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- 2 Sep 2013
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So, having finally been working on silencing my main rig for a while, I've finally managed to get it totally inaduible at a distance of around 75cm. And needs to be within 50cm range to even hear the slightest of fan whirrs (airflow largely) being run through the setup in the dead of night even when gaming and only when listening for it. Idealy, we just look to see if any of the LEDs are on to see if it's on now, so quite pleased with the outcome. 
Quick reminder of setup I'm talking about:
Corsair 650D Case (5.25" Bay vacated for Noctua A14 PWM Fan as Intake set at 50% ~530RPM with LNA, 200mm Fan Grille removed and original fan replaced with Noctua A20 PWM Fan as Intake set at 60% ~480RPM, Rear has Noctua A12x25 as Exhaust at 50% ~960-1000RPM with LNA, PCI Slots has a cheap 80mm fan at 50% ~1050-1200RPM with LNA (this will be changed to a Noctua later).)
Motherboard is Asus Rampage IV (4) Extreme, fully populated with 64GB RAM and a 4930k.
4930k is at 4.3Ghz at ~1.29v, idles at 1.1Ghz at 0.85v
CPU Cooler is a Noctua U12A (Both fans at 50% ~720RPM-750RPM)
Powercolor RX580 8GB, with the fans and shroud removed (but kept the Heatsink) and strapped on two Noctua A12x25 and controlled by the card (Kept at 35% only). Undervolted and kept at default speeds.
Corsair Bronze HX650W PSU
Temps:
CPU (Under load) 77C, idle 25-27C
GPU 83C, idle 27C
GPU VRM 91C, idle 34C
Room Temp: 25-26C
But I've got a problem, one of the fans, that's being controlled by one of the Fan Headers on the Motherboard, strangely goes up and down by a small % on its own somewhat randomly. But this % is just enough to send the fan going from inaudible, to creating a type of harmonic resonance with the case (It's to do with the 5.25" cage that it partly sits on, it doesn't like activity on them, resulting in magnifying the sounds at certain times through the cage and onto the case).
So my question is: Will grabbing a PWM Fan Controller allow me a more steady (and stable) control of the fans in the system that the motherboard clearly will not permit me to control steadily with? Or will this (fan % and RPM going up and down) continue even with a Fan Controller? (I'm aware fans have a % where they sit under, but the fan going up and down seems off to me when other fans on other headers that aren't PWM on the motherboard don't do this)
Note, I've tested and found that ANY fan will cause the issue when sitting in the 5.25" bay when at 50% or above, basically over 550RPM for the 120mm or 140mm fans. But I do have in it right now a Noctua A14 PWM, but it can be swapped with a Noctua A12x25 PWM if needed, but I see no need for this since both experience the same issue as said already. At certain RPM's ~55% to 60%, resonance happens, any less and it'll be silent with the whole system, but any less than 50% and I have a lot less airflow coming into the case, which is a problem, as its current state (when it doesn't go above 50%) is effectively in harmony with the rest of the system to keep it from overheating and remaining inaudible. This is due to the ghetto mods I've done to the Intake and Exhaust areas of the case, resulting in restricted space arleady, so a further reduction of the fan speed will be problematic.
So if any PWM Fan Controllers are suitable, which internal ones are best? I'd ideally like to control the various Intakes and Exhaust fans, which number 4 (two Intake; A14 + A20, and two Exhaust; A12x25 + PCI Slot fan - that will become another A12x25 later on) to a % less than the 50% minimum on the R4E Motherboard, but have them ramp up to 50% when required. So any automatic/programmed or Windows controlled ability to control them to that level would be ideal as well. External (5.25" Bay) ones for example won't work in this case because the bay is already taken and I'd rather have it respond to pre-set changes rather than controlling them myself.
Thanks all.
Quick reminder of setup I'm talking about:
Corsair 650D Case (5.25" Bay vacated for Noctua A14 PWM Fan as Intake set at 50% ~530RPM with LNA, 200mm Fan Grille removed and original fan replaced with Noctua A20 PWM Fan as Intake set at 60% ~480RPM, Rear has Noctua A12x25 as Exhaust at 50% ~960-1000RPM with LNA, PCI Slots has a cheap 80mm fan at 50% ~1050-1200RPM with LNA (this will be changed to a Noctua later).)
Motherboard is Asus Rampage IV (4) Extreme, fully populated with 64GB RAM and a 4930k.
4930k is at 4.3Ghz at ~1.29v, idles at 1.1Ghz at 0.85v
CPU Cooler is a Noctua U12A (Both fans at 50% ~720RPM-750RPM)
Powercolor RX580 8GB, with the fans and shroud removed (but kept the Heatsink) and strapped on two Noctua A12x25 and controlled by the card (Kept at 35% only). Undervolted and kept at default speeds.
Corsair Bronze HX650W PSU
Temps:
CPU (Under load) 77C, idle 25-27C
GPU 83C, idle 27C
GPU VRM 91C, idle 34C
Room Temp: 25-26C
But I've got a problem, one of the fans, that's being controlled by one of the Fan Headers on the Motherboard, strangely goes up and down by a small % on its own somewhat randomly. But this % is just enough to send the fan going from inaudible, to creating a type of harmonic resonance with the case (It's to do with the 5.25" cage that it partly sits on, it doesn't like activity on them, resulting in magnifying the sounds at certain times through the cage and onto the case).
So my question is: Will grabbing a PWM Fan Controller allow me a more steady (and stable) control of the fans in the system that the motherboard clearly will not permit me to control steadily with? Or will this (fan % and RPM going up and down) continue even with a Fan Controller? (I'm aware fans have a % where they sit under, but the fan going up and down seems off to me when other fans on other headers that aren't PWM on the motherboard don't do this)
Note, I've tested and found that ANY fan will cause the issue when sitting in the 5.25" bay when at 50% or above, basically over 550RPM for the 120mm or 140mm fans. But I do have in it right now a Noctua A14 PWM, but it can be swapped with a Noctua A12x25 PWM if needed, but I see no need for this since both experience the same issue as said already. At certain RPM's ~55% to 60%, resonance happens, any less and it'll be silent with the whole system, but any less than 50% and I have a lot less airflow coming into the case, which is a problem, as its current state (when it doesn't go above 50%) is effectively in harmony with the rest of the system to keep it from overheating and remaining inaudible. This is due to the ghetto mods I've done to the Intake and Exhaust areas of the case, resulting in restricted space arleady, so a further reduction of the fan speed will be problematic.
So if any PWM Fan Controllers are suitable, which internal ones are best? I'd ideally like to control the various Intakes and Exhaust fans, which number 4 (two Intake; A14 + A20, and two Exhaust; A12x25 + PCI Slot fan - that will become another A12x25 later on) to a % less than the 50% minimum on the R4E Motherboard, but have them ramp up to 50% when required. So any automatic/programmed or Windows controlled ability to control them to that level would be ideal as well. External (5.25" Bay) ones for example won't work in this case because the bay is already taken and I'd rather have it respond to pre-set changes rather than controlling them myself.
Thanks all.
)