Originally posted by Redfang
Faster fans are noisier. Also it's the heatsink what weighs, fans don't nearly as much. I'd say go for a quite big fan, or at least silent which keeps your system cool.
And it depends on the heatsink if it drops off. I think most (if not all, some are just very hard to install) have good enough attaching system.
if even one of the tabs on the socket A , 478, or other processor slot break off, the entire heatsink, fan, or whatever you've got connected, will fall of... thus causing the processor to overheat, or the thermal monitoring unit to cause the processor to slow down/shut off...
what i'm saying, (and all experts will agree) it's better not to put some massive 5000 RPM fan on it, thinking it will "keep it cool"... because it's not unusual for the tab to break off, the heatsink/fan falls off, and boom, the whole thing is gone.
Also, tehre's no point just having a fan. a heatsink can work on its own in older, slower processors, but for a new, fast, and hot processor, it's always good to have a heatsink AND fan
So no... i'd say don't go for a big fan, unless you've got some other way of holding it onto the motherboard... like tie it on with a metal wire to the case or something. like i said, if one of those tabs breaks off, kiss your processor, motherboard, and possibly house goodbye (if it catches on fire)
