New case and RGB fans

energizer123

energizer123

energizer123

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Hi all,

I've used my case for long enough and it's time for an upgrade. I've had a Phanteks Evolv for 5 years and it's served me well but the airflow is an issue now.

Understand all of the below represents terrible value for money but I've accepted that. Is there anything that you would change? I like the fact the fans minimise the cables. Just want the best possible.

I will be using 3 fans at front, 3 bottom and AIO at top. 5900X and 3090 be going in to be replaced by 4090 when I can.

thanks all

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £453.16 (includes delivery: £13.20)​





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Last edited:

Haz123

Haz123

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Are you sure you want the SL Lian Li fans ? LL do many different types and the SL only have the illuminated edge strips. The Galahad you have chosen comes with the ST fans where the blades light up and there are also AL fans where they have aluminium edge panels with leds and also illuminated blades.
I have 2x3 sets of the SL Lian Li fans in my PC , the AL came out just after I had purchased. If I was buying from new I would certainly get the AL or look into the even newer SL INF fans.

If you do decide you want the SL fans then you can buy the Galahad cooler that comes with those fans.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Lian-Li GALAHAD AIO SL 360mm High Performance RGB CPU Water Cooler - Black

Order Lian-Li GALAHAD AIO SL 360mm High Performance RGB CPU Water Cooler - Black now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

If you decide to go for the AL fans then be aware that Lian Li have 2 different controllers and not sure you can plug SL and AL into the same box and have them be controlled by a single box/ software.

If I was you I would trawl Youtube for some vids so you can see eaxactly what each type looks like and then decide which ones you like the best. Corsair also have a very large and varied selection of fans so worthwhile researching those as well.
 

arknor

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Haz123 said:
If you decide to go for the AL fans then be aware that Lian Li have 2 different controllers and not sure you can plug SL and AL into the same box and have them be controlled by a single box/ software.
Click to expand...
Jays2cents did a video and I think he showed them both being controlled by the newer AL software


btw I was going to get a Galahad AIO, but came across post son reddit from people saying the replacement of replacements pumps had failed so I decided to just get a regular old Heatsink/fan cooler instead and skip going with an AIO.

only people with problems will post about them though so maybe some people just install them wrong and get air in the pump
 

energizer123

energizer123

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Thanks both - really appreciate it.

So in summary, the cooler has the ST fans, so easiest probably to just buy them for the whole case. The blades light up, just missing the mirrored part.

It would hurt me to have some mirrored and some not, but would hurt me even more to spend an extra 70 to replace the AIO fans. I will have a look at youtube to have a proper look.
 

Haz123

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Corsair vs Lian Li. Both fans blow air so do that part as expected , people generally go for the ones they like the look of or if they have bought into the ecosystem of a certain brand. I personally despise the Corsair icue software and I would sooner rip my own face off than use it more than I have to. Other people love it and have peripherals that link up to it to give their set up a theme. I actually like the simplistic Lian Li software even though it has limited options for disco lights, I have the version 1 box and have set static colours so does not bother me and it does what I need it to do. It is really easy to manually set fan speeds and I keep all fans on quiet and manually change the speeds when I am gaming.

I will try to summarize the Lian Li fans because I am not sure you have it straight in your head.

ST - the oldest style that was on the original AIO you linked(have you changed it ?). Uses its own controller I think and I am not sure they daisy chain link up like the newer versions below. I not sure these are what you are looking for.

SL - Edge illuminated and not glowing blades like the others. Controller version 1 and these do daisy chain. I have these in my pc and they are not an obnoxious noise even when on 50% or higher.

AL - Some edge illumination with aluminium side panels and light up blades. Controller version 2 with newer software. Daisy chain so not many cables. I wish I had bought a month later and gotten these.

SL INF - These are just coming out now and I do not know much about them. Look to have illuminated blades and side lighting but not sure on all the features.


If you go for a Galahad cooler then I think they only have versions that come with the ST or SL fans. If you decide to go for the AL or SL INF then you would need to buy a set to replace the AIO fans if you want them all to match.

You get better info on Youtube than from the manufacturers and will be able to see how they look in a pc and the software in use. It can get expensive so make sure you are getting what you want for your money.
 

lsg1r

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energizer123 said:
How do people rate corsair vs. lian li fans? My impression was the later were currently better.
Click to expand...
I basically went with the same case as you and 10x al120's (ek basic 360 cpu cooler), the 'reduced cable clutter' was a primary reason for me too.

Honestly.... I sent my lian li al120's back (can't fault ocuk for rma process) primarily due to the software constantly using around 5% of my cpu and preventing my ryzen 5950x from 'clocking down' when idle, they had some noise issues too. From a decibel perspective, they're not quiet imo.

If I ignore that, installing the fans is nice (the click together system is great and sl infinity seem to improve on it) although I personally found the cables a little short if trying to keep it all tidy. In my case the top and bottom fans had to be 'folded back' if I wanted to hide the cables at the rear of the case which lost 120mm of the cable lengths. I only had one place I could stick the controller which was between the hard drive and the psu because the o11 evo cable management doesn't leave many other options, fan cable runs were a pain due to short lengths.
 

Craig_d1

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Haz123 said:
Watching a vid now.

www.youtube.com

Lian Li Uni SL Infinity 120 Fan Unboxing and review with tests and lighting demo

This is an unboxing and review of the @LIANLIHQ SL120 Infinity fans, a nice upgrade to the current line-up of Uni fans from Lian Li that essentially mixes in...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

SL Infinty fans new connectors box and software.
Click to expand...
ahh, provoked prawn...he has all the fans, and shows them off in a 011d xl (mainly) or air mini.....he also shows off the corsair fans too. Got the ql120's in my case...again, not too noisy, keeps everything cool. No daisychain though,,,quite like the look of the sl inf fans
 

Threepwood

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energizer123 said:
Hi all,

I've used my case for long enough and it's time for an upgrade. I've had a Phanteks Evolv for 5 years and it's served me well but the airflow is an issue now.

Understand all of the below represents terrible value for money but I've accepted that. Is there anything that you would change? I like the fact the fans minimise the cables. Just want the best possible.

I will be using 3 fans at front, 3 bottom and AIO at top. 5900X and 3090 be going in to be replaced by 4090 when I can.

thanks all

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £453.16 (includes delivery: £13.20)​

​
​
​
​
​
​
Click to expand...
where does that fan controller go, does it sit outside the case or something?, sounds a bit messy to me,I like my one that sits where a floppy drive would go, it's neat and it has twiddily knobs on, saying that ,I can't find it in the ocuk shop any more, I'll have a look elsewhere for you
 

Threepwood

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Last edited:

Threepwood

Threepwood

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Haz123 said:
Watching a vid now.

www.youtube.com

Lian Li Uni SL Infinity 120 Fan Unboxing and review with tests and lighting demo

This is an unboxing and review of the @LIANLIHQ SL120 Infinity fans, a nice upgrade to the current line-up of Uni fans from Lian Li that essentially mixes in...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

SL Infinty fans new connectors box and software.
Click to expand...
Looks great That's for sure, 'tho I still don't really understand where the fan controller goes, nor how you will change the speeds on the fly, if it sits in the case, that's going to be really annoying, maybe I missed something right at the end of the video?
 

lsg1r

lsg1r

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Threepwood said:
Looks great That's for sure, 'tho I still don't really understand where the fan controller goes, nor how you will change the speeds on the fly, if it sits in the case
Click to expand...
Controller is a little box about 3x6x1cm which connects to internal USB 2 header, sata power, rgb header and cpu pwm header. Software controls the fans/rgb connected to controller from within windows. The o11 evo has nowhere for an 'external controller like that akasa one
 

lsg1r

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energizer123 said:
So this. Anything i should change?

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £603.14 (includes delivery: £13.20)​

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Click to expand...
I was going to say you only needed 1 controller but the cost of buying individuals would only save you 2p so might as well have some spares....everything will fit. Do you actually need to buy the lian li aio though, could you get away with a cheaper one without the rgb on the rad like I did, I bought the ek basic 360 (I wasnt bothered about rgb on the cpu block) and then just added the fans to that instead, would save you around £60
(https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-w...-in-one-cpu-water-cooler-360mm-hs-00t-ek.html)

I assume you've seen my bit about the software (l-connect 3) up top being an issue, that doesn't even include the fact you need to either disable uac or click ok every boot to 2 programs....my pc was literally running 10c hotter running the control software.

Some people on reddit have gone as far as to remove the controller and switched to sata adapter+motherboard headers and then used motherboard headers for fan pwm control (not sure if possible on sl infinity)
 

arknor

arknor

arknor

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Threepwood said:
where does that fan controller go, does it sit outside the case or something?, sounds a bit messy to me,I like my one that sits where a floppy drive would go, it's neat and it has twiddily knobs on, saying that ,I can't find it in the ocuk shop any more, I'll have a look elsewhere for you
Click to expand...
the fan controller goes in the case where your mess of wires will be hidden behind the plate the motherboard attaches too.

you control the fans via software.

most cases will come with a fanhub anyway and you can usually set fan timings in the bios or with the motherboard software.

I've got CPU1 going to the hub that came with my case, the hub is powered by a sata cable as to not overload a fan header. then all 6 of my PWM fans are connecting to the hub.
I've got my bios set to adjust the fan speed based on cpu temps with 4 different levels.
like
20% @ 25c
50% @ 50c
75% @ 60c
100% at 70c
I can also change that in windows with my motherboard software

there's no need for an old school fan controller with nobs and you'll be lucky to find a case with slots of CD drives/floppy drives these days :p
 
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