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[Solved] Fan Controllers...

Forum Overclocking : Cooler and Heatsinks - [Solved] Fan Controllers...

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Best answer from JackNaylorPE.

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wahjahka   10-03-2009 at 04:57:54 PM

my case is an antec 1200. so there are 3 front (120mm) fans, and 2 (120mm) on the back, so i want to get a fa controller that fits in one of the bay slots and another one to put in a PCI slot so i dont need to have cables running from the back to the front.
any recommendations?
also, do i need any special connecters for a fan controller? or just use the (4pin) molex connecters that come with the fan/fan controller(s).
thanks in advance

Message quoted 1 times
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Best answer from JackNaylorPE

wahjahka wrote :

my case is an antec 1200. so there are 3 front (120mm) fans, and 2 (120mm) on the back, so i want to get a fa controller that fits in one of the bay slots and another one to put in a PCI slot so i dont need to have cables running from the back to the front.
any recommendations?
also, do i need any special connecters for a fan controller? or just use the (4pin) molex connecters that come with the fan/fan controller(s).
thanks in advance



Well here's some reading for you on my investigations to date.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] management

There's actually 8 fans, 2 of them optional.

Case Top - (1) 200mm w/ Molex Connector
Case Rear - (2) 120mm w/ Molex Connector
Case Front - (3) front 120mm w/ Molex Connector
Case Side - (1) 120mm w/3 pin connector (added)
Case Middle - (1) 120mm w/3 pin connector (added)

The 3 front fans have variable speed knobs which you can self adjust.
The back ones and top one have 3 speed switches

The problem w/ most fan controllers is that they are 3 pin only and antec stuck us w/ molex connections on the the 6 fans. If you buy two optional fans from antec, oddly enough, they are 3 pin.

I was going to get a controller such as the NZXT Sentry 2 .....

http://www.nzxt.com/products/sentry_2/

1) It takes both molex and 3 pin connections
2) It's designed well enough to "gang" fans.

As for ganging, with 3 front fans, is there any possible reason why you'd want to have them going at different speeds ? Same for the two rear. So ganging them not only make sense but a well designed controller is necessary.

There are still some choices left to you with the molex

Option 1:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9116/cab-

Option 2:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] mv_pc=5236
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] d=7pYVSXrf
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] mv_pc=5233

The first is a adapter cable.....the other 3 will let you remove the molex and replace them with 3 pin connectors which is my choice....I don't want a mess of molex connectors laying around.

The R2E Mobo has plenty of fan headers and at this point I am torn between letting the MoBo do the control or using the Sentry 2 or just leaving them as they are via manual control.

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tkgclimb   10-04-2009 at 07:45:39 PM

Are you looking for knob fan controller or an LCD/automatic controller. THere are a couple good bay lcd fan controllers (nzxt sentry) but any PCI controller is a knob, which means getting back there and turning it up by hand. THe two fan controllers isn't a bad idea since the pci controllers are pretty cheap.

As for the connectors, most connect to a 3pin fan and draw their power from a molex connector if that helps

PS: you can usually run two lower power fans off of one channel.

Reply to tkgclimb
wahjahka   10-05-2009 at 06:00:44 AM

are there any fans that cannot be used with a fan controller?

------------------------------ http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/541465.png
 Reply to wahjahka
buzznut   10-05-2009 at 06:25:03 AM

possibly some smaller fans that are not rated for the controller. I believe the antec tricools are 12V fans, so get a 12 volt fan controller.

Reply to buzznut
buzznut   10-05-2009 at 06:26:51 AM

BTW, in order to use the fan controller properly, I believe you would have to put all the Antec fans on high after hooking them up to the controller.

Reply to buzznut
wahjahka   10-05-2009 at 10:33:40 AM

alright thanks for reply

------------------------------ http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/541465.png
 Reply to wahjahka
the last resort   10-05-2009 at 09:41:46 PM

another good one is the Scythe Kaze Server, it controls 6 fans and has readouts for speeds and temps. I have a black one, and it looks amazing and is very effective.

Reply to the last resort
wahjahka   10-06-2009 at 12:49:40 AM

well i just saw a video review of the antec 1200 case and the front 3 fans have a knob on the bottom to control speed, and i believe the back 2 have something in the back of the case, along with the large top fan, so a fan controller is really only needed for the cpu cooler fan.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/541465.png
 Reply to wahjahka
JackNaylorPE   10-06-2009 at 03:50:15 AM
Best answer

wahjahka wrote :

my case is an antec 1200. so there are 3 front (120mm) fans, and 2 (120mm) on the back, so i want to get a fa controller that fits in one of the bay slots and another one to put in a PCI slot so i dont need to have cables running from the back to the front.
any recommendations?
also, do i need any special connecters for a fan controller? or just use the (4pin) molex connecters that come with the fan/fan controller(s).
thanks in advance



Well here's some reading for you on my investigations to date.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] management

There's actually 8 fans, 2 of them optional.

Case Top - (1) 200mm w/ Molex Connector
Case Rear - (2) 120mm w/ Molex Connector
Case Front - (3) front 120mm w/ Molex Connector
Case Side - (1) 120mm w/3 pin connector (added)
Case Middle - (1) 120mm w/3 pin connector (added)

The 3 front fans have variable speed knobs which you can self adjust.
The back ones and top one have 3 speed switches

The problem w/ most fan controllers is that they are 3 pin only and antec stuck us w/ molex connections on the the 6 fans. If you buy two optional fans from antec, oddly enough, they are 3 pin.

I was going to get a controller such as the NZXT Sentry 2 .....

http://www.nzxt.com/products/sentry_2/

1) It takes both molex and 3 pin connections
2) It's designed well enough to "gang" fans.

As for ganging, with 3 front fans, is there any possible reason why you'd want to have them going at different speeds ? Same for the two rear. So ganging them not only make sense but a well designed controller is necessary.

There are still some choices left to you with the molex

Option 1:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9116/cab-

Option 2:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] mv_pc=5236
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] d=7pYVSXrf
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] mv_pc=5233

The first is a adapter cable.....the other 3 will let you remove the molex and replace them with 3 pin connectors which is my choice....I don't want a mess of molex connectors laying around.

The R2E Mobo has plenty of fan headers and at this point I am torn between letting the MoBo do the control or using the Sentry 2 or just leaving them as they are via manual control.

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Marriage is a wonderful institution and all but when committed to an institution, they usually let you out after a while.
 Reply to JackNaylorPE
JackNaylorPE   10-11-2009 at 06:30:47 PM

wahjahka wrote :

well i just saw a video review of the antec 1200 case and the front 3 fans have a knob on the bottom to control speed, and i believe the back 2 have something in the back of the case, along with the large top fan, so a fan controller is really only needed for the cpu cooler fan.



The CPU cooler fan is generally connected to the MoBo.

As for the rest of the fans, here's what I did:

Case Top - (1) 200mm w/ Molex Connector - removed molex and made up new 3 pin connector to be connected to FAN 1 in Fan Controller.

Case Rear - (2) 120mm w/ Molex Connector - removed molex and made up new single 3 pin connector for both fans to be connected to FAN 2 in Fan Controller.

Case Front - (3) front 120mm w/ Molex Connector - Left as is, will adjust from front controls

Case Side - (1) 120mm w/3 pin connector (added) - Connected to FAN 3 in Fan Controller.

Case Middle - (1) 120mm w/3 pin connector (added) - Connected to FAN 4 in Fan Controller.

I used twin Enermax Magma fans on a Prolimatech MegaShadow as my HSF. I cut off the 3 pin connectors on the Enermax fans, sleeved both the wires in one sleeve and added a new 3 pin with both fans ganged on the single connector.

As an option, I have a 3 pin "splitter" and can combine the side and middle fans on channel 3 and put the CPU on channel 4.


------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Marriage is a wonderful institution and all but when committed to an institution, they usually let you out after a while.
 Reply to JackNaylorPE
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