CPU cooling question

[FuriaRi0T]

I have a Scythe Infinity heatsink on my Conroe.... And the stock fan that came with it. I've bought a couple of 120mm aftermarket fans, that put out a HUGE amount of air. This fan has a 12v plug (sense it's a case fan) but it appears to have a 3 prong plug with only one wire coming out of it. I'm assuming this is a speed controler... Would it be possible to use this fan in place of the Scythe's cooling fan?

I.E. Could I plug the three prong into the MOBO for speed control, while the fan itself is powered from the power supply?

 

[Arcygenical]

the 3 pin is NOT a speed controller.

It's the Tachometer. It will REPORT RPM's but it CANNOT change them.

As for swapping the fans... With any of the large HSF's there's a really steep cost/benefit curve with major diminishing returns.

Most of those large HSFs (Noctua, Tuniq, Ninja and Infinity) only get a few extra degrees (2-3c) when going from a 40cfm fan to even an 80cfm fan.

If your temps are too high as it is, you should TRY it. Or, you could put the stock fan and your other fan on opposite sides, and run them both at 5v. That should help while remaining acceptibly quiet.

 

[FuriaRi0T]

Well, I have one of these fans in the exhaust port in the back of my case. The heatsink is large enough that it's RIGHT next to this... And on the right side of the heatsink I have the 40cfm fan blowing towards the exhaust... To get a perfect airflow (While my 2 250mm fans keep the case itself cool)

I was just curious about it because it would help keep the case itself cooler, in turn keeping the rest of the computer cool. But it's not really a big deal.

 

[Zero82z]

If you've already got a better fan, you might as well stick it on. The Scythe Infinity benefits more from a higher-flow fan than the Ninja does, but it still won't make that drastic a difference. However, if you've already got the fan, you may as well use it.