fractal 6 case fans with built-in PWM controller

tangey

tangey

tangey

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Just put together a system that includes the above case that has 3 fans as standard, and also has a fan controller capable of control 8 fans. The case instructions indicate that the case fans and CPU fan be attached to the controller, with the input coming from the "cpu fan" header from the X570 board. I'm out of touch with this stuff, so just followed the advice from the case people.

I've done this. I'm new to Ryzen, and I note that when doing little work, the ryzen can for a short time switch up all the cores to boost, which raises the temp by 8-10c. This causes the MB cpu fan controller to up the PWM rate, and of course with the suggested setup all the fans speed up. Less than a second later the cpu reduces the core frequencies, the temps drop and all the fans reduce. This results in a slight, but noticeable fan noise increase/decrease undulation that is a bit annoying.

Is the case documents right, should case fans always be tied to the cpu fan or should the CPU fan solely be controlled by the "CPU FAN". The MB does have a separate system temp and associated "system fan" PWM header, and I am thinking maybe this should be used to control the case fans.

Looking for thoughts from those that have a lot more experience at this than me....thanks.
 
I have the same case but haven't bothered with the fan controller and run all my fans from the motherboard headers so I can control the fans individually though manual BIOS profiles for each header. Just wandering if you actually need to use the controller?
 
What PieEater said.
Using motherboard fan headers is easy to do and eliminates potential problems built in controller may create. KISS principle applies. :D
Exactly which X570 motherboard do you have? Most have plenty of fan headers.
 
Thanks guys, mines is the MSI X570 Tomahawk. I understand that the CPU fan output is based on the CPU temp. the other headers are pump_fan, and sysfan1-sysfan4.
Not mentioned explicitedly on what basis sysfan1-sysfan4 adjust their output. I assume there is a system temp somewhere ???
 
Have a look in your BIOS under Hardware Monitor > Smart Fan Mode, You should be able to specify your own fan profile for each header. There is a selection for Temperature Source where you should be able to select what sensor you want to use for each profile.
 
tangey said:
Just put together a system that includes the above case that has 3 fans as standard, and also has a fan controller capable of control 8 fans. The case instructions indicate that the case fans and CPU fan be attached to the controller, with the input coming from the "cpu fan" header from the X570 board. I'm out of touch with this stuff, so just followed the advice from the case people.

I've done this. I'm new to Ryzen, and I note that when doing little work, the ryzen can for a short time switch up all the cores to boost, which raises the temp by 8-10c. This causes the MB cpu fan controller to up the PWM rate, and of course with the suggested setup all the fans speed up. Less than a second later the cpu reduces the core frequencies, the temps drop and all the fans reduce. This results in a slight, but noticeable fan noise increase/decrease undulation that is a bit annoying.

Is the case documents right, should case fans always be tied to the cpu fan or should the CPU fan solely be controlled by the "CPU FAN". The MB does have a separate system temp and associated "system fan" PWM header, and I am thinking maybe this should be used to control the case fans.

Looking for thoughts from those that have a lot more experience at this than me....thanks.
Click to expand...
Didn't look at opening post or thread title, only PieEaters reply.
Are you aware that Define R6 comes with Dynamic X2 GP-14 fans rated at only 0.71mm H2O at their 1000rpm full speed? This is about half what I use for case intake fans which are rated about 1.5mm H2O @ 1300-1500rpm, especially behind filters. Phanteks PH-F140MP are quite good and only £16.26 for a 2-pack making them £8.13 a fan.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/two-...140mm-fan-radiator-performance-bu-003-pt.html

Put 2 in the front and block any openings not covered by fans so air they push into case as to flow through case, not lead in front of fans and go in circles. Remove all PCie back slot covers to increase rear vent area so there is better front to back airflow aorund GPU thus lower air temp entering both CPU and GPU coolers and keeping them cooler at lower fan speeds so also quieter. Run all fans on motherboard fan headers and setup temperature to rpm cuvrs to keep things cool at fan speeds as quiet as possible. Not sure about your motherboard, some have windows fan control software to setup fan curves, but need to be re-loaded every startup. But if that's the case once you know temp to rpm curve go into bios and set up curves there ,, then they will not be lost when system is shut down. ;)
 
doyll said:
Didn't look at opening post or thread title, only PieEaters reply.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure why you're advising on fan replacements when this wasn't mentioned in the opening post, although I agree with you that the standard case fans are not great.

I know you are an advocate of the Phanteks PH-F140MP but things have moved on in the last 5 years with fan blade and motor design, so I would be reccomending the Artctic P14's (and in fact that's what I repaced the standard Fractal fans with). Taking the information for these fans from the OCUK sales pages Arctic P14 PWM PST vs Phanteks PH-F140MP PWM you can hopefully see where I'm coming from.

Cost: Arctic P14 PWM £6.95 vs PH-F140MP £12.95 - Arctics are nearly half the price.
Noise: Arctic P14 PWM 23.5 dB vs PH-F140MP 25.3 dB - Arctics are quieter even at higher fan speeds (see below).
Speed: Arctic P14 PWM 1700 RPM vs PH-F140MP 1600 RPM - Arctics have a higher RPM range.
Static Pressure: Arctic P14 PWM 2.4mm H2O vs PH-F140MP 1.62mm H2O - Arctics produce nearly 50% more static pressure.
Airflow: Arctic P14 PWM 72.8 vs PH-F140MP 68.1 CFM - Arctics have a better airflow.
Warrenty: Arctic P14 PWM 10 Years vs PH-F140MP 5 Years - Arctics have twice the warrenty.
 
PieEater said:
I'm not sure why you're advising on fan replacements when this wasn't mentioned in the opening post, although I agree with you that the standard case fans are not great.

I know you are an advocate of the Phanteks PH-F140MP but things have moved on in the last 5 years with fan blade and motor design, so I would be reccomending the Artctic P14's (and in fact that's what I repaced the standard Fractal fans with). Taking the information for these fans from the OCUK sales pages Arctic P14 PWM PST vs Phanteks PH-F140MP PWM you can hopefully see where I'm coming from.
Click to expand...

How about you get that chip off your shoulder mate. :D

I posted what I said because the stock cases fans are absolute rubbish.

The least you could have done in your reply was use same 2-pack price of £16.26 so they cost £8.13 a fan. That makes them actually £4.82 cheaper than you posted for them making your posted price comparison grossly inaccurate.

As for length of warranty, it means very little other then advertising hype because most users never warranty even 1 fan in their life.

PH-F140MP testing I've seen giving all specs including pressure cfm about every 100rpm from idle to full speed showing they make higher pressure ratings in mid-rpm range .. from 700rpm to 1100rpm, where we use our fans 99.9% of the time, as shown in graphs below. They tested PH-F140HP II which is same fan with a rounded outer housed for coolers.
dba-cfm-140.png

and here only fan quieter is TY-141.


As you can see above the only fans doing better are TY-141 and NF-14r 1500rpm Redux, but PH-F140MP is making much high
pressure_140mm.png
er pressure at higher speed than they are.

rpm_cfm-140.png

And again only 1 fan just slightly better.

Link below to review of fans:
http://www.coolingtechnique.com/rec...ne-phanteks-ph-tc12ls-e-ph-tc14s.html?start=5

Also people I've talked with who have used both prefer the sound sound of PH-F140MP over Arctic P14.

I would like to see CoolingTechnique test Arctic P14, but so far they have not.
 
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Thaks for the suggestions guys. I'm now controlling the 3 stock fans using sysfan1-3, and have abandoned the fractal fan controller. I''m controlling the rear fan based on the CPU temp, and controlling the front 2 fans based on systemp. PWM didn't seem to work right, so I'm using DC for them.

Regarding the actual fans, I'm not tuned into fans, might well change them for some of the suggestions above when I've nothing left to do. Just trying to get a grip on all the things involved in system building/configuring, and your advice has definitely helped regarding cooling.
 
Sounds like you're happier with your setup now, which is great. We're all enthusiasts on this forum and there are always things to tweak and different opinions on the best tweaks to make. I think you're probably on the start of your journey and will probably want to get your system optimised within your current environment before embarking on the never ending journey to get more performance. In terms of the best system fans and their placement it really does depend on a lot of variables so as and when you're ready you can always post back.
 
tangey said:
Thaks for the suggestions guys. I'm now controlling the 3 stock fans using sysfan1-3, and have abandoned the fractal fan controller. I''m controlling the rear fan based on the CPU temp, and controlling the front 2 fans based on systemp. PWM didn't seem to work right, so I'm using DC for them.

Regarding the actual fans, I'm not tuned into fans, might well change them for some of the suggestions above when I've nothing left to do. Just trying to get a grip on all the things involved in system building/configuring, and your advice has definitely helped regarding cooling.
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Either fan suggested will work. As I said, users I know who have used both prefer PH-F140MP and not at all expensive. Arctic P14 are decent and a little lower priced. For comparison, NF-A14 which is similar to TY-141 but 1500rpm instead of 1300rpm are are £18.95. Silent Wings 3 140 PWM high speed are probably the best fans out and cost £20.99 but are out of stock. If you think you want Silent Wings 3 I suggest getting high speed (1600rpm) not slower 1000rpm. While 1000rpm is about as fast as fans run in a quiet system there are occasions like extreme hot summer days when filters are dirty and running some high CPU/GPU load that 1000rpm will not supply needed airflow.
 
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