Controlling multiple fans in Corsair 250D

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davidn272007

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Mar 13, 2014
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I just finished buying my first computer in the Corsair 250D and when I start it up it seems like the two 120mm case fans I installed is running full blast which I feel like is unnecessary. Because the MSI Z87i mini itx motherboard only had one system fan plug I decided to plug the front 140 mm fan to that and my two 120 mm fans into the PSU. From the bios I see that I can change the fan settings but it seems to only effect the 140mm fan. How would I go about adjusting the two 120 mm fans thats connected to the PSU so they're not going full blast?

Motherboard: MSI Z87i mini itx
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650 G 80 PLUS GOLD Certified 650W
 
Solution
Rammy
One thing that hasn't been pointed out is that the Z87I in the 250D is a bit awkward. Most of the connectors sit along the top edge of the motherboard, which is right next to the two 120mm fan locations. This means that however well you tie up cables, you'll have a lot of mess in this area, seriously impacting the need for these fans, as well as making the use of splitters increasingly complicated (routing the cables will be an issue).

Generally, two system fans is probably sufficient for an ITX system, and it's usually fairly easy to run a single splitter from the system fan header, so you control these fans together. This works best if the fans are similar/identical, but it's fairly solid regardless. If you have three system fans...
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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One thing that hasn't been pointed out is that the Z87I in the 250D is a bit awkward. Most of the connectors sit along the top edge of the motherboard, which is right next to the two 120mm fan locations. This means that however well you tie up cables, you'll have a lot of mess in this area, seriously impacting the need for these fans, as well as making the use of splitters increasingly complicated (routing the cables will be an issue).

Generally, two system fans is probably sufficient for an ITX system, and it's usually fairly easy to run a single splitter from the system fan header, so you control these fans together. This works best if the fans are similar/identical, but it's fairly solid regardless. If you have three system fans, then you can attempt to run them from the same header, but you'll start to run into issues with having enough wattage (this depends on the motherboard and the fans).
It is possible to run a splitter from each of the fan headers (CPU and System) so one of your fans is controlled off the CPU temps, but it's not ideal, and again, will depend hugely on what CPU cooler you are using, and the motherboard.
If you aren't using the ODD bay, you can purchase a fan controller. These don't need to be expensive, and you can run a near infinite number of fans from these. If the ODD is in use, then it might be possible to fit a smaller fan controller designed to fit in a 3.5" bay, either in an available drive bay, or attached to the inside of the case with an adhesive pad. It'd not a good solution, as it's messy and you wouldn't be able to control the fans on the fly, but it would give you the ability to find a healthy balance of noise/performance.
 
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davidn272007

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Mar 13, 2014
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That seems like a quick fix to test out, I'll give that a shot and see how it is. If its still not ideal, then I'll try the fan controller.
 
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davidn272007

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You said that its possible to route one of the fan alongside the CPU cooler depending on the CPU cooler, do you think it would work with the stock Intel cooler? Also I'm not using the ODD bay so I could also try the fan controller, is there a certain one you would recommend?
 
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