that's what the fan controller in the Define R4 does.

yeah thats how fan controllers work. but OP has a dell prebuilt, which i highly doubt has any control over fan speed

Altair - Firestrike: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/13945459

CPU:  i7-4790 @ 3.6 GHz Motherboard: Gigabyte B85M-DS3H-A RAM: 16GB @ 1600MHz CL11 GPU: XFX RX 470 RS Storage: ADATA SP550 240GB | WD Blue 1TB | Toshiba 2TB PSU: EVGA B2 750W Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro Fans: Phanteks PH-F200SP (Front) | Phanteks PH-F140SP (Rear) | Noctua NF-A15 (Top)

Mouse: Logitech G502 | Keyboard: Corsair K70 MX Brown | Audio: Sennheiser HD 558

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
6 minutes ago, DrM said:

 

3 pin fans always run at 100%. what you can do is get a noctua fan and use the lna or ulna adaptor to run at 50%~75% max speed

 

1 minute ago, Lehti said:

I think you can regulate the speed by regulating the voltage. At least that's what the fan controller in the Define R4 does.

^^That, with 3 pin motherboard headers, it literally just does that, regulate the voltage to control the fan speed :P 

Looking at my signature are we now? Well too bad there's nothing here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What? As I said, there seriously is nothing here :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
7 minutes ago, DrM said:

yeah thats how fan controllers work. but OP has a dell prebuilt, which i highly doubt has any control over fan speed

 

Dude, I am telling you, the fan speed is dependent on my TMPIN1 temperatures. It goes up in increments of around 200RPM from 1200RPM when idle all the way to 2200RPM when I am gaming under maximum graphics load.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Ok guys, and just to confirm, will this new fan be able to be regulated automatically by temperature as my current case fan is?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

I would really appreciate some help here. Lots of conflicting information.

 

To repeat, I have a 3-pin case fan currently that is regulated by the motherboard temperature of TMPIN1.

 

What fan can I buy to replace this and at the same time still get it regulated by the motherboard temperature of TMPIN1?

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
13 hours ago, hsjj3 said:

I would really appreciate some help here. Lots of conflicting information.

 

To repeat, I have a 3-pin case fan currently that is regulated by the motherboard temperature of TMPIN1.

 

What fan can I buy to replace this and at the same time still get it regulated by the motherboard temperature of TMPIN1?

Thanks!

You can buy any 3pin fan. Your motherboard uses voltage based control on that fan. It isn't as accurate as PWM would be, but works. If you are unsure still, post pic of mobo fan header or fans end of that header, so we can see wires. But as you can see rpm on software, I'm pretty sure its normal PWR,GND,RPM.

^^^^ That's my post ^^^^
<-- This is me --- That's your scrollbar -->
vvvv Who's there? vvvv

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

All I can say is, Speedfan detects the case fan as PWM2. This is why I thought it is a PWM fan. But it is definitely a 3-pin fan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
22 hours ago, hsjj3 said:

All I can say is, Speedfan detects the case fan as PWM2. This is why I thought it is a PWM fan. But it is definitely a 3-pin fan.

In Speedfan PWM doesn't mean same as real PWM. I'm not sure what its supposed to mean. But it says same thing to my 3 speed controller chips. From which only 1 has true PWM control.

^^^^ That's my post ^^^^
<-- This is me --- That's your scrollbar -->
vvvv Who's there? vvvv

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Thanks fo the information then good sir!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Cooling

×