- Feb 7, 2014
- 19
- 0
- 10,510
I recently had a gaming PC built or me by PC Specialist, with 5 case fans. I discovered that there is only one fan socket on the motherboard - ASUS H81m-PLUS (mATX mobo - the case is ATX). So basically all 5 case fans are plugged directly into the PSU, hence why I can't control them via the BIOS.
The I'm thinking my options are either:
1. Buy an intelligent fan controller (I don't wanna fiddle with the settings all the time) - CHEAP
or
2.Get a new motherboard with 5 fan plugs and rebuild my PC on that - EXPENSIVE
I'm massively leaning towards the fan controller, but the main factor this depends on is whether there are any other major benefits to getting a new mobo. Like I said is an ASUS H81m-PLUS, so very much a budget mobo. The obvious benefit is the ability to crossfire GPUs in the future, but I don't know if that is very cost effective (including the new mobo price). Let me know what you think.
But for my main question... what good intelligent fan controllers are there? I see a few touch screen controllers out there, such as the Aerocool Strike-X, but it's hard to know if it's 'intelligent' (i.e. it turns the fans up by itself when the system gets hot, so I'm not having to adjust the knobs). Keep in mind I have 5 fans, but honestly I think my system could deal with just 4 if that's all the controller can handle.
I'd really appreciate your help and opinions guys.
-Matt
The I'm thinking my options are either:
1. Buy an intelligent fan controller (I don't wanna fiddle with the settings all the time) - CHEAP
or
2.Get a new motherboard with 5 fan plugs and rebuild my PC on that - EXPENSIVE
I'm massively leaning towards the fan controller, but the main factor this depends on is whether there are any other major benefits to getting a new mobo. Like I said is an ASUS H81m-PLUS, so very much a budget mobo. The obvious benefit is the ability to crossfire GPUs in the future, but I don't know if that is very cost effective (including the new mobo price). Let me know what you think.
But for my main question... what good intelligent fan controllers are there? I see a few touch screen controllers out there, such as the Aerocool Strike-X, but it's hard to know if it's 'intelligent' (i.e. it turns the fans up by itself when the system gets hot, so I'm not having to adjust the knobs). Keep in mind I have 5 fans, but honestly I think my system could deal with just 4 if that's all the controller can handle.
I'd really appreciate your help and opinions guys.
-Matt
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