[SOLVED] Are there standard types for CPU cooling units?

[monsterhart]

I don‘t know much about internet forums and such so I hope it’s okay to ask this here: My current computer is from 2008 so I have been building a custom PC over the last year or so. The motherboard is an ASUS M5A78L-M, and the CPU is an AMD Athlon II (Quad-Core; 3GHz).

The motherboard has a cooling fan brace and connection port in it, but I can’t find any information on there being an identification for the type of fans that work with the brace; or there even being types of fans. I found a list of supposed supported CPU fans for the motherboard, but the list included fans of all shapes and sizes. I don’t want to waste even more time than I already have getting wrong parts to try them just to return them and try again.

 

[kanewolf]

I don‘t know much about internet forums and such so I hope it’s okay to ask this here: My current computer is from 2008 so I have been building a custom PC over the last year or so. The motherboard is an ASUS M5A78L-M, and the CPU is an AMD Athlon II (Quad-Core; 3GHz).

The motherboard has a cooling fan brace and connection port in it, but I can’t find any information on there being an identification for the type of fans that work with the brace; or there even being types of fans. I found a list of supposed supported CPU fans for the motherboard, but the list included fans of all shapes and sizes. I don’t want to waste even more time than I already have getting wrong parts to try them just to return them and try again.

CPU cooling fans are categorized by two things. The amount of power (wattage) they can cool and the type of socket they are compatible with.
In you case, you want an AM2/AM3 (CPU socket) compatible cooler. Aftermarket coolers will often remove the metal brackets around the CPU socket and replace that hardware with something included in the cooler kit.

 

[geofelt]

Yes, good answer above ^^^^

May I ask that you list the make/model of all of the parts you now have and what you propose to build?
What will be the purpose of this build?

It is unlikely that using 2008 parts is going to be what you want to do.

What is your budget and where might you shop?

 

[monsterhart]

Yes, good answer above ^^^^

May I ask that you list the make/model of all of the parts you now have and what you propose to build?

What will be the purpose of this build?

It is unlikely that using 2008 parts is going to be what you want to do.

What is your budget and where might you shop?

Yeah Kanewolf’s answer was super helpful. I really appreciate it by the way. I’m looking into it now, and was going to reply once I found something or if I ran into another wall. At least now there are some cooling units that I know 100% will work, but some just say “AMD“ or “Intel and AMD” and don’t list a socket compatibility list, while similar more expensive ones do have a long list of compatible sockets, and I’m left wondering and researching on the one that has the best deal.

I’m not using any parts from the old computer, that’d be beside the point I think. I got all separate parts. I basically just looked for a cool chassis, checked what motherboards would work in it, got the best deal ($60 for the motherboard I got), then looked up every connection on the motherboard to see what I could put in it to go from there.

My budget is whatever’s cheapest that’s still good enough for software of today. I quantify the quality and use that divided from the price to determine the best deal. I’ve been getting everything on Amazon for the reliability, since almost everything I get from them works and I get a refund when it doesn’t. I tried sites like Geek, Wish, and Alibaba but despite having friends who got good deals there literally everything I bought was fake/scam or nonfunctional. Those friends got some scam items too, but it’s like acceptable gambling odds for them, where as given my luck I‘m just throwing money away for nothing.

I started this project back in 2019, so that’s when I got pretty much all of the parts. There are some things I still needed, but when I got that stuff the computer wouldnt turn on; so I didnt want to invest in anything else before I fixed it. I got time to look at or do research on it every couple months or so over the last 2 years, and only yesterday finally fixed it when I got some time after I woke up early yesterday (4AM) feeling energized and unplugged everything and carefully double checked connections. Turns out the issue was that I had the power button and such connected to the motherboard wrong. 🤦🏻‍♂️

I heavily researched the parts I have in detail; so I’m certain everything I have is compatible. Thus I’m thinking a short type list; rather than a book detailing specific parts; should be sufficient for you. I’ve already gotten the PSU, GPU, HDD, SATA DVDRW/CDRW, WiFi Card, SPDIF RCA, A Serial DB9 Pin COM with parallel DB25 Pin LPT Cable backplate, Fax-Modem Card, and a USB-A expansion (2 inputs) that I’m now kicking myself for not instead getting the USB-C (1 input) of roughly the same price that I had considered back then; since I got a tablet for my birthday this year that uses USB-C, and many other devices are coming out as USB-C nowadays.

However I’ve since cannibalized the 2TB HDD ($30) I got when a HDD failed on my old PC, and I’m rethinking about wether I should get another or a 512GB SSD (~$50). I also still need a cooling unit for the CPU (which inspired this thread), and there are only 2 fan inputs on the motherboard with 3 fans on the chassis; so I’ll need a splitter for the chassis fan input. The latter is simple and cheap, but I’m still trying to make sure the cool looking light up CPU cooling fan I found for <$8 will work for the socket. The chassis ($46) and PSU ($56) have light up fans, and its clear side panel will nicely display the CPU fan.

 

[geofelt]

Again, what is the make/model of the parts you have already bought?
No good suggestions can come from me without that info.
What will be the purpose of this build?
Such items as serial and parallel ports are uncommon and perhaps not necessary.

 

[monsterhart]

Well I said in the original post: My current PC is from 2008, so I have been building a custom PC to replace it. The biggest issue with it is that it’s an Apple Mac Pro. Which while still fairly powerful (Intel 3.2GHz 8-core, NVIDIA GTX 780, 26GB RAM, internal 512GB SSD + 3 internal HDD’s totaling ~7TB, et cetera), is intentionally crippled via software by Apple in their efforts to force their users to purchase new hardware every year or so.

Their OSs only work with software from the last 1 or 2 OSs they release, and they release new OSs every year (I think) making new and updated software stop working pretty quickly without an upgrade. Their new OS’s are also not allowed to be installed; and programmed to block the install of itself; on anything that is not an Apple Mac newer than a couple years prior to that OS’s release. Thus I am using an OS from like 2010 or something (El Capitan) and software from like 2012 (at newest) and can’t even browse the internet anymore because HTML and such has changed so much that it doesnt display properly on my outdated browsers. I’ve literally been programming my own software and modding old software to keep the thing functional, and I’m sick of it.

So this is my home computer, and I mainly use it for general life stuff. The GPU I could switch over and put the original stock GPU back into the Mac Pro. It’s a low-end gaming card, which I think will be sufficient for my needs. I do play games on the computer, but I’m not like a hardcore gamer or anything (can’t afford to be).

I basically just play a few games. Mainly Minecraft, which I also play on my tablet. Also Diablo II, not even Diablo III (didn’t like it). Which I can’t even fully update to play online because of the previously mentioned forced software limitations. Same situation with my other favorite game The Sims 3, it runs fine and TS4 was a downgrade in my opinion (lost the open world).

I write software in a text editor, and that’s not very demanding. I also work with spreadsheets and such, which should also run perfectly with the build I have. Also I already mentioned the make and model of the CPU and motherboard (which I pulled off it yesterday before putting the computer back in the storage closet), so I don’t think there’s anything else relevant to the CPU cooler. Like I said in the last message, these were mostly purchased in 2019. So I’d have to look through order histories to find the details; which would be easier than pulling the computer out of the storage closet and taking it apart to check everything; so considering the lack of possible help it would be for you it isn’t worth it.

Edit: Oh and the serial port is for my printer.