Cooling control: too many choices are doing my head in!

[3dAnimator]

Hi there,

Sorry if this too newbie a question but is it ok to have cooling controlled by more than one system on the same PC? Is that an issue? Here is the situation.

I am in the process of building my first ever desktop PC. It will be exclusively used for animation, motion graphics, video editing, photoshop, music production etc. I shall keep my laptop for Word, email, Internet, iTunes etc.

My primary objective is to create a quiet (for quiet, read quieter than every sound / noise source in my studio), stable and powerful system.

So I have bought the components and I am starting to put everyone together. (Sabertooth X79, i7-3930k, asus gtx 660ti card, 32gb Ddr3 1866, 2 x WD black Hdd, 2 x Samsung 840 pro Ssd, Bequiet 750w dark power 10 PSU ..... I think that is it in terms of heat production)

All of that is going into a Corsair Obsidian 550D case with an H100i to take care of cooling the CPU.

There are lots of cooling options with this case but this is what I want to do, for better or worse, and my reasons why:

Two front intakes run very slowly to minimise noise and trickle just enough air over the storage units to keep them cool. The front fans will be situated closest to my ears of all the fans in the case so it is important that they don't run any faster / louder than they need to.

200mm side fan to run quietly at moderate revs but due to close proximity it should still be able to push lots of air on to the graphics card and chipset. The cool air will eventually run up the board and exit through the H100i in the roof, configured as exhaust.

The rear 120mm exhaust runs very slowly or not at all to avoid stealing air from the H100i fans and radiators. It can ramp up if it is needed on a hot summer's day for example. (Will we ever get one of those again in England?)

So that is what I want to do but, I don't know how.

I could use Corsair Link but so many people say it is rubbish.

I could also use the Sabertooth x79 thermal radar system to control fans but I have read some comments on line that the CPU temp sensor is inaccurate.

Finally, the PSU has a temperature sensor and sockets for connecting fans so I could use that, or a combination of all three systems.

I am inclined to use the Corsair Link just for CPU temp control and the Sabertooth software to control everything else.

Should that be ok?

Sorry for the long post but I'd rather be sure than cook my hardware by not taking time to get proper advice.

Many thanks

Michael

 

[Cru]

If it was my build I'd go with all Noctua fans.
Really my favorite fans by far, the corsair quiet edition ones are fine as well, but imo a bit louder
can't hear a damn thing coming from my Noctua NF-F12's
they are a bit expensive though
so if money isn't the problem, go with Noctuas

not sure how you should controll the fans, don't have much experienced in that kind of stuff, but that's what I had to say about the whole thing

 

[3dAnimator]

If it was my build I'd go with all Noctua fans.
Really my favorite fans by far, the corsair quiet edition ones are fine as well, but imo a bit louder
can't hear a damn thing coming from my Noctua NF-F12's
they are a bit expensive though
so if money isn't the problem, go with Noctuas

not sure how you should controll the fans, don't have much experienced in that kind of stuff, but that's what I had to say about the whole thing

Thanks for your advice. Those Noctuas are expensive but very highly rated by just about everyone. I will see what the stock fans are like first but an upgrade is a definite possibility.

 

[iBeInspire]

I would suggest you have a look at your CPU cooler, as well as your GPU cooler as they will almost certainly be louder than most case fans...

 

[Cru]

I would suggest you have a look at your CPU cooler, as well as your GPU cooler as they will almost certainly be louder than most case fans...

He said he will be using an H100i, which isn't very loud
and I don't think the GPU will be under load since he's only doing animations and that kind of stuff

 

[iBeInspire]

He said he will be using an H100i, which isn't very loud
and I don't think the GPU will be under load since he's only doing animations and that kind of stuff

Oh, my bad, I really should read more thoroughly...

 

[iBeInspire]

You could take a look at some fan controllers, it would almost certainly be the simplest solution to this whole problem...

 

[3dAnimator]

You could take a look at some fan controllers, it would almost certainly be the simplest solution to this whole problem...

Right now I am feeling pretty thick for not thinking of that myself. OK it is more expense but at least I will be able to monitor and control everything from just one place.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mysterae]

I'd recommend the NZXT Sentry LXT external fan controller that I use.

It's an external unit that doesn't look out of place on the desk. It comes with a pcb (that goes inside your pc) that the included temperature sensors and your fans connect to. You can set at what temp and what speed the fans should be. You can turn it to manual mode - on this setting all fans go to max in my case.

The benefit of the pcb control and not software based is that if your pc locks up, this fan controller won't. It's touch screen so no horrid knobs on your pc front (plus this sits on your desk like I said before).

The only minor niggles are the required umbilical cord that is required from the unit to the pc, and the time keeping on the clock display is terrible! I've built 555 based circuits with better time keeping!

 

[jamesriley94]

Fan controllers are for noobs.

Get voltage resistors - or simple tap in cables like:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BitFenix-20...sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361925898&sr=8-1-spell

You don't need to change your fan speeds, just set them up all to run at 5v, and temps should be fine with that number of fans.

 

[Mysterae]

Fan controllers are for noobs.

Get voltage resistors - or simple tap in cables like:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BitFenix-20...sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361925898&sr=8-1-spell

You don't need to change your fan speeds, just set them up all to run at 5v, and temps should be fine with that number of fans.

I disagree. Fan controllers have knobs, not the other way round.

I actually detest fan controllers that have knobs, and the other way round. Or perhaps just knobs in general.