Best Temperature-Controlled PWM Fan Controller?

HaravikkNov 13, 2013, 9:31 AM

Okay, so it seems my clearance for one of my fans isn't as deep as I'd expected, so I'm looking at slim line fans, and found this option which seems ideal with a max noise of 18dBA (I probably won't need to run it at full speed) and a clearance of just 15mm which suits me (I can fit just under 20mm).

Anyway, problem is that this fan is PWM only, and I haven't found any comparable, 3-pin options, though I'd appreciate recommendations if there are some I've missed.

If not though, then I need to find a good PWM fan-controller that uses temperature sensors to control the speed automatically, so I'd really appreciate feedback.

Anyway, a quick summary of my requirements:

PWM connections for at least one fan, preferably three or more though. Should be compatible with regular 3-pin fans as well if possible.
Speed should be controlled by setting a target temperature with probes.
Controller should fit a single 5.25" bay, ideally without being too deep as I actually have a space I may be able to fit a fan controller but not a DVD drive sized device. Don't worry if the controller has side "tabs" for fixing as I can probably remove these myself if I have to.
I'd prefer a nice smooth speed change, rather than the more common low/medium/high speeds that many controllers offer, though this isn't a requirement.
Also nice would be the ability to control one fan using more than one temperature probe, as I have more than one key warm area in the case, but probably don't need more than one fan (nothing is particularly high temperature). I don't know if anyone offers this, but it'd be nice to have if it exists, otherwise ignore this one.

1 answer Last reply Dec 23, 2013

More about temperature controlled pwm fan controller

HaravikkDec 23, 2013, 8:19 AM

Sorry to bump this again, but I'm still looking for a good fan controller that supports 4-pin PWM fans. I tried a simple controller supporting 3-pin fans but with connectors wide enough to take 4-pin ones, however the fan I have clearly doesn't "fully support 3-pin connections" as the support staff claimed, unless you consider full-speed or nothing to be fully supporting 3-pin connections.

Anyway, it's clear then that I need a fan controller that can definitely provide at least one 4-pin PWM signal, and is also temperature controlled (via probes). Can anyone recommend such a controller?

The only option I've found myself so far is the Zalman MFC3 which has 1 PWM connector in addition to three 3-pin ones, but it's very expensive for what you get as just a fan controller; the ability to monitor power consumption is neat, but I'm not really fussy about that (I already have a plug-in monitor I can use).

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