Controlling my case fans without a physical controller

Milan · Post by **Milan** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 6:11 am

Hey,

I have 3 case fans that I want to control with my motherboards SmartFAN utility, since they're running at full speed (noise) currently connected to my PSU.

All 3 fans have both male & female molex connectors (stock Antec fans that came with my case).

My motherboard (Gigabyte 965P-DS3P) has two fan headers available (a 4-pin SYS_FAN & 3-pin PWR_FAN).

How many of my 3 fans am I able to connect to my motherboard & control with SmartFAN? & what adapter do I need to connect it?

Also, what to do with my other two fans? Replace one with a Noctua NF-R8, which should control itself if I plug it into the 3-pin PWR_FAN header?

OR

Can I just use the NF-R8 to somehow control more than one fan? Also, can the NF-R8 be powered via a "fan only" molex plug out of my PSU? (I notice it comes with a molex plug, but aren't sure what its' purpose is).

Thanks.

seemingly.random · Post by **seemingly.random** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:04 pm

The antecs aren't tri-cools (with a three speed switch)?

Anyway,

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1115/ ... ?tl=g2c251

and

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1090/ ... html?tl=g2

Be careful about the total amps/header - check the fan and mb specs for the max supported.

It might be cheaper to just replace the fans with some Yate Loons, etc.

Milan · Post by **Milan** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:38 pm

seemingly.random wrote:The antecs aren't tri-cools (with a three speed switch)?

Anyway,

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1115/ ... ?tl=g2c251

Since my new HSF (Xigmatek HDT S1283) has cooled things dramatically, i've decided to use just the two case fans (1 rear exhaust which will be the NF-R8 & 1 front intake, which i'll attach to one of these adapters.

The side intake fan can just be plugged in on stupidly hot Summer days, for which i'll need it at full speed anyway.

Cheers.

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 12:40 am

sounds like a good plan.

Having a good cpu cooler helps alot on airflow requirements, less airflow wasted because of better thermal conductivity, I've seen the same thing in my boxes aswell.

Milan · Post by **Milan** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 12:51 am

Thanks, Wibla.

Nice for a noob like me to get a bit of reassurance from someone around these parts.

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:36 am

My motto is that as long as the pc is stable and not noisy, I dont really care much about temperatures

.. I guess thats why I have mobo with 5 channel speedfan control and lots of goodies, but that might just be the vanity talking...

Good luck with your build(s), the common religion around here is cablegami, get used to that

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 2:14 am

Aye... Wibla is right: The Holy trinity of: Gablegami, Duct and Suspension (aka decoupling) ^^

That is strong in SPCR ^^

Milan · Post by **Milan** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 3:18 am

Oh crap I got a lot to learn...

I'm getting there though...

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 3:41 am

Damn, those drives must be toasty, but definite improvement

Milan · Post by **Milan** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 3:54 am

heh. Well, the case & mobo kind of force me to put them that way, as you can see, but the front intake fan I plan to use will mainly be to cool the drives as the fan sits directly in front of them.

If I turned the fan on now (whilst connected to the PSU), the drives would be ice cold, & i'd be deaf

Just ordered the adapter & NF-R8 btw. Should pick them up this week.

Oh & the temps were/are as follows...

Code: Select all

Stock Intel HSF/TruePower330 PSU:
Room temp: 21C
Idle: 34C
Load: 63C
Diff: +42C
Vcore: 1.375v

Xigmatek HDT S1283/Corsair HX620 PSU:
Room temp: 20C
Idle: 32C
Load: 52C
Diff: +32C
Vcore: 1.38v (Changed since I was getting BIOS FSB restoration to default with lower volts).