Optional Case Fans

There are a variety of types of case fans. They vary in many ways, from components, size, or mounting. We are going to break down case fans by the ways which they are attached to the system, as this is probably the easiest way to break case fans into subgroups. The first category that we are going to talk about is case fans that utilize a slot for mounting.

Slot fans

Slot fans go by a variety of names, but typically the word "slot" is thrown in there somewhere. Slot fans simply use one of your system's card slots for mounting. The obvious disadvantage is that it takes away a card slot. The fans don't actually plug into the slot, but take away the opening that the card screws into. These fans are found in good abundance, so don't think that if we don't mention it that it's not a good fan. In fact, there are many of these, and the quality tends to be pretty similar among these slot fans, because they are not nearly as specialized as CPU fans or video card fans.

80 mm slot fan - This type of slot fan is a good sized 80 mm fan mounted on a piece of metal which is held in place by the screws that hold your cards in place. It takes a whole slot up, and the 80 mm variety outputs about 30 CFM of air. Its function is to suck air in and shoot it out the back of your system. It is good if placed next to hot cards. The best example is next to a hot video card, but the problem is that most video cards are AGP now, which means that this guy is going to have to take the first PCI slot if you wish to configure your setup like that. These slot fans will almost always use a 4-pin Molex power connector (like the hard drive or CD-ROM type), and they are usually "pass-through" which means additional devices can be chained to them. These are sold by a lot of resellers, but here are links to a few of the resellers who specialize in cooling:

An 80mm case fan

2coolTek has it under the name "Just Cooler Slot Cooler", and it goes for $12.50 U.S.

Computernerd offers it as the "FAS80 Slot Fan". Their price is $16.50 U.S. They also have one other variety that is similar in the mounting and function, which is called the "FAS". This is an older model, though, and utilizes a 50 mm sleeve bearing fan, commonly considered to be worse than ball bearing fans. The FAS costs $9.95 U.S.

3Dcool has this fan as the "Super Slot Fan", and it goes for $16.00 U.S.

A & P calls it "System Cooler" and sells it at their factory store for $14.00 U.S.

Remember, these are just a few links to some resellers. Your favorite reseller is bound to have a similar product.