I split the DIP into two 4-pin SIPs, soldered wire to one, and then tried running the fan with a 9v battery. It wouldn't.
Idea: over.
I did, however, have another, closer look at the motherboard. Lo and behold, mirabile visu, what did I see but another fan connector on the opposite side of the motherboard from the one I've been using?
In the past year I have been having an increasing amount of trouble with seeing things up close. I need bifocals, so it took me a few moments and a flashlight to figure out that the plug was labeled "FRONT FAN".
...the fan does not even turn when plugged in there. *whimper*
The rear case fan, when I turned the power on, began ramping up its speed until it was fain to howling. On the other hand, that noise is at least muffled by being under the desk, in back.
But it was getting on towards therapy time, so I had to table the matter and put the computer in sleep mode.
Mail came just as I was getting ready to go out the door, and what was in the mail but my Kindle? Chuckling, I took it with me so I could open the box and fondle it with minimal delay.
...therapy...
Now the computer's been running for a good 10 minutes while I started this blog post and ate the burrito I picked up for dinner from Super Burrito!, and the computer has thus far remained nice and quiet.
We'll see if this continues.
In any event, the heat sink/fan combo has to go back to CompUSA relatively soon, so I get to make that drive again. They're predicting 4-8 inches of snow, so it will probably not be tomorrow.
The auxiliary fan I put in the expansion slot has blue LEDs that light up when it's on. This is completely invisible from outside the case. Maybe I ought to put a window in the side panel so one can see the blinkenlights...if he's under the desk.
As for the Kindle, it's cold-soaked pretty thoroughly. I need to let it warm up for at least 4 hours (8 would be better) before I even try turning it on.
Neat thing: the e-ink screen is displaying an instruction to plug the thing into a computer's USB port to charge it. Nice: no sticker needed, because e-ink only uses power when the image is being changed.
I'll write more about it when I've had a chance to fiddle with it.
* * *
Oh: while at CompUSA I saw a really awesome computer case. It had a SATA drive dock built into the top of the case, so you could just hot-swap in an SATA drive if, for example, you wanted to back something up.
If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to build a bitch of a machine...and it'll have to be in a different room because it'll require so much f-ing cooling. *sigh*