Screws for prosessor fans

**optimizer** · July 7th, 2008, 11:45 PM

Are the screws used for attaching processor fans made or of any special material and have a special thread? Where can you obtain them in vaious lengths (or can you get them at hardware stores)?
Thanks

**slgrieb** · July 8th, 2008, 12:27 PM

optimizer, the short answer would be that no, there really isn't anything "special" about the screws used to attach a fan to a heatsink. But if you are trying to find a match for an existing screw, or an existing threaded fitting, I doubt you'll find it at a hardware store. You'll need some place that carries a decent assortment of metric stuff. If you need a replacement for a lost screw, for instance, your best bet is to take one of the mates to a nut and bolt supply and have them measure it and stick a pitch gauge on it to get a match.

Frankly, though, I'm finding your question so general that I'm having a hard time with a specific answer. Hope this helps, anyway.

**NooNoo** · July 8th, 2008, 02:05 PM

Well if the US will insist on imperial instead of metric...

But they are just ordinary self tapping screws, as long as the length and width is right, the guage of the thread is irrelevant.

**optimizer** · July 8th, 2008, 02:42 PM

It's a tradition NooNoo, tradition. You UK folks all know about traditions...

Well, if it's not an aluminum screw and anything can be used, I have hundreds in the shed, and you can be sure the one I want will be the only one I don't have, as usual. Probably quicker just to head to the HWS.

Thanks!

**Guts3d** · July 8th, 2008, 05:06 PM

That is exactly why I have always cannibalized the junk machines before disposing of them. I must have 5 pounds of assorted screws and jumpers, etc. Someday I might even sort them into piles...

**optimizer** · July 15th, 2008, 12:51 AM

Well, I'm not as advanced as that. I still have all the parts, but still as machines. No cannibals here. I suppose I must currently be more of a museum type.
Anyway, lock up that scrap metal. We're apparently not too many years from it being a valuable target for the scrap metal melters association.

The shed had some 3 to 4 inch screws of an almost exact style (a wise purchase a decade ago), so I just cut them off to the length needed. The cooling plate thing had thin sheet metal for them to screw into, just as NooNoo had mentioned. Nothing high tech about the fasteners at all, cheap and dirty more like.