# Diagnosing loud PCs- fan replacement for a specific Dell PC **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404 "2005-01-06T16:32:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/21 "2005-02-01T16:02:02Z")
Thanks for this info- I’ll try it out tonight when I get home. So, these proprietary power supplies- is there no 3rd party quality, quiet psu that would do the job, or am I stuck? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/22 "2005-02-01T16:02:28Z")
As a matter of fact, I just installed the fan last week. It’s on a series of clips. The old one just slid out and the new one snapped in. It was a breeze (no pun intended). It’s run beautifully since, no noise, no nothing. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/23 "2005-02-01T16:06:15Z")
> [@smoke](#): > > That’s an interesting solution. Could you please expand it to explain how: 1) I go about fitting a 4-pin connector into a 3-pin receptacle (which, near as I can tell, is affixed to the motherboard) 2) this resolves the problem of totally differently-shaped fittings? > > Honestly- maybe I’m missing something here; it wouldn’t surprise me at all. It doesn’t need to be plugged into the motherboard, it just needs power. Plug the fan connector and a free 4-pin connector into the adapter. If you don’t have a free 4-pin, the adapter is pass-through. Unplug one from a drive, plug the adapter into the drive, and the connector you removed into the adapter. ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/24 "2005-02-01T16:10:13Z")
Cool (also, no pun intended)- thanks for the update. I may have to bite the bullet on this one and pay the vig to Dell. ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/25 "2005-02-01T16:24:31Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > It doesn’t need to be plugged into the motherboard, it just needs power. Plug the fan connector and a free 4-pin connector into the adapter. If you don’t have a free 4-pin, the adapter is pass-through. Unplug one from a drive, plug the adapter into the drive, and the connector you removed into the adapter. Ah! This actually makes sense now! I believe, from your description, that the adapter IS a pass-through- I was wondering why it was built the way it is, but I disregarded it at the time as being “spare parts” that I wouldn’t be needing. Thanks much! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/26 "2005-02-01T17:32:06Z")
> [@smoke](#): > > Thanks for this info- I’ll try it out tonight when I get home. > > So, these proprietary power supplies- is there no 3rd party quality, quiet psu that would do the job, or am I stuck? PC Power & Cooling has Dell-specific power supplies. The have a [lookup tool](http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/selector/dell.htm) where you plug in the particular model number of your PC and they’ll tell you which one you need. Just one of the several reasons I dislike Dell - the power supplies they use are \*\*mechanically \*\* identical to standard PSUs but the \*\*wiring \*\* is wildly different. Sure, they use the same 5 volts, 12 volts, etc as industry-standard, but on different pins, so you’re guaranteed to destroy a lot of hardware by using a non-Dell PSU. ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/27 "2005-02-01T18:05:28Z")
That’s perfect- I will definitely be checking that more closely when I get home. It’ll be nice to have a quiet machine again. And I think I’ve gotten to the point that my next PC will be a custom job- whether or not I assemble it myself. I don’t really knock Dell- their machine has performed just fine- but I think I’m at a point in the learning curve that I am ready for a more customizable and lean machine. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404/28 "2005-02-01T18:17:08Z")
**smoke** , Kind of late in telling you this, but you should’ve just gone to the Dell Community Forum with your original question. Just do a search on “Dimension 8100 fan” or “8100 noise”. There, you’ll find a lot of very knowledgeable users (who owned Dim 8100s!) with their advice based on their actual experiences. I happen to own a Dell Dim 8100 since 2001. With some upgrades along the way, it’s been a real workhorse and is still going strong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diagnosing-loud-pcs-fan-replacement-for-a-specific-dell-pc/283404.md?page=1)