How long do heatsink fans last?

[Guest]

Just wondering how many years do heatsink fans usually last? I've got
a 5-year old GlobalWin FOP32-1 heatsink with the original fan. I'm
getting a replacement Athlon CPU, and if the fan on that heatsink were
to suddenly stop working, that would obviously be bad. So should I
also get a new heatsink/fan, or should the FOP32-1 last for at least a
few more years?

 

[Conor]

Just wondering how many years do heatsink fans usually last? I've got
a 5-year old GlobalWin FOP32-1 heatsink with the original fan. I'm
getting a replacement Athlon CPU, and if the fan on that heatsink were
to suddenly stop working, that would obviously be bad. So should I
also get a new heatsink/fan, or should the FOP32-1 last for at least a
few more years?

THey can last 12 months or 12 years. It'll start making noises before
it fails.

 

[kony]

Just wondering how many years do heatsink fans usually last?

Depends entirely on the specific fan. A good quality fan,
well balanced, thick and relatively low RPM may last 20
years. Junk may not last 1 year... typiocally the worse are
10mm thick, post-3500RPM generic sleeve bearing fans.

I've got
a 5-year old GlobalWin FOP32-1 heatsink with the original fan.

Is it a YSTech fan? IIRC they commonly used them but they
ran at fairly high rpm. Fortunately they were slightly
better than average fans, MUCH better than the low-end
'sinks used. Presuming it's ball-bearing, you should hear a
significant increase in bearing whine awhile before it
fails, typically weeks if not longer befonrehand.

There's a lot of variation possible in how many hours of
on-time it had over 5 years though, some run a system a
couple hours a day but others 24/7.

I'm
getting a replacement Athlon CPU, and if the fan on that heatsink were
to suddenly stop working, that would obviously be bad. So should I
also get a new heatsink/fan, or should the FOP32-1 last for at least a
few more years?

The following pic shows a YSTech fan on one.
http://www.sweclockers.com/html/artikel/socket_a/big/fop32.jpg
but I dont' know the RPM, and that can matter.
Presuming a moderate RPM, say 3500 or less, odds are good
you can get several more years out of it. There are always
parts that last longer than they're supposed to or that fail
prematurely though, so if it's a mission-critical system it
would be prudent to replace it with same or better quality
fan. For typical PC uses, it should be a reasonable risk to
reuse it.

 

[Erick]

If your current fan ahs lasted 5 years, it will probably last another 5, so
long as you keep it cleaned out. The only real concern is that the current
heatsink/fan combo is sufficient for the new CPU you ware looking to get.

 

[Marten Kemp]

Just wondering how many years do heatsink fans usually last? I've got
a 5-year old GlobalWin FOP32-1 heatsink with the original fan. I'm
getting a replacement Athlon CPU, and if the fan on that heatsink were
to suddenly stop working, that would obviously be bad. So should I
also get a new heatsink/fan, or should the FOP32-1 last for at least a
few more years?

Get a new one. No guarantee that it'll last very long
but it's cheap insurance with a fancy CPU.

--
-- Marten Kemp
(Fix name and ISP to reply)
-=-=-
.... If a camel flies, no one laughs if it doesn't get very far.
-- Paul White
* TagZilla 0.059 * http://tagzilla.mozdev.org

 

[Guest]

Depends entirely on the specific fan. A good quality fan,
well balanced, thick and relatively low RPM may last 20
years. Junk may not last 1 year... typiocally the worse are
10mm thick, post-3500RPM generic sleeve bearing fans.


Is it a YSTech fan? IIRC they commonly used them but they
ran at fairly high rpm. Fortunately they were slightly

It seems to run at 4200 rpm, according to some sites.

better than average fans, MUCH better than the low-end
'sinks used. Presuming it's ball-bearing, you should hear a
significant increase in bearing whine awhile before it
fails, typically weeks if not longer befonrehand.

That's good to know.

There's a lot of variation possible in how many hours of
on-time it had over 5 years though, some run a system a
couple hours a day but others 24/7.

For the last 2 or 3 years I've had my computer on pretty much 24x7.

The following pic shows a YSTech fan on one.
http://www.sweclockers.com/html/artikel/socket_a/big/fop32.jpg
but I dont' know the RPM, and that can matter.
Presuming a moderate RPM, say 3500 or less, odds are good
you can get several more years out of it. There are always
parts that last longer than they're supposed to or that fail
prematurely though, so if it's a mission-critical system it
would be prudent to replace it with same or better quality
fan. For typical PC uses, it should be a reasonable risk to
reuse it.

I guess I'll try it, assuming I don't get higher than a 1.2 ghz cpu.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Fans are rated to last anywhere from 2-20 years, and signs of failure
include binding (spin by hand to check), whiring or roaring (bearing
wear; but can be hard to distinguish from noise generated by air),
chirping or squealing (both can be from inadequate lubrication or a
scored thrust bearing). I would replace a 5-year-old fan if its CPU
lacked foolproof overheat protection, and I'm afraid most 32-bit
Athlons lack it. www.tomshardware.com has a famous video showing this,
but some motherboard manufacturers, such as Asus, have implemented
protection they claim will protect even against sudden heatsink removal.