Controller and fan Questions - Please help

[chrisojeda]

After much reading I have decided to purchase the Zalman ZM-MFC1. I see a lot of talk about using this fan controller on 90, 80, and 60 mm fans. I want to make sure that I won't blow anything up! Here are the fans that I wish to control with the fan controller...

Question 1) I have two 120 mm fans and two 90 mm fans. Would these fans overload the fan controller or am I okay running all these???

Question 2) Below are the actualy case fans in the system. While I order my fan controler I should also consider the option of buying better fans. Please let me know which fan(s) should be replaced and what fan you would recommend???
P120M1A/4/FG (Panaflo 120M1A fan, 86.5 cfm at 35.5 dBA)
E120x25/4/FG (the Addtronics LF fan, mounted at HD - 76 cfm @ 38 dBA)
P90H1A/4/2FG (Panaflo 90 high speed, 57 cfm @ 35 dBA)
P90L1A/4/MMF (Panaflo 90 high speed, 57 cfm @ 35 dBA)

Question 3) I also want to replace the cpu fan. Though I might or might not connect it to the fan controller. Any recommendation for quire 60x60x25 or 60x60x38 fans???

Question 4) So far I know for sure that I will buy a fan controller and I might buy some fans. What online site offers great prices???

Thanks so very much in advance....

Chris

[SebRad]

Hi chrisojeda, Zalman rate the fan controller at 7W (>0.5A) per channel. The fans you have should say on them how much power they need, a quick look here gives 4W for the Panaflo 120M1A and 2.7W and 1.3W for the 90H1A and 90L1A fans, so you will be fine. You can even put multiple fans on one channel as long as the total power is below the channel's maximum. The two channels with switches (off,5V,12V) are, effectively, unlimited.
Quiet 60mm fans are tricky, generally they aren't but with the fan controller you may well be able to turn it down enough. You could also consider an adapter to use an 80mm fan in place of the 60mm fan. Or get a heatsink that takes an 80mm fan.
I would just get the fan controller and see how it goes, if it's still to loud or over heats then consider different fans, heatsinks, airflow etc.
If you let us know which continent/country you're looking to buy in I'm sure you'll get some suggestions.
Good luck,
Seb

[chrisojeda]

SebRad,

Thanks for your reply. I live in the California within the United States. I'll probably upgrade my heatsink so that I could use an 80 or 90mm fan. Any suggestions if I got that route?

Thanks,

Chris

[Ralf Hutter]

I'll probably upgrade my heatsink so that I could use an 80 or 90mm fan. Any suggestions if I got that route?

Thanks,

Chris

What mobo+CPU are you running?

[chrisojeda]

Ralf,

Good point about the system. Here it is...
Asus A7N266-E
Athlon XP 2800
Western Digital 120 GB
Lite-On burner
Toshiba DVD Player
Nvidia 5900 Ultra

I am not an overclocker. The case is an Addtronics full size tower and it has great airflow design. It's just simply way too loud.

Thanks... Chris

[Ralf Hutter]

Ralf,

Good point about the system. Here it is...
Asus A7N266-E
Athlon XP 2800

With that board you got tons of options for heatsinks. It basically boils down to how much you want to spend. SVC.com has a large selection of S462 heatsinks to look at. Read the SPCR Recommended Heatsink article for an idea of what to get. If you want to be safe, any of the "SLK" Thermalrights will work (as long as they fit) as will the Zalman 7000 (if it fits). You can find compatability charts on the manufacturer's websites. The Zalman comes with it's own integrated fan which is pretty quiet and for the Thermalrights you can put on the 80mm or 92mm quiet fan of your choice. Look at the reviews here on SPCR. There's a real recent one that looks at all the top performing heatsinks for S462 boards.

Whatever you do, stay away from the Thermaltake line of heatsinks. They're waay overrated and generally quite noisy.