Fans, fan controllers, and software control

Catch!

Catch!

Catch!

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I'm looking to do the first in a series of upgrades for my machine.
Looking to get some fans and a fan controller now, followed by a watercooling loop with multiple radiators further down the line.
I have the corsair carbide 300r. I'd probably replace the case for watercooling, but try and keep the same fans and controller.
At this point I'm looking to get 6*140mm and a 120mm fan to replace the stock ones currently fitted.

My main issue at this point is fan control. Ideally I'd like a fan controller that comes with some kind of software that would enable me to configure temperature/RPM curves, like in MSI Afterburner for example.
I understand that the Bitfenix Recon has this feature, actually better utilised with the Phoebetria third party software.

My problem is that I'd need to run up to 2-3 fans per channel, and apparently the Recon isn't very good at this because of low channel wattage (10W).

TLDR: Are there any fan controllers that have a decent amount of wattage per channel that also have this automatic software control?
And how do the rest of you deal with fan management when watercooling?


Also, I know it's been done to death, but does anyone have recommendations for fans? Bear in mind that they'll probably get used for radiators in the future.

At the moment the Gentle Typhoons seem to be the widely accepted choice for 120mm, and I'm leaning towards Corsair fans for the 140mm's (because they seem to be fairly good for airflow, noise, and static pressure).
I'm not that fussy about appearance, but I draw the line at Noctuas, even with their apparently godly performance.
That colour scheme is, at least in my opinion, hideous.
 
Will your case be in a particularly hot room?

I'm just thinking why you would need 6 x 140mm fans? If you could cut down the number of fans required, it may make your choice easier.

Just a thought.

I'd second the use of the Gentle Typhoons. I quite like the Scythe slipstreams too.
 
Gentle Typhoons!! Although I do want to try the Cougar Vortexes some time; they also come in 140mm.

I would have thought 10W would be enough to run multiple fans? AP-15s are [email protected], which = 0.0588W!!
 
SirChumpalot said:
Will your case be in a particularly hot room?
I'm just thinking why you would need 6 x 140mm fans? If you could cut down the number of fans required, it may make your choice easier.
I'd second the use of the Gentle Typhoons. I quite like the Scythe slipstreams too.
Click to expand...

It's more that I want to keep my options open. I'm probably only going to get 3/4 fans right now, but I want to be able to, say, do push-pull on radiators in the future without buying a new controller all over again!
Scythe do seem to be king of the 120mm fan, is there an equivalent for 140mm, or are the Corsair ones alright?

daveip said:
Gentle Typhoons!! Although I do want to try the Cougar Vortexes some time; they also come in 140mm.
I would have thought 10W would be enough to run multiple fans? AP-15s are [email protected], which = 0.0588W!!
Click to expand...
Cool, I'll bear them in mind. And yeah, I'd have thought so too, but I've found a few threads elsewhere online where people have had particular difficulty getting multiple fans to work on the Recon.

arad85 said:
Aquaero 5. (in one of it's guises). The great thing is that once it is set up, it doesn't rely on any s/w running (and hence possibly crashing) on the main PC. I use one of these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-011-AQ (with an absurdly overpriced heatsink: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-124-AQ) but this now runs ALL the fans in the case - including the CPU heatsink fan.
Click to expand...

So you configure the software, then never really need to use it again except to make changes? If so, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for - and it looks properly upgradeable - would work with water temp probes, pumps and stuff. Cheers!

The only thing that looks comparable is Corsair link, and apparently that's quite buggy?
 
Catch! said:
So you configure the software, then never really need to use it again except to make changes?
Click to expand...
Yup got it in one. £60+ for a "fan controller" may seem a lot, but I'm really glad I bought it - I have a completely silent PC most of the time apart from when I am recoding video. I'm using software temp sensors off the board via Open Hardware Monitor and if that fails, then the fans fail safe as the Aquaero sets the missing temps to max.

You can configure each fan to have max and min voltages, startup override etc so you can really tailor to the fans you have in the case.

Catch! said:
The only thing that looks comparable is Corsair link, and apparently that's quite buggy?
Click to expand...
That was the impression I got too. It seems to work OK with Corsair stuff, but sounds as if it can be a bit iffy with others.
 
During my sort of review of Recon some time ago I loaded up the Recon with 3-5 fans and noted the voltage that they achieved at max speed. If you don't mind losing a touch of top end speed then you could load up at least 4 fans per channel and not really notice much difference. Fan start up current is not an issue as the Recon's circuit just drops voltage when current is excessive.


My PWM circuit on the other hand can handle over an ampere of fans and only drop a little over a volt and can give fully motherboard controlled CPU temperature based fan curve.

 
Cheers Tealc and Arad85, it's good to have options.

Perhaps the user I found elsewhere just had a dodgy Recon - and I'd be happy with the fans not running at full speed - the reason I want fan control is so they aren't!

Anyway, I'll do a bit more digging around. Don't suppose you'd recommend any particular 140mm fans?
 
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