Fan Controller

Greboth

Greboth

Greboth

Soldato
Joined
6 Aug 2010
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Location
Birmingham
Hi guys

I have a couple of questions regarding fan controllers but couldn't find the answers by searching.

I was looking at getting a couple of Akasa Apaches for push pull on my h50 and was going to control them with a fan controller for them and maybe couple of case fans on the controller too. Now my questions are

1. Reading some of the reviews left on overclockers some of the fans you can't plug in 4 pin fans it seems, so is there a fan controller that I could use the Apaches on? or should I switch to something like Scythe GT's which are 3 pin?

2. Is there limits to how much you can put through one channel (?) of fan controllers? As if I get one I would like to run both Apaches on one channel, so can you run 2 fans from 1. I would also like to run my 230mm side fan, but worried because its a big fan.

If I have to run both Apaches seperately I only need to be able to control 4 and I would like it to fit in my drive bay (either 5.25 or 3.5) So can anyone recommend a controller?

Greboth.
 
Lamptron FC3 5.25" 4 Channel Fan Controller Black is probably one of the better controllers out there and can handle 30w per channel.

Personally for the same money i would get this.

Nesteq FanMax 5.25" 8 Channel Fan Controller Black, can take both 3 and 4 pin fans no issue, but only has 10w per channel, but far more connections.

They are both the same size and cost. I'll trust you the site for both. So u can look at all the controllers there, but those 2 stuck out to me for cost reasons.
 
@bifday2k, thanks for the link. I have no date set in mind so OC being out of stock isn't a big deal at the moment :)

@setter: I have looked at that for the apaches and still might do that as it means I don't have to worry about it but I have other fans in my case. At the moment I have the stock fan on my H50, front and top on a molex and side fan from a fan header. But I would like to increase my overclock some more and running some 3d programs last night my PC got hot which led me to pondering about extra fans for a bit more cooling. I haven't decide quite what to do if I do anything at all but I have room for 3 extra 120mm fans or I could swap out the side fan for 4 120mm etc. But I would only want the fans running for 3d work and maybe gaming but be able to turn them down (or off) when I don't need them, like now when I am just internet surfing.
 
If you want to be able to turn them off at any point that nesteq may be the best option then, as it has 2 zones each controlling 4 fans, and u can turn those zones off at a press of a button, meaning the fans are off.
 
Thanks for the advice guys :) Nice to know overclockers are getting some back in stock :)

Last question though, the fan controllers are defined by watts but been too long since I had to work this stuff out. A quick google gave me calculation of Watts = Volts x Amps but I don't know the current that a fan draws. Working it backwards if can supply 10 watts to a 12v fan then max current is 0.8333 amps so I suspect it is going to be somewhere in the region of 0.5A so some headroom but I don't know.

Also, I was looking at the Scythe Kaze Master 4 Channel Fan + Tem Sensor as you can turn those fans off and I like the idea of having the temp sensors. I have read a few reviews but wonder if anyone has any personal experience with one?
 
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I take it that the Akasa pwm splitter, takes the reading from that header and runs the 3 fans at that speed? So the two apaches should speed up/slow down automatically dependant on cpu temps :)

I like that fan controller :) Run the fans at silent and let it take care if the temps get too hot.

Right this should do it :) Just got to wait until in stock and pay day :(
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Thanks for all the help guys :)
 
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