Is it ok to remove heatsink fans?

[ahenderson]

I'm building a server and the heat sink fans that came with the Xeon processors are too tall to fit the Air Duct on. I try to connect the air duct, but the fans on the heatsinks block it.

I think I may remove the processors' heatsink fans so that I can put the air duct on. My justification for this is that the processor box says on the back that it is designed for multiple sized units and it can work on 3U units that don't have air ducts and the processor can work with a 1U unit without the fan installed...so I guess if the back of the box says that not having the fan works with a 1U unit then it is ok to remove it? Its questionable because no where else in the documentation or anything else does it hint about not having the fans... its just that one small sentence...

I don't know, it just doesn't seem right to remove them... are they absolutely necessary? What do you think? Please help!

 

[Net Jockey]

Removing a heat sink fan is a recipe for disaster. Personally I am at odds as to how you could even consider such a thing...but (for your sake) I am glad you asked.

If you remove the fan...what in the world...would you think would cool the processor?

Or am I not understanding you correctly?

 

[Ghostman 1]

You better keep them on and find another solution to your problem... If you remove the heat sink and fans you will have a serious problem.. More than likely, you will FRY your MOTHERBOARD......In other words,by removing the heat sink and fans you will have a Nice BOAT ANCHOR....

 

[Pimp]

Only certain heatsinks are designed to work with or without fans so i recommend you leave your fan where it is.

 

[zeus]

I turned my Celly 450 on once without the fan plugged in. The CPU starting smoking so much smoke was seen blowing out the back! The CPU didnt actually die but I took it out and binned it. The whole PC still worked and still does now.

Like Pimp suggested, get a proper silent cooling method.

 

[ahenderson]

Well, there are some pretty big hotswap fans that are blowing into the air duct over the processor and memory. They are pretty heavy duty... the fans that I was removing are the ones that sit on the actual heatsinks themselves... I'm not removing the heatsinks and there are heavy duty fans blowing over the processor and memory...

I'm removing the ones like these that sit on the heatsinks:

But I have fans like this blowing into the air duct over the processors and memory...

 

[donkey42]

it sounds like your making sure it doesn't overheat, but, as the other guys said be very wary about removing the CPU fan or heatsink

i also agree with Pimp & Zeus, try & locate a better & smaller possibly more efficient

 

[stefdorran]

the case fans shouldn't be blowing air in, if anything they should be blowing hot air out. am i right in saying this? don't know about server pc's but thats the way it is in gaming.

 

[Net Jockey]

the case fans shouldn't be blowing air in, if anything they should be blowing hot air out. am i right in saying this? don't know about server pc's but thats the way it is in gaming.

I believe that you are right...That is the way my rig is working...With the exception of the fan in the front which is blowing cool air over the hard drive. Other than that I have three fans that are removing the hot air from my computer...Plus the the fan that cools the heat sink on the processor.

We need to be careful...when we are attempting to create the wheel...It is so easy to get carried away.

 

[zeus]

Yeah, exhaust is better than intake/induction. Like the above post says.... an intake towards the HDD is well worth having. Those 3.5" bay fans are good too. I used have an intake blowing towards the CPU HSF and an exhaust directly behind keeps a good flow of cool air over the CPU.