Simple fan controller ?

jackal2513 · Post by **jackal2513** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 3:03 am

hi there

i have ordered x3 nexus 120mm fans which i believe come with 3 pin Moboard connectors

what is the best way to control their speed, a simple inline 5v,7v,12v,off switch would be prefferred rather than some cumbersome and over-fancy bay utility where I have to run wires to and from

or is there a way to control them from the OS ?

also, i dont want anything automatic or temp. dependent i want to switch it myself.

ultrachrome · Post by **ultrachrome** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:39 am

Read this article: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article6-page1.html

Google for speedfan. It can adjust speeds with some motherboards. A list is on their site.

jackal2513 · Post by **jackal2513** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:41 pm

yep, i have 6 of those switches that i was using on my last rig but was hoping to buy something off the shelf this time that can also be used for 3 wire mobard connected fans.

ultrachrome · Post by **ultrachrome** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:55 pm

The nexus fans have 3 and 4 pin connnectors. You can cut the two power from the 3 pin connector and just keep the RPM wire to plug into the motherboard.

Power the fan using the 4 pin connector.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:55 pm

zalman fanmate

jackal2513 · Post by **jackal2513** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:49 pm

thanks, the fanmate oculd be just the thing (although id prefer 4 fixed states)

will the Nexus 120mm fans work ok with a fanmate ? I know that some fans don't like being used with a rheostat and start to make strange noises

seemingly.random · Post by **seemingly.random** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:55 pm

The NoiseMagic NMT-3 has been working out rather nicely on a 12cm side case fan. An automatic speed control device that controls RPMs between 28-42C, 5-12V, it relieves the need of thinking about adjusting the fan for heavy usage. It's been discussed in several places on SPCR. There's also a NMT-2 (30-50C). I've read that the manual controllers generate quite a bit of heat. The NMTs are rather expensive at FrozenCPU but availability seems to be very limited.

I've had one of the fancy bay controllers for a couple of weeks waiting to be tested. The amount of effort seems daunting (like many things unfamiliar) but seems necessary if automation through h/w is desired instead of s/w.

ultrachrome · Post by **ultrachrome** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:59 pm

jackal2513 wrote:thanks, the fanmate oculd be just the thing (although id prefer 4 fixed states)

will the Nexus 120mm fans work ok with a fanmate ? I know that some fans don't like being used with a rheostat and start to make strange noises

My nexus 120mm is working well with a fanmate. The only negative of a fanmate is that adjusting to a specific voltage or RPM can be fiddly. The knob does not affect voltage in a linear fashion but I think that's a common issue with fan controllers.