how many fans on one controller?

[chrisjones]

Hey guys, this is more to do with watercooling, but since my question is about fans, I decided to post in the air cooling section. Admins feel free to move thread if needed.
Basically, I have a very large new build in the planning stages for a Corsair 900D, involving 2x 480mm rads and a 240mm rad, all on push-pull, and I was wondering how many of the Corsair SP120 fans I could have on each channel of the Scythe Kaze Master II controller. I know that all 4 channels of the controller can take 12w, and I will be running all of the fans on very slow speeds so they are as quiet as possible, but I was wondering how many fans I could have on each channel using fan splitter cables. I was thinking one channel for each rad, but 9 fans did seem a bit much for a 12w limit..
Does anyone have any advice? I know that a lot of people will say just use molex to fan adapter cables, but I would prefer to use a controller so I can monitor temps on the fly more easily, and also so I have more control of the fans.
I would be grateful for any input, so thanks in advance guys.

 

[jamesriley94]

Does anyone have any advice? I know that a lot of people will say just use molex to fan adapter cables, but I would prefer to use a controller so I can monitor temps on the fly more easily, and also so I have more control of the fans.
I would be grateful for any input, so thanks in advance guys.

This.

With that amount of rad space, you will never need your fans running faster than the lowest speeds. Get 5v reducers or a fan hub or something, and run them all through that. You are talking about running 21 fans if I've counted correctly, and that's not even including possible front intakes... You really won't want them running any faster than 5v. Also, wiring up 21 fans to a fan controller will completely ruin your build, and it'll look a complete mess.

I'm assuming here you're running a CPU and 2 graphics cards? (anymore than 2 is pointless btw) On that rad space, regardless of the hardware used, you'll get just as high overclocks with 5v as you would at full speed. You'll be limited by the absorption capabilities of the blocks, not by an increase in coolant temperatures due to insufficient fans speeds or rad area.

 

[chrisjones]

Yeah, there were going to be 3 in the front and a 140 in the back to pull air in. I will have a look into that sort of setup then, thanks

Yes, I was also going to use the Ivy Bridge-E CPU equivalent to the 3970x or higher, and possibly two Titans or 700 series nVidia cards when they come out.

Thanks for the quick reply though.

 

[jamesriley94]

Yeah, there were going to be 3 in the front and a 140 in the back to pull air in. I will have a look into that sort of setup then, thanks

Yes, I was also going to use the Ivy Bridge-E CPU equivalent to the 3970x or higher, and possibly two Titans or 700 series nVidia cards when they come out.

Thanks for the quick reply though.

Well assuming you used decent rads... You'd get away with that on the single 480 and a 240. The second 480's only purpose would be to allow you to run your fans at incredibly low speeds all the time.

We'll get to the hardware choices when they're actually released, but I do think that will most likely be overkill.

...Anyway! Ditch the idea of using a fan controller

 

[chrisjones]

I plan to use decent rads, I don't want to skimp on them because I know the importance of quality. The second 480 is more for aesthetics tbh, as there would be a big gap at the top of the case if I didn't put one there. I am also looking to make this system as quiet as possible, that's another reason for the extra rad.

Haha, yeah, I will make up my mind when they come out, but I want the rig to be as futureproof as I can get it at the time of building (finance and availability in mind). I will also use the rig for rendering videos and for heavy studio work on Reason and maybe Pro Tools (I use a Mac Pro for most of my studio work).

 

[remember300]

I plan to use decent rads, I don't want to skimp on them because I know the importance of quality. The second 480 is more for aesthetics tbh, as there would be a big gap at the top of the case if I didn't put one there. I am also looking to make this system as quiet as possible, that's another reason for the extra rad.

Haha, yeah, I will make up my mind when they come out, but I want the rig to be as futureproof as I can get it at the time of building (finance and availability in mind). I will also use the rig for rendering videos and for heavy studio work on Reason and maybe Pro Tools (I use a Mac Pro for most of my studio work).

if its aesthetics your after and im assuming money is not an issue you could use corsair link with multiple controller nodes. each node is powered by a 12V molex and the commander node take 10 inputs, you could also run leds into the box and can set up cooling curves, i love my command link to bits now its all working

 

[chrisjones]

thanks for the input I hadn't thought of the Corsair Link, is it easy enough to setup?
But yeah, this rig is pretty much money no object, cause it will have to last me through uni and my computer science course I want to go on.

 

[remember300]

thanks for the input I hadn't thought of the Corsair Link, is it easy enough to setup?
But yeah, this rig is pretty much money no object, cause it will have to last me through uni and my computer science course I want to go on.

yeah go on their site to have a look i love the thing and its like mini fan connectors between the cooling node and commander unit. then the cooling nodes have 4-5 i cant remember 4pin fan connectors (you can fit 3 pin fans no problem) and 3-4 thermal nodes so you can monitor internal temps too if you wanted. the drivers had alot of issues but they are all sorted now i hasseled corsair alot till they resolved them.

and as i said you can run the lighting (their lighting) through the case aswell

 

[vorticalbox]

the performance addition SP120 uses 0.18A and on 7 V "lowest operating voltage stated" give 1.26 Watts per fan.

per 480 RAD = 10.08 Watts
240 RAD = 5.04


@12v you're look at 2.16 Watts per fan

per 480 RAD = 17.28 Watts
240 RAD = 8.64 Watts


so you could run each RAD on it's own channel and have one free for case fans so long as you never maxed out the 480 rads.

you would need to get very creative to make that look neat.

 

[Snortan]

That's correct but you didn't account for Ampere. The fan controller he uses supports max 1A and 12W/channel.
So 8x0.18A=1.44A.

 

[chrisjones]

Thanks for that info

Yes, but I was planning on using the quiet editions, which use 0.08A each according to Corsair, so that would be okay wouldn't it at 0.64A total?

Also, as for cable management, that will not be a problem, as I will have an absolute ton of time over the summer holiday to build this, and I will be building it over most of summer to make sure that I don't do anything wrong and have to rip it all apart..

 

[remember300]

Thanks for that info

Yes, but I was planning on using the quiet editions, which use 0.08A each according to Corsair, so that would be okay wouldn't it at 0.64A total?

Also, as for cable management, that will not be a problem, as I will have an absolute ton of time over the summer holiday to build this, and I will be building it over most of summer to make sure that I don't do anything wrong and have to rip it all apart..

if you went for the link, you can put the nodes where the cables meet round the back, rather than run the cables all to one point

 

[chrisjones]

if you went for the link, you can put the nodes where the cables meet round the back, rather than run the cables all to one point

fair point, but where would I put the main control unit, because the only thing that I would have put in the drive bays would be the fan controller, and I don't think that the Link would fit behind the MB tray with all the other cables too.. This is a good idea though, so I will seriously look into it and see what the options are with this

 

[Snortan]

Thanks for that info

Yes, but I was planning on using the quiet editions, which use 0.08A each according to Corsair, so that would be okay wouldn't it at 0.64A total?

Yea,theoretically if you use the quiet editions you can put up to 12 fans per channel at 7V or 10 fans at 12V.

 

[remember300]

fair point, but where would I put the main control unit, because the only thing that I would have put in the drive bays would be the fan controller, and I don't think that the Link would fit behind the MB tray with all the other cables too.. This is a good idea though, so I will seriously look into it and see what the options are with this

the main unit fits in a drive tray its the same size a a hdd 3.5" the others are about 8mm tall, the main reason i like it is that it wont be seen from the out side

 

[chrisjones]

Yea,theoretically if you use the quiet editions you can put up to 12 fans per channel at 7V or 10 fans at 12V.

I would put a max of 9 on each anyway, but thanks for that

 

[chrisjones]

the main unit fits in a drive tray its the same size a a hdd 3.5" the others are about 8mm tall, the main reason i like it is that it wont be seen from the out side

hmm, that's interesting.. what's the control software like for monitoring temps and controlling speeds?

 

[remember300]

hmm, that's interesting.. what's the control software like for monitoring temps and controlling speeds?

its corsair link erm i did a post a while ago showing it all but i can take some screen shots and put them back on this post if you like?

and i love it tbh you can have set presets or use your own fan curves

 

[chrisjones]

its corsair link erm i did a post a while ago showing it all but i can take some screen shots and put them back on this post if you like?

and i love it tbh you can have set presets or use your own fan curves

its okay, I'll have a Google and see what I can find on YouTube and pictures etc.

 

[remember300]

its okay, I'll have a Google and see what I can find on YouTube and pictures etc.

i dont mind its only 2 mins of my time