Thermaltake NiC C5 fan speed adjustment and PC opinions

DIShONOUREDKEV

Distinguished
Nov 9, 2013
4
0
18,510
I was wondering if the Fan Speed of the Thermaltake NiC C5 is controlled by the motherboard or if it is only adjustable manually by using the VR control knob. Also for those of you who have used or is using this cooler, I would like know about your experiences with this cooler, as this is the first time I am going to build a PC. Any comments on my parts list will also be greatly appreciated.
Parts List:
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 Gunmetal
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670k
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake NiC C5
GPU: MSI GTX 760 Twin Frozer OC 2GB
Motherboard: MSI Z-87 G45 Gaming
PSU: Corsair CX750
HDD: Segate barracuda 1TB 7200rpm
Ram: Corsair Vengence Pro 2x4GB 1600
DVD Drive: LG 24x SATA DVD-RW Drive
OS: Windows 8 64bit

Thankyou for your help
 

BRANDON DAVIS

Honorable
Dec 8, 2013
24
0
10,520


Better late than never.

I just installed the very similar Thermaltake NiC C4 earlier this evening; I think the only difference is the number of heat tubes (four in the C4, five in the C5).

And based upon my limited experience, and ignoring what else is going on with mine (and a very limited amount of troubleshooting), the answer is "fan speed is only adjustable manually via the VR control knob".

To which I'd add "when it works at all".

The fans are a 2-into-1 cable arrangement (they're hard-wired together with shrink-wrap: and yeah, I hope the accountant who saved 3 cents by doing it this way instead of using a socketed Y-connection rots, too ...and ditto for the other accountant who shaved ½ cent off with the way-too-short control knob cable) and the control knob "Y's" out of that hardwired shrink-wrap part.

But the problem I'm experiencing is that when plugged into the proper side of a 4 pin fan header, one of the fans (the push fan, in my case), is locked in full speed, and the VR knob has no effect. (The pull fan is just fine, and is responsive to the knob.)

...and everything you've read about the cooler being noisy is true. Even if just one of the fans is on full, it's pretty loud. Indeed.

(I'm not complaining about full speed fan sound level btw: I knew what to expect going in, and I'm good with it ...and the ancillary benefits of the C4 would more than out-weigh the occasional rise in noise level IF I could tone it down the rest of the time ...when I halt the full-speed push fan, leaving the pull fan on its low setting, the C4 IS quieter than my case fans ...so I just need to solve this one issue to be perfectly satisfied.)

...in a Newegg review, another C4 owner said he replaced the stocks fans with Noctua NF-12's.

...I may end up going a similar route. Dunno yet, but I'll follow up when I learn something.

 

BRANDON DAVIS

Honorable
Dec 8, 2013
24
0
10,520
This is just a follow up to my previous answer ...I listed instruction on how you need to set your mainboard fan settings in the following thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1967973/thermaltake-nic-dual-fan-issue.html#12429049

...but basically, you need to be able to disable the mainboard fan control with the Theraltake NiC series, so both fans will run at the same speed, and both can be controlled by the VR knob. If you try and control them from the mainboard, they will run at dissimilar speeds, and the VR knob will only adjust the speed of the pull fan. I'd just leave the VR knob on full, and use Speedfan to control the fan speed.

...as to the effectiveness of the cooler? - Really good. My FX8320 at 3.5GHz (not overclocked) is running at 6° (I have no idea how that is so low with a room temp of 19°C ...but if I turn the fans down to 600rpm using Speedfan, the CPU temp rises to 19°C too).

HTH.