The life of a sleeve bearing fan is the lowest compared to fans with other bearings mentioned below.īall Bearing – In ball bearing fans, the bearings used are smooth metallic balls and they are much reliable and have a greater lifespan compared to sleeve bearing case fans. This lubricant reduces the friction and once it gets leaked or evaporates then the fan will stop functioning and can make a loud noise. Sleeve bearing fans uses a lubricant (oil or grease) for bearing that sits between the fan shaft and the inner surface of the fan. Sleeve bearing case fans are the cheapest case fans available in the market. Sleeve Bearing – This is the most widely used bearing in most case fans. Here are the various bearing types for case fans for PC with their explanation, advantages, and disadvantages. There are various types of bearings used for case fans which can affect their performance, loudness and lifespan. Case Fan Bearing TypesĮvery fan needs bearing to reduce friction and rotate freely. PWM is a more efficient way to control and vary fan speed rather than by modifying voltage levels.
If the temperature of the motherboard rises then the fan control software can increase the fan speed and vice versa.
PWM fans are controlled by the motherboard and windows software like SpeedFan.
At 100% duty cycle, the fan will operate at full speed. More is the duty cycle, greater will be the fan speed and lesser duty cycle means lower fan speed. These fans run on 12V voltage continuously and their speed is controlled by the control signal pin by varying duty cycle. These fans come with a 4-pin PWM connector where two pins are for power, one for recording RPM and one for PWM or controlling fan speed by sending a control signal which is a square wave. The speed of these fans is controlled by a method called Pulse Width Modulation. PWM Fans – PWM Fans are intelligent and advanced fans whose speed can be controlled electronically. In regular fans, you can use 3-pin to 4-pin converter or 4-pin to 3-pin converter to convert from one connector to another. You can control or vary the speed of these fans using an external fan controller which can vary the voltage to the fans and make them spin faster or slower. The connector may also offer a 4-pin Molex / 3-pin connector pass-through depending on the case fan manufacturer, but most of the normal case fans come with a 4-pin passthrough. The 4-pin Molex connector connects directly to the PSU and the 3-pin one connects on the motherboard.
These case fans come with a 4-pin Molex connector or a 3-pin motherboard connector. Regular / Basic Fans – These are generally single-speed case fans having fixed RPM in most of the cases.
There are generally two types of case fans on the basis of connector types. Types of Case Fans on the Basis of Connectors Here in this post, I am going to tell you all about the computer case fans and also list down the best case fans for your computer case. Bigger fans are generally quieter in operation and offer larger airflow compared to smaller sized case fans which are generally noisy because of their higher RPM (Revolutions per minute). The number of mount points for case fans can vary from one computer case to another. Here 80mm, 120mm, and 140mm refers to the diameter of the fan. Generally, Full-Tower and Mid-Tower cases support 140mm and 120mm fans while 80mm fans generally find their place in Small Form Factor Cases or mini-ITX cases. The most common case fan sizes are 80mm, 120mm and 140mm.
Some cases support bigger fans and some support smaller sized fans. Computer case fans come in different sizes depending on the fan support for a particular case.
To increase the airflow inside your case you can use case fans and install them at proper locations or mount points inside your PC case. As you know that all of your computer components reside in the computer case and they can become very hot if there is not good ventilation and airflow inside your PC case. PC Cooling is an important aspect of a computer whether it is a gaming PC or a normal desktop PC. Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site!) (*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase through the links I provide (at no extra cost to you).