Can the Thermalright XP-120 be used with a 120mm Nexus fan?

Cooling Processors quietly

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
Sgt_Strider
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:49 pm

Can the Thermalright XP-120 be used with a 120mm Nexus fan?

Post by Sgt_Strider » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:38 pm

According to the SPCR Review, it can't. Is this right? Or I need to modify the fan in order for it to fit? Btw, I have the orange Nexus 120mm fan if that helps.

vitaminc
Posts: 306
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:11 am
Location: Silicon Valley, California

Post by vitaminc » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:41 pm

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart ... rticID=220

You need to either cut the corners or obtain a different fan mount.

burebista
Posts: 402
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 12:05 am
Location: Romania

Post by burebista » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:34 pm

We have a guide for Nexus 120 fan corner cutting here on SPCR. ;)

Sgt_Strider
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:49 pm

Post by Sgt_Strider » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:53 pm

So the easiest solution would be to buy a panaflo fan since I wouldn't need to modify it to use it?

lenny
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 1642
Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 10:50 am
Location: Somewhere out there

Post by lenny » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:21 am

IIRC the Panaflo 120mm fans are 38mm thick, and the corners, although open, has a thicker flange (is that the word?) - or whatever you call the part where the metal clip is supposed to go over to hold the fan to the XP120.

There should be plenty of choices. I used something really low speed by CoolerMaster. I suspect it is a 24V fan sold as a low speed 12V fan.

len509
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2004 12:28 am
Location: Central U.S.

Post by len509 » Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:47 am

vitaminc wrote:You need to either cut the corners or obtain a different fan mount.
No sense getting a new fan, the Nexus would be perfect.

Tzupy
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1561
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:47 am
Location: Bucharest, Romania

Post by Tzupy » Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:49 am

Cutting fan corners is risky, since it's possible to ruin the fan in the process - that is to get extra noise.
There is a top flange clip from Thermalright, but I can't buy one :evil:, the importer I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about.
Maybe if a SPCR reviewer would tell TR to add those top flange clips to their standard package they would listen.
The alternative is to use open corner fans, Papst has some IIRC.

JVM
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1564
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2003 8:44 pm
Location: USA

Post by JVM » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:48 am

Sgt_Strider

You can use the Nexus fan without modification using these clips

Fat_bloater_dave
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 288
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 10:39 am

Post by Fat_bloater_dave » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:05 am

I know i may be talking maddness but you can just clip the Nexus onto the XP-120 without any modding or useing diffrent Clips you just put the clip in one side of where the holes would be. ive had mine like this for about 8 months and has been moved and taken in a car a few times and its never fallen off.

dhanson865
Posts: 2198
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:20 am
Location: TN, USA

Post by dhanson865 » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:13 am

Seems like I remember Jabtech or some other site offering a scythe 120mm low or medium RPM fan for $5 shipped by itself or even less when bought with a HS of any kind. Yeah, Jabtech has the DFS122512LS listed as out of stock right now.

Nexus is good stuff but it isn't the only game in town.

Nexus 120mm orange or black/white are: 1000 RPM and 36.87CFM at 12v
Scythe DFS122512LS is: 1200 rpm and 45.07CFM at 12v

It's not a huge difference and undervolting will get it down low enough that if you are running a typical system you might not notice the difference.

Dunno if they'll get it back in stock or not...

zenboy
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:25 pm

Post by zenboy » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:42 am

Tzupy wrote:Cutting fan corners is risky, since it's possible to ruin the fan in the process - that is to get extra noise.
How could one cause the fan to get noisier by clearing the corners?

Tzupy
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1561
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:47 am
Location: Bucharest, Romania

Post by Tzupy » Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:19 am

1) lose some rigidity of the frame, resulting in increased vibration.
2) mishandle the fan and damage the bearings.

fyleow
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:23 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by fyleow » Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:05 am

Fat_bloater_dave wrote:I know i may be talking maddness but you can just clip the Nexus onto the XP-120 without any modding or useing diffrent Clips you just put the clip in one side of where the holes would be. ive had mine like this for about 8 months and has been moved and taken in a car a few times and its never fallen off.
I have done this with my Thermalright SI-120 and the Globewin 120mm fan that has closed corners. It works just fine.

Mick
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 4:17 pm

Post by Mick » Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:16 pm

Sorry to hijack, but is it possible to use the 120mm chassis fan from a 3700BQE on an xp120 until my nexus comes in?

Post Reply