Case Fan Control, PSU or thermal. Opinions wanted.

[pkquat]

I am looking for opinions and ideas about PSU controlled case fans. I had an Antec NeoPower 480 with fan control that died so it is off to RMA. I got a replacement Antec NeoHE 550W (it was on sale), but I found out it does not have any case fan contols.

I have a Thermaltake Soprano case with an 80mm side fan and an Antec 120mm exhaust fan that I had connected to the fan control. The front fan ran off straight 12V because the PSU couldn’t start it. The system was pretty quiet and ran cool. When pushed the CPU and case fans spun up but the case fans never reached full rpm. The case stayed cool.

Now the fans are on full blast all the time. Are there low cost temperature controlled solutions or should I exchange the NeoPower (I got it at Microcenter) for something else with PSU case fan controls? Any recommended PSU’s with fan controls in the 480-600W range? A PSU that can start 120mm case fans is a plus. The NeoPower only supplies 5V at start up and more or less requires an Antec case fan. The front fan is a PAIN to swap.

I don’t plan on any OC. System basics are:
AMD X2 4400+
7800 GTX
2 DVD drives
1 HD (it might go up to 4 thus the 550W PSU)

 

[waylander]

You can do 3 things.

1. Change your psu

2. Get a fan controller for $15 which you have to control manually.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999137

3. Replace case fans with fans with built in temperature sensors like the Antec SmartCool, which will cost you $15 each.

 

[pkquat]

I'll check into the SmartCool fans. That's a decent price.

Any recommendations on a good quality PSU with thermal fan control. I heard a few bad things about Antec's Smart Power series and though the Neo series was supposed to be better. I don't know much about the price / performance of Themaltake, Enermax, Seasonic, others?

 

[waylander]

I don't personally like temperature controlled fans from the psu. I use two separate fan controllers to control my 8 fans so I really don't have that much experience in this area. The idea of a psu controlling my fans based on the temperature inside the psu doesn't really appeal to me.