Questions on Rosewill W1

[aman_74]

Hello folks,

This is my first build in I think over 10 years. I was a member here, but couldn't find my login. I used a Coolcases case that was popular around here back then. I am not a total luddite, as I've built in the past, but you'll have to understand that I'm way out of touch with current tech, though familiarizing myself over the past week has helped a lot. Just letting you know as I can benefit from further and clear explanations at time....PWM, etc..., is new to me.

I'm going to be doing a Hackintosh, just stating such as I don't know if some of these tools like Speedfan and such aren't available to me? Some I'm not sure if you folks are just referring to a separate program or if they're BIOS features.

After much research...mostly here...one of the strongest contenders, if I go small, is the W1. I have some questions to help me decide:

-In the SPCR review, what was the reason the MB control didn't work? Was it the fans, the MB or something about the combination of the two.

-Can I easily do positive pressure in this case without just running the intake on full? Is positive pressure normally easy to achieve with just one in and one out and even with the same size fans?

-Could I achieve positive pressure by running both fans off the CPU header with a splitter? Is that only done for PWM and I'd have to get PWM fans? I'd like to use the case fans as that adds to the value and they seem to be decent, or good even?

-I hear Gigabyte is behind in fan control? Asus is the best....or are MSI and Asrock equal? Honestly, these sorts of features seem not too hard to implement, but I'm surprised to see things often so limited...people talking about GPU's not having different profiles and ones that do it's a big deal. Is this really hard to implement or have vendors just been sort of lazy and not meeting demand? Just curious.

Any suggestions appreciated. The case is on sale so I'm trying to get info before it goes off discount. I'm close to pulling the trigger, but I really want to make sure it can do positive pressure.

[CA_Steve]

Welcome (back) to SPCR.

Just a quick comment: Most everyone building HackIntoshes uses Gigabyte mobos. Seems to be the most compatible. Downside is the Gigabyte BIOS based fan control is pretty meh compared to others. I don't know of an OS X compatible fan control app (and yes, Speedfan is Windows based, and there are some linux based ones as well). The best for BIOS based fan control is Asrock followed by MSI...but, you ought to look on the Hackintosh based boards to check for compatibility.

[quest_for_silence]

I don't know if some of these tools like Speedfan and such aren't available to me?

I can't help, but it would seem that perhaps you may look for something.

Some I'm not sure if you folks are just referring to a separate program or if they're BIOS features.

I'm not sure to have understood, by the way, Speedfan is a separate program while BIOS features are strongly vendor dependant (as said by Steve).

-In the SPCR review, what was the reason the MB control didn't work? Was it the fans, the MB or something about the combination of the two.

Probably it was a combination of BIOS settings with those fans, but they didn't mess too much around that, so mine is just an educated guess.

-Can I easily do positive pressure in this case without just running the intake on full? Is positive pressure normally easy to achieve with just one in and one out and even with the same size fans?

Set aside it depends of your hardware, but why do you want to run a positive pressure setup?
Broadly speaking, to have a positive pressure setup you have to achieve a mismatch between a larger intake flow and a smaller exhaust flow, so you have to consider all the variables (diameter of the fans, fans speed, how much the dust filters and grilles are restrictive).

-Could I achieve positive pressure by running both fans off the CPU header with a splitter?

Who knows? When two fans are the same, they will run at the same speed (when hooked off the same header), so the difference will be how much restrictive the inlet and outlet are. In the case of that W1, I think you'd get a negative pressure setup, from such an arrangement (but mine is a not that much educated guess, this time).

Is that only done for PWM and I'd have to get PWM fans?

Yes: PWM fans (4 pin) and voltage controlled fans (3 pin) cannot be mixed on the same header (because that header cannot generate a PWM control signal while varying the supplied voltage). So with reference to the W1 fans you can't hook up them to the CPU fan header (there could be an exception, but I don't think it applies to you).

I'd like to use the case fans as that adds to the value and they seem to be decent, or good even?

Those fans are rather good ones: you have just to run them off a suitable fan header.

-I hear Gigabyte is behind in fan control?

With reference to Gigabyte, very often it depends of the specific motherboard (so you have to carefully read the online manuals and the relevant reviews, in case).

Is this really hard to implement or have vendors just been sort of lazy and not meeting demand? Just curious.

IMO is vendor's laziness dependant.

but I really want to make sure it can do positive pressure.

IMVHO you should add at least a top intake fan to positively mismatch the airflow, but that's just me, while the presence of a dual fan discrete graphics should also do positively that unbalance (probably with a lesser degree).

[aman_74]

Thanks thus far.

I don't have much time at the moment and will get back for a more thorough reply, but I had a couple thoughts/questions.

I think Gigabyte is still popular for Hackintosh's, but I'm now seeing all manner of boards, lots of Asus and some MSI and Asrock as well. Z97 is not natively supported yet anyhow as there hasn't been an official product released with them yet. I think people are hoping they release something with Broadwell so that it will then be native. So with Z97 not being supported, the thing that then matters is the chips on the board for audio and Lan. This is my understanding, but I'm not very knowledgeable either.

Someone suggested to me adding another CPU fan for positive pressure. I'm no physics major, but that seems as if it wouldn't work as it's just blowing more case air and not contributing to pressure? I imagine it could slightly add to it if you assumed it was getting air from a nearby vent? That's the only way I can see and it doesn't seem likely?

[quest_for_silence]

I imagine it could slightly add to it if you assumed it was getting air from a nearby vent? That's the only way I can see and it doesn't seem likely?

Well, that's about the same thing I assumed, talking about a dual slot, dual fan graphics nearby the side vent: but don't take my word for it, it's not the canonical way (which is adding one or two top intake fans).