Customer Reviews

Antec Cyclone Blower Case Fan for Any Expansion Slot

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have a Compaq SR1820NX desktop which is a very quiet machine in most time. Only when it has run for quite a long time and it is hot in the room, the system fan will run at full speed and becomes very noisy. Since I added a 7600gs passive heatsink card, the system fan needs to work at full speed more often. So I decided to add an additional fan and place it directly beneath my video card. This fan is really poweful, you can sense the strong wind flow coming out from it. And since this fan helps a lot in circulting the air in the tower, my system fan never needs to work at full speed again. Another good thing is my video card temperature ranges from 55-73 down to 45-55. That's a big drop! The only complaint I have is the 28db is quite noticable and a little bit annoying especially when the room is quiet. Overall I recommand this product. If you own a passive heatsink video card and you plan to OC it, this is a must buy.

For those of you who work on your computer for extended hours, this system cooler is for you. Flowing at 42cfm(Cubic Feet per Minute), there is a lot of air to go around, literally!

This easy-to-install Cyclone Blower can cool a very decent sized computer case. I have it installed in my full tower case, and this fan can pack a punch against heat! I noticed a drop in temperature by 4 degrees. That's enough to combat deadly heat!

I think it is definately worth it to purchase this item and place one in each computer.

You can place this sucker right below your video card if you are a gamer(that video card can heat up!).

I popped this guy right in under my ATI Radeon card and it does a real nice job drawing the air out. I can't hear it at all. It was a great purchase for the price.

There's a vast amount of heat generated inside of a PC, especially if it's used for a lot of gaming and/or graphics activity. Add a few components such as an upgraded graphics card or sound card, and the temperature begins to climb even more. Adding extra RAM results in additional heat buildup. The original standard case fans help cool the system, but by and large they usually only provide basic airflow that's usually sufficient for the PC for which they were designed.

Heat erodes the life span of electronic components and devices. High case and component temperatures effectively making a PC more unstable and decrease the life of the components. If you increase air circulation, you will lower the case temperature. For cost-conscious shoppers and PC enthusiasts who want maximum bang-for-the-buck, use a cost-effective PCI slot fan. They work very well due to the fact that they exhaust the hot air directly out of the back of the case, instead of reticulating it.

Some of the best of these are the highly rated Antec Cyclone Blower Case Fan and the Cyclo PCI Slot Blue Led Fan from Thermaltake. Placing either of these in an open slot as close to a hot PCI video card or other high activity adapter board will usually give excellent results towards lowering the temperature inside of the computer case, and either is good for removing hotspots over PCI graphics cards.

If it appears that even more cooling is needed, usually due to the installation of a new video card, additional RAM and a new sound card as part of a full system upgrade, then the Thermaltake A2414 80mm Blue LED Dual PCI Slot Fan may prove to be the best overall solution. This fan installs in any two free consecutive PCI slots in the back of your case. This special dual-slot fan quickly and quietly removes hot air from a system case, prolonging the life of expensive components.

Though it doesn't exhaust the heat from the PC case, the Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card with Blue UV LED may prove to be another good solution, especially if it's placed in between hot graphics cards and sound cards. This Spectrum Fan Card serves a dual purpose of directly cooling any PCI/AGP cards surrounding it as well as providing better air circulation with two adjustable fans. This card works quite well with any of the above PCI cards as it's providing extra airflow while one of the other cards exhausts heat from the case.

Some of these cards feature built-in LED lights to light up the case while cooling it down, if that's your thing. Read the specs on each for more info.

Before you begin installing any of these cards, make sure your existing fans (and the rest of your components) aren't full of dust, because that will increase the temperature. In short, get rid of the dust bunnies before you start.

To install any of these cards, just find an empty PCI slot next to your video card, slide it in, screw it in, and plug the power cable into a free Molex connector (the one that plugs into the hard drive). Better yet, RTFM - read the fine manual that comes with each card!

One or more of these cards will not only keep your system temperatures down, but will assist in preventing dust and other particulate matter from settling and building up inside your PC. Any of these should help cool your computer... and help you keep your cool as well.

I have to say, the fan does have some noise to it, butnot enuf to be objectionable. It does the job well. I use it in poorly designed cases (such as the older Compaq Presarios) where there was never enough ventilation and there is no spot for a regular case fan. Place the fan as far up the motherboard's PCI slots as you can, heat rises and it seems to do a better job up there. If you want to cool your vid card, this is the perfect fan.

I had been having a problem with my computer running really hot, so for quit awhile I had been operating my PC with the cover off. That helped the cooling but exposed my PC to dirt and the noise level was high. I decided to get this fan because I could place it in a vacant slot right under my video card. My only concern being that it may interfere with the video cards fan and damage the cards fan, but that doesn't seem the case so far. Time will tell.

I read someone is having noise problems with this fan. I haven't had any problems with noise so far (no buzzing like my video fan does at start up) and my computer is a lot quieter since I can put the cover on. Thats a load off my ears.

I would say you are safe with this fan if you can spare an empty slot to put it in.

I bought this product in December 2007 and it was working great, I used it for my video card, but after six months of use, it started to make a big noise due to dust accumulation, and the rpms reduced notably. It stopped working after seven months of use. I have a vantec PCI fan in other PC, and have been working for over two years and no problems.

Tried to clean this fan, but it come in a sealed case, so it is not possible. Really did not like this product. Really short lifetime.

This is the 2nd time I have bought this product, as the first I had purchased finally went out after almost 6 years of non-stop running. For only 10-15 bucks, it was still quite a deal and lasted a good long time in a slightly dusty environment(even with ill-regular/monthly cleanings).

This fan is great, it took all the heat from my graphics card and blew it out the back of the case instead of just moving it around the inside, which greatly reduced the heat in the case and made the computer run faster in the process. I will never use case fans alone again!

This blower uses a turbine instead of fan blades, a novel idea. I installed the blower with my PC lying on its side, with the thin side of the blower facing up. However, when I placed the case upright, the unit began emitting a dreadful noise.

I kept changing the orientation of the case -- upright, noisy; on its side, quiet. So I removed the blower and noticed that when I pressed the rear label, the noise stopped. I removed the label and discovered that the blower rattles unless its shaft is pressed in.

Evidently, the label wasn't seated firmly and therefore wasn't pressing hard enough on the shaft. Gravity did the rest. I solved the problem by cutting a piece of tin the same size as the label and gluing it over the area surrounding the shaft with contact cement.

The blower comes with two Molex sockets, which is fine if you have compatible plugs in your PC. I don't. One of my other fans, a Vantec Stealth, came with two Molex and two three-pin connectors, which facilitated installation. Why don't all fan-makers include two types of connectors?

As far as the fan's functionality, it ejects a fair amount of hot air, enough to cause a 15-degree (F) drop in temperature at the graphics card. I give this blower 3 1/2 stars -- less one star for what I consider a design defect and half a star for not including alternative connectors.