Vantec SK-5026FD Socket
7/Socket 370 Cooler
Last updated: 1/6/2000
 The Vantec
SK-5026FD socket 7/socket 370 Cooler or CPU fan characterizes
what one should be looking for in the way of a device to prevent a CPU
from frying:
1. Ball bearing fan. Cheap fans with
only sleeve bearings have no place in your computer. Most sleeve bearing
fail within the first year of operation, and some fail sooner. The
two other common types of bearings are one ball with a sleeve and two ball
bearings. This product uses the Y.
S. Tech FD12507B-1A fan. It has a one ball with a sleeve bearing
which gives it a rated life expectancy (Y.S. Tech's specs) of about
50,000 hours (almost six years of constant use). A two ball bearing
fan would last, if you believe the specs, about 80,000 hours (about nine
years).
2. Lots of quite air. The fan measures
50X50X10 mm. It blows 12.2 Cubic Feet of Air per Minute (CFM) towards
the CPU. You can really feel if coming out the sides of the heat sink. This
fan runs quite, emitting about 30 dB of noise.
3. Not too big! Bigger is not
always better... For awhile we used oversized (60 mm) CPU fans for
socket 7 computers thinking that the larger the fan (and heat sink), the
cooler the CPU (and, of course, bigger has to be better). That's not
always true. This fan keeps a 400 Mhz K6-2 at about 96°F/36°C in an
open case at room temperature and no thermo grease, while one of the large
fans (without a thermo pad) runs it about 4°F warmer. This is far below
the 140°F/60°C maximum CPU case temperature specified in the AMD
K6-2 Processor Data Sheet (I wouldn't run a K6 hotter than 100° or
so degrees on a hot summer day; the CPU might take 140°F; the motherboard
more than likely won't). The disadvantage with the larger fans we have used
is they usually have more mass and inferior clamps and, thus, a nasty way
of popping loose from the socket during shipment. During one shipment
(I am tempted to name the shipper), one came loose with such force that it
sheered one of the capacitors off an Epox
MVP3G-M motherboard.
 4. RPM
sensor circuit. The FD12507B-1A is a "3-pin
fan" which plugs into the motherboard. It, of course, has
three wires. The red one is for 12 Volts DC to power the fan, the
black one is a common ground, and the yellow one is connected to a transistor
circuit in the fan. The transistor circuit produces a series of pulses
with a frequency which is proportional to the fan speed. In other
words the fan has a built in tachometer output. If your motherboard
has a monitoring chip with an RPM input and a BIOS which supports it, the
fan speed can be monitored and an alarm can be set for a dead fan or low
fan speed (see the Epox
motherboard reviews, Motherboard
Monitor Lite, and USDM).
5. Thermo-conductive pad. One of these
pads is on the bottom of the heat sink where it comes into contact with the
CPU. Although thermo-grease provides the best heat-conducting medium
because it more effectively fills in microscopic scratches and indentations
on the CPU and heat sink mating surfaces, a thermo-conductive pad is
usually satisfactory for existing (as of 1/4/2000) socket 7/370 CPU's and
eliminates the mess caused by thermo grease.
6. Easy fan replacement. If, however,
you are a fanatic and want to scrape-off the thermo pad and " glue" the
heat sink to the CPU with silicon thermo-grease, the fan is easily removed
from the heat sink, for separate replacement, by unscrewing four plastic
screws. You won't have to pry the entire assembly off the CPU
(which can be quite difficult) if the fan goes bad.
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