|
Antec 80mm LED Cooling Fan Review |
|
Written by Don Lee
|
|
Saturday, 09 September 2006 |
 If you have ever built your own computer, you know that it gets pretty
hot inside of your case. Depending on the design of your case, you can
add a number of cooling options to help keep your system working at its
best. Recently, I had some computer issues and I needed to find some cooling options for my computer case.
I had just built a new computer and I had some shutdown issues with my new ABIT KW7 motherboard. After searching for information online, I discovered that all of my components were probably generating too much heat for the system to handle. I was using the stock cooling fan and heatsink on my AMD AthlonXP 2800 processor and that was mistake.
After downloading a freeware temperature-monitoring program called Sensors View, I discovered that my processor was running at around 65-70 degrees Celsius, my system case at 62 degrees Celsius and my two hard drives at around 60 degrees Celsius. Apparently, this was way too hot and I needed to find some ways to cool those system components down or I risked destroying everything.
The first thing I looked into was cooling fans. I had four 80mm openings in my case (two in the front and two in the back). I was wondering how I can going to get power to all of these extra cooling fans with only a single Molex power connector available on the power supply.
During my search, I came across the 80mm Antec LED cooling fans. The one thing that got my attention was the open-ended Molex connector. This was important because it allowed me to be able to piggyback multiple fans off of my one available Molex connector. This sounded good to me so I picked up four 80mm, blue Antec LED fans.
The installation of these fans couldn’t be easier. First, make sure you have the fan pointing in the desired direction (intake if on front of case or exhaust if placed at back of case). Once you line up the screw holes, you can begin to thread one of the four screws that come with the fan. The screws are a little difficult to install manually with a screwdriver. Luckily, I had an electric screwdriver that did the job in a matter of seconds.
Once the fan is installed, just connect the fan’s power connector to your power supply’s Molex connector. You will notice that the other end of the fan’s power connector is open so you can add additional fans to it.
After completing the installation, then power up your computer and check your system temperatures. I noticed an immediate drop in temperatures as my processor dropped to around 47 degrees (52 under load), system case down to 45 and my hard drives to around 40.
This is a dramatic decrease that will help keep my system running smooth for a long time. The fans average about 2700-2800 RPMs, which is good enough to keep system cool but not fast enough to generate fan noise. These fans are so quiet that you won’t even remember that you installed them. Plus, the cool blue LED light created by the fan makes you system look pretty “cool.”
I would strongly recommend these 80mm Antec LED cooling fans to you BYOB enthusiasts. The 80mm Antec LED cooling fans earn 4.5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.
You can learn more about these Antec LED fans from the company website at http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77042
- 3 LEDs (available in blue, red, green and multicolor)
- Size 80 x 80 x 25.4 mm
- Weight 71.5 gm
- Fan Speed 2,600 rpm (avg.)
- Volumetric Airflow 34 CFM
- Acoustic Noise 30 dBA (at average rpm)
|
