PC Hardware - Fans?

Question

Without opening the PC Cabinet, is it possible to know:

(1) How many Fans are there in my PC?
(2) Which one is working and which one is not?
(3) What is the ideal RPM rate of PC Fan?
(4) What is the normal threshold temperature inside a PC?

Answer 1

Its not the most brilliant method of counting your fans, but yes it can be done by visually verifying the fans existence and through deductive reasoning.

(1) Add up 1 Power supply fan,1 CPU fan, and probably 1 GPU fan (video card)..so far 3 fans..now take a flashlight and look through the front grill of your computer if you have one. See any blades moving right in front of you? If yes, add 1 fan(note: there may be more than one per front and back). If no, move flashlight to back of computer and do the same for the back (don't add the Power supply fan again). Total up your fans.

(2) You can visually inspect your case fans and your Power Supply fan for functionality. If the GPU fan wasn't working you would begin to notice some graphical display problems or computer shutdown followed by no visual display. If your CPU fan was not functional, then your computer would be dead by now or working towards death, slow or fast depending on processor type and surrounding environmental conditions.

(3)Ideal RPM rate of PC fan is dependent on the fan size, how much air it can move, how much heat your processor puts out, and how big your heat sink is. It is hard to determine that, but the bottom line is keeping your processor at a target temperature well below the point of damage.
http://www.heatsink-guide.com/maxtemp.shtml

(4)CPU thresholds were given in that last link. The case temperature should be low enough to prevent the CPU threshold from being exceeded. The lower the better. If you go below the dew point then you need to provide proper moisture protection since dust contains minerals and combines with dew to short out circuits.

It is highly suggested that you do open the case to visually inspect your fans to clean out dust buildup. The #1 enemy of all electronics is dust, that includes hairballs, lint, and fine particles that settle throughout your case.

Answer 2

If you are using something like a Gateway or something, those usually come with the standard CPU fan and the back fan. I don't see any reason why you want to know which one is working and which is not, but supposedly, if the CPU one stops working, you will know, because your motherboard will be fried already. The same thing goes to the one in the power supply.

Without opening the case, if you want to see if the back one is working, just put a dollar bill or something near it and see if it blows.

Normally computers run at a temperatue of 30+ºC and when you're gaming it goes up to about 40~50ºC; and with just the one fan in the back it's sufficient enough to keep your computer cool from f*ing up. Yet if you are a modder or gamer or feel that your computer is constantly crashing due to overheating (usually over something like 70~85ºC), you can always add more fans inside. There should be room for a fan or two in the front of the case where the HDDs are. And if your case is somewhat new it should come with the one on the side panel.

Hope that helps~

Answer 3

Not really, You most likely have two.
1 in the PS & 1 on the Processor

Answer 4

it's possible if you have certain system management software installed, properly configured and running without any problems and of course assuming all the necessary hardware sensors are in place and fully functional...

alternatively some kind of x-ray scanning device could tell you

otherwise, no, not possible..

Answer 5

you have to open it up. you need as many as you can hold imo. i have 5 + 1 built into my video card. i had 6 but had to remove one for the slot space. heat is the number one killer of computers.