Replacing a Dell Dimension 8100 CPU fan.
Being the non-soldering type, I finally got around to replacing sweetie's CPU fan.

Sweeite has a Dell Dimension 8100. The CPU fan in this model has a custom connection to the motherboard. It's a 3-pin connector, but it's not the usual 3-pin connector, and as such is a now "out of print" custom Dell part.

(Yeah, I don't know why they thought that was a good idea either.)

This fan has a problem where it begins to wear out and sound like a helicopter. Not good.

If you disconnect the fan, you get a beep+"Fan failure. Press F1 to continue." every time you boot, which sucks even if you replace the fan with a standard one.

The solution was to use an Antec TriCool 92mm fan. The Antec comes with a 3-pin connector (not Dell compatible) with a Y-cable that breaks it out into a "hard drive" style power plug and a 3-pin connector with only the sense pin connected.

Plug the large power plug in, then use pliers to remove the plastic sheath over the custom 3-pin motherboard connector. Plug only the sense fan pin to the exposed pins; it's the one the white wire was connected to.

The end result: A quieter fan that moves more air anyway.

Since none of you actually care, this is mostly for the benefit of Googlers. Don't spend $40+ (wtf?) on a NOS Dell fan, just get the $8 Antec.