Best "Non Bay" Fan controller

Jay85

Jay85

Jay85

Soldato
Joined
22 May 2010
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Minibotpc
I've been wanting to move away from the bay mounted ones for a long time now since it creates so much clutter in the back of the case with all it's wiring and cabling.

What's the best out there that doesn't need to be fitted to a 5.25" bay. Are there any small ones that you can hide away?
 
Check out the NZXT Sentry LXE. You still have cables to contend with but if you have a cable grommet near the bottom of your main board near the PCI slots, like my current case does then you can just shove them thru into the 'cable tidy' space behind the mainboard tray.

Excuse the mess, I know it needs sorting but I'm switching cases next week so I don't see the point.

4UAyH.jpg
 
So you want to move the clutter from the front to the back? :p I always find PCI ones to be a bit messy and impractical. By back of case do you mean behind the motherboard? Mine is messy as hell but I don't mind because it is supporting my SSD.

How many fans? Can your motherboard not control them through voltage/pwm in the BIOS?
 
Thanks guys! quite like the Aqua one!


I was wanting something even smaller than that though tbh. I have seen a square like one with a lot of fan headers on it which can be controlled via software too like the aqua but i cant find it for the life of me... Anyone know?
 
Jay85 said:
Thanks guys! quite like the Aqua one!


I was wanting something even smaller than that though tbh. I have seen a square like one with a lot of fan headers on it which can be controlled via software too like the aqua but i cant find it for the life of me... Anyone know?
Click to expand...

MCubed T-Balancer bigNG
 
It can be connected to everything aqua computer. It is the same as the xt without the screen. If you go down the LT route i'd recommend the optional heatsink or the waterblock(prefered)
 
You don#t have to buy the optional heat sink!
I used some old RAM sinks & a 40mm fan I had around(check post #61 in my log in the sig)
Now I have removed the fan and heat sinks in both sides.
 
Nickolp1974 said:
It can be connected to everything aqua computer. It is the same as the xt without the screen. If you go down the LT route i'd recommend the optional heatsink or the waterblock(prefered)
Click to expand...

Avathar77 said:
You don#t have to buy the optional heat sink!
I used some old RAM sinks & a 40mm fan I had around(check post #61 in my log in the sig)
Now I have removed the fan and heat sinks in both sides.
Click to expand...

:eek: Does this thing get that hot for it to need to be cooled by fans or waterblocks???


Thinking of getting one for christmas because i want to have less cabling that comes from having fan controllers with their cables.


Is this Aqua Computer Aquaero 5 XT LCD Fan-Controller worth it's price tag of £142?!? I see it extraordinary that a fan controller can cost so much!
 
LT can do 98% of the stuff that higher end units does.
have a look at THIS guide for better info.

Without any heat sinks, the fan controller chip(s) get very hot when fans are at lower speeds. With just passive heat sinks it is very manageable.
I think there is a cut off point around 95C mark. But I have seen it only going around 75C with 4 x GT1450 fans at low RPM(with out sinks)
With just heat sinks they never go above 60C(with a 40mm fan another 5C can be taken off)
 
Jay85 said:
:eek: Does this thing get that hot for it to need to be cooled by fans or waterblocks???


Thinking of getting one for christmas because i want to have less cabling that comes from having fan controllers with their cables.


Is this Aqua Computer Aquaero 5 XT LCD Fan-Controller worth it's price tag of £142?!? I see it extraordinary that a fan controller can cost so much!
Click to expand...

I believe some controllers use pulse modulation, which bassically means full power but in burst's, where as the aquaero's resist power to slow the fans down which in turn gives out heat, this gives a smoother transition between speeds and is generally more controllerble.
When 1 fan(unless its a whopper, GT 5400 @<50%) is being used per channel there will be no need for a heatsink, probably get away(just) with 2 per channel.
The adjustments that can be made with the aquaero's are practically endless.
Once you get used to the software and you have it set up how you want, you can just forget about it.
For me i could not warrant spending the extra, basically to gain the screen, besides i wanted the front of my case clean, ie, nothing there!
 
just wire all your fans to 12v with 7 or 5v adapters I find temp differences between 7 and 12 minimal
 
Jay85 : I have a BIg T Balancer and to be honest the instructions are quite difficult to follow and I never know wheather I have saved my settings untill I test it. Had it for about 2 years on a HTPC set up in a Silverstone LC17B case with a X48 board. I am finalising my water-cooling design - trial and error -. Have to say the software is tricky, might be outdated, does the job when set correctly with the peramaters. I might try this AQ5 but I have to say no heatsink or heat issues with the Big NG
P.S. this is a gamming PC used for FSX add ons
 
Owned both the BigNG and Aquaero 5.

Depends what you want it for really.
The BigNG is a better made controller buy design
Runs cooler
Univerally runs any fan (inc 24v delta's and San Aces - but not at full speed)
Runs fans at lower rpm's that most other controllers (30%)
has digital and anolog sensors
BUT it's a pig to set up and the software takes a while to workout.
Perfect for complex set and forget fan management
And the only controller I recomend for an ultra quiet build

Aquaero 5 - the software makes it easy - real-time changes, swap between profiles lots of help and frequently updated.
Can runs most 12v fans at 50% speed (and upwards)
But its Hot and power hungry.
And need optional extra's to do everything
Great if you have pumps / zoned cooling

Mid/High end boards usually have a o/b controller
Asus's 'fan xpert 2' is almost as good with most 120mm fans - look for boards with lots of 4pin fan headers.
MSI's (GD80) and Gigabytes onboard controller are also worth note

Speedfan (if set up properly) is also a great alturnative to any hardware controller.

Only have one or two fans to control so I use the mobo's controller.
50% unless cpu hits 70c then 75% job done.
Previous rig ran passive so even easier :D
 
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