Controlling fan speed based on coolant temperature - Commander Pro or alternative?

SonicSW20

SonicSW20

SonicSW20

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Hi all,

Looking at changing my fan system for an upcoming watercooling loop. At the moment I have Thermaltake Riing Trio 140mm's and a Ring Duo 120mm, and Thermaltake Z-One RAM so its all the same ecosystem for the lighting. While the fans are nice, the connectors are proprietary for the fans and the software is lacking.

I'm considering moving to a Corsair system (already use iCue for keyboard and mouse), and one of the features I'm particularly interested in is the Commander Pro's temperature control options with the thermocouple inputs and using that to control the fans.

Are there any alternative systems to the Commander Pro out there? I'll likely go with LL140 and LL120 fans, and change the RAM out for Corsair as well.
 
I guess for either of those I would need a separate solution for lighting? Part of the appeal of the Commander was a single hardware / software solution for both coolant temp fan control, and the RGB stuff. Happy to go with two separate bits of kit though, if either the Octo or 6LT are objectively better.
 
SonicSW20 said:
I guess for either of those I would need a separate solution for lighting? Part of the appeal of the Commander was a single hardware / software solution for both coolant temp fan control, and the RGB stuff. Happy to go with two separate bits of kit though, if either the Octo or 6LT are objectively better.
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I have a Commander PRO and it does let you map fan speeds to a temperature input. I've only used the included Air temp sensors of the Commander PRO thus far though. I assume any temp sensor will be compatible? I'm planning to use a water temp sensor with the commander soon.
 
TT158 said:
I have a Commander PRO and it does let you map fan speeds to a temperature input. I've only used the included Air temp sensors of the Commander PRO thus far though. I assume any temp sensor will be compatible? I'm planning to use a water temp sensor with the commander soon.
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I *think* you can use any 2 pin thermocouple on it. You can get G1/4 "pass through" sensors, I was planning on putting one after the last hot component in the loop (highest temperature point in the loop) and another after the last radiator (coolest point in the loop). The hot one would be the reference for fan control, the cool one to be able to see the temperature delta - not needed but a nice addition for the sake of a simple fitting.
 
SonicSW20 said:
I guess for either of those I would need a separate solution for lighting?
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Splitty4 product page says:

Manufacturer Corsair
Four connectors for a maximum of four fans,"LED hub" is not required:
QL120 RGB, QL140 RGB (34 LEDs per fan; max. two pieces can be connected)
LL120 RGB, LL140 RGB (16 LEDs per fan)
HD120 RGB, HD140 RGB (12 LEDs per fan)
ML120 PRO RGB-LED, ML140 PRO RGB-LED (4 LEDs per fan)

There is also an input for connecting to RGBpx devices (such as lighting strips) from AquaComputer, and you can get an adapter that will work with any standard 3-pin A-RGB device too, such as EKWB water blocks. Usually a single channel frm AC can handle up to 90 LEDs. I don't actually know if you can run fans and separate RGB devices at the same time, but if not then they do plenty of other options for that, and they're usually very small - The Farbwek Nano is about the size of a pound coin, for example.

TT158 said:
Can Quadro / Octo be used by themselves? I.e. You don't need an Aquaero to boss them?
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The Octo runs off an internal USB and is controlled by the Aquasuite software directly. No Aquaero needed!
I believe the Quadro is the same.
 
Just as an alternative. I have a motherboard with extra temperature sensor headers, 2 water temp and 1 I use for case ambient temperature.

I use Argus Monitor to control my fan speeds based water temperature. Well worth what it costs, honestly. It's very adjustable and offers quite a lot of functionality.
 
ttaskmaster said:
The Octo runs off an internal USB and is controlled by the Aquasuite software directly. No Aquaero needed!
I believe the Quadro is the same.
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Praetorian said:
No Aquaero needed - just the Aquasuite software.
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Good to know. Thanks! That's actually what I originally thought but I saw a post saying something about octo / quadro only being "slaves". I was trying to but an Octo way back but found them hard to get, so settled on the Corsair solution, which is actually not too bad after I learnt how to get around the hwinfo bug with them.
 
SonicSW20 said:
I *think* you can use any 2 pin thermocouple on it. You can get G1/4 "pass through" sensors, I was planning on putting one after the last hot component in the loop (highest temperature point in the loop) and another after the last radiator (coolest point in the loop). The hot one would be the reference for fan control, the cool one to be able to see the temperature delta - not needed but a nice addition for the sake of a simple fitting.
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Yeah that would be quite interesting, although the whole "loop order doesn't matter" argument, which seems fairly proven, says that there won't really be a difference?

Is this what you mean by g 1/4 pass through sensor?
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aqua...2O1LFcjsPed0Wxlx5iXTBcVCYS2Ye6VYaAiBJEALw_wcB
 
I used to run my fans from a Commander Pro with one of the included sensors taped to the side of a rad. I've ditched the iCue stuff now and use a G1/4 sensor plugged into the MB with Fan Xpert controlling them.
 
I have just gone back to Aquasuite after a dalliance with Corsair CP which didn’t go very well. iCue for me was bloated and unresponsive compared to AS after the initial faffing of setting up
 
I'm already using iCue for keyboard and mouse and PSU. Those recommending the Octo, please give objective reasons as to why it is better. I'm not totally adverse to running both bits of software but less startup software / background applications the better.
 
SonicSW20 said:
I'm already using iCue for keyboard and mouse and PSU. Those recommending the Octo, please give objective reasons as to why it is better. I'm not totally adverse to running both bits of software but less startup software / background applications the better.
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I’m pretty sure if you got an Aqua computer module it would use its internal memory to do the controlling and Aquasuite to set it up. It wouldn’t then need to be loaded at start up.

thenonly issue I have with Aquasuite and Aqua computer stuff is the constant update and firmware updates it needs which sometimes wipe profiles. That and the new subscription based model.
 
OC2000 said:
That and the new subscription based model.
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The subscription model though, and happy to be corrected, is only if you want the firmware updates and the latest version of the software. Otherwise you're free to keep using the latest version that you downloaded upon which the update service finished.

Admittedly I may have missed something though :)
 
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