How do I find out which fan will fit my motherboard?

Question

I have a MSI k9n6gm motherboard. It looks like this:

http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1872#

As you can see, the fan's holes aren't really in a square; it's more of a rectangle. After asking a TigerDirect representative, I tried a fan. It didn't fit and I'm going to get a return/refund.

Now they're suggesting this one:

Masscool 5F9001B1H3 CPU Cooling Fan - Socket 939, 940, AM2, AM2+ (I can't post more than one link, it's on TigerDirect)

Since they failed me once, I want to investigate on my own this time. How does one find fans that will fit their motherboard?

Answer 1

The cooling fans sold apart from cpu (all cpu fans really) are classified by socket type. The socket is the connector of the motherboard to the cpu, so depending of the socket shape and situation of the grips, you need a particular shape of cooling fan. In the specs page of that link you post you can see that this motherboard has a AM2+/AM2 socket type, so you should search for a cooling fan compatible with that.