Fan Controller Advice

[01i]

I am planning to purchase a Dark Base 900 Pro to go with a new ASUS Prime X470 MB. The MB contains 3x 4 pin chassis fan connectors, 1x 4 pin AIO pump header and 1x 4 pin W_PUMP+ connector.

The fan controller on the Dark Base 900 Pro includes 4x PWM 4 pin and 4x 3 pin fan connectors, and uses up one of the 4 pin connectors on the MB (leaving me 2x 4 pin fan connectors).

I want to use 8 of the possible 140mm fan mounting points in the case. 2x intakes on the front, 2x intakes on the bottom, 1x exhaust on the back and 3x exhausts on the top.

Should I:

1. Acquire 4x 4 pin fans and 4x 3 pin fans, and connect them all to the cases fan controller and the integrated speed slider on the case (but that slider's probably going to stay in the PWM position anyway).

2. Acquire an additional 4 pin fan controller to supplement the cases fan controller, and allow me to purchase 4 pin fans for all 8 case mounts (possibly making the slider unable to control some fans in the case).

If I acquire an additional controller, should I:

1. Acquire a reasonably priced 4 pin, 4 port hub (e.g. Lamptron SP501 PCI Bracket PWM Fan Hub). I could feed the exhausts from that hub and the intakes from the case hub, both hubs connected to the MB. This would mean that only the intakes can be manually controlled by the case slider

2. Acquire an LED hub that also has 3x 4 pin fan ports (e.g. Thermaltake TT Sync Controller). Run the three top exhausts from the LED/Fan hub (connected to MB), run the four intakes from the case controller (connected to MB), run the final exhaust on the rear from the remaining port on the MB. Again, I'm ignoring the fan slider on the case for the exhausts.

3. Acquire an 8 port 4 pin hub that I mount behind the motherboard (e.g. Thermaltake Commander FP). One side feeds the intake, the other side feeds the exhaust. I plug the 8 port hub directly to the MB and forget about the ports on the case fan controller (just using it for Qi-Charger and LED strip).

4. Same as option 3, but attempt to daisy chain the two hubs. The 8 port hub (with all the fans) connects to the case fan controller (to allow me to use the speed slider if I ever wanted to), the case fan controller connects to the MB.

 

[Aeacus]

Well, you need to figure out how you want to set up the control method of your case fans and go from there. Since everyone has their own preferences, i can't say which option would be best for you.
But i can say how i'd set it up. I'd do it the same way i've done it with my Skylake, Haswell and AMD builds.

In my Skylake build (full specs with pics in my sig), i have 7x case fans: 6x 140mm and 1x 120mm. While i can connect them all to my MoBo by using Y-splitters, i prefer to have individual and manual control over my fans. And thanks to this, i'm using Thermaltake Commander F6 RGB external fan controller,
specs: http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002777

I have my fans set up as follows:
Channel #1: Corsair ML140 - front intake
Channel #2: Corsair ML140 - front intake
Channel #3: NZXT AER140 RGB - top exhaust
Channel #4: NZXT AER140 RGB - top exhaust
Channel #5: NZXT AER140 RGB - top exhaust
Channel #6: Corsair ML140 - rear exhaust
MoBo: Corsair ML120 - bottom intake

With this setup, i have manual control for most of my case fans with voltage and RPM reading for each fan. Except the bottom intake fan which connects directly to my MoBo and follows my CPU temp curve.
I prefer to have direct control over my fans, rather than going to BIOS to adjust their speeds or using 3rd party software to control them (which may not work all the time).

Since Thermaltake Commander F6 RGB also has 6x temp probes, one for each channel, i've also spread them all over my PC for thermal monitoring other than from software. Here's my temp probe layout as well:
Probe #1: HDD
Probe #2: PSU
Probe #3: GPU
Probe #4: MoBo (near CPU socket)
Probe #5: ambient inside the case (near ODD bay)
Probe #6: ambient outside of the case

Oh, Thermaltake Commander F6 RGB is also compatible with Thermaltake Lumi Color LED Strips but since i have NZXT HUE+ in use, i don't use LED strips with it.

I have similar setup in Haswell and AMD builds as well where the fan controller differs. Got NZXT Sentry 3 in Haswell build and Aerocool X-Vision in AMD build.

Take the above as a guideline for figuring out which control method would suit you the most.

 

[01i]

I quite like the "idea" of a 5.25 bay fan controller, but it's not really feasible.

The Dark Base 900 Pro has a front door, so I'd need to leave the door open (or disconnected) or I'd not see the read-outs.

I get the impression - maybe I'm misreading - that you're suggesting that motherboard controlled internal PWM fan controllers are just the same as daisy chained y-splitters?

E.g. all fans connected to the controller are treated by the MB as if they were the same fan?

Or did I misunderstand? I had been working under the impression that a MB controlled PWM fan controller would be able to identify all the fans individually?

That would make using the Dark Base 8-port controller on it's own, or purchasing an alternative 8-port less attractive as an option.

If that's the case then I'd probably want to think about using all 3 PWM chassis fan MB connectors, maybe even re-purpose the AIO_PUMP and W_PUMP+ connectors for case fans.

I know that CPU and CPU_OPT are bound together, but would AIO_PUMP and W_PUMP+ (ASUS Prime X470-Pro) be independent channels as far as the MB is concerned.

 

[Aeacus]

If there's only single wire going from fan hub to a MoBo's single fan header then regardless the fan hub used, MoBo still sees it as one fan. And that's why all fans connected to such fan hubs will run in sync and you have no individual control over each fan. That's also the reason why i went with fan controller and not with a fan hub.

There are some internal fan controllers which use USB 2.0 cable and dedicated software for fan control, so that you have individual control over all the connected fans. Those few include: NZXT GRID+ V3 and Corsair Commander Pro (oh, Commander Mini too).

As far as MoBo fan headers go, each fan header has it's own channel and controllable from BIOS. While CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers are forced to follow CPU temps (unless you disable it from BIOS), MoBo still sees them as 2 separate fans if you have fans connected to both of them. And from BIOS, you should be able to set different fan curve for them as well. At least, i can set different fan curves for my CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers (MSI Z170A Gaming M5).

MoBo manual, page 1-14 gives more info about the 7x fan headers your Asus MoBo has,
link: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X470-PRO/E13883_PRIME_X470-PRO_UM_WEB.pdf

 

[01i]

Thanks. I've never had a BIOS with all this fancy integrated stuff (upgrading from a 10-year old PC with a case full of old-skool 2 pin fans).

I checked out the MB manual before and spotted that all the headers were configured for PWM, but AIO_PUMP and W_PUMP are defaulted to "Full Speed" and listed as under "Shared Control".

I assumed that I could change the default speed from Full Speed to Q-Fan controlled, but wasn't sure if I could seperate the control. Any idea if I should be able to?

I was also wondering whether the fact the W_PUMP+ could pull max 36V/3A (instead of 12V/1A) would be an issue for using it for PWM fan control.

 

[Aeacus]

Fan only draws as much as needed from W_PUMP+ header, despite it having 3 times higher power rating than normal fan header. Reason for W_PUMP+ header having triple the power rating is because some custom water cooling loops may have a pump in use that needs that much power to operate, e.g 2A@22V.

Since MoBo manual doesn't cover all that can be done within BIOS, i can't tell if you can separate AIO_PUMP and W_PUMP+ control methods.
Once you get the MoBo and have access to the BIOS and then learn that you indeed can separate the control method, go on from there. But until it's unconfirmed, consider it as non-possible to avoid further complications.

 

[01i]

I have the MB, CPU, and RAM with the GPU orders. Just need to order the case and air cooling system so need to decide what I want before I can experiment with the MB. I think I'll just call it 4 channel for safety.

I'll keep CPU_ALT in case I need to change from the Wraith Prism to one of those huge multi-fan CPU coolers, and will decide on whether to use AIO_PUMP or W_PUMP+ based on how the cabling ends up.

I'm using an inverted system in order to have the window facing my desk, which of these two designs do you think would work best? Feel free to suggest an alternative if you think both are not the best way to go.

 

[Aeacus]

Right, the inverted build. While unconventional and unique looking, it will create bigger challenge when it comes to the airflow setup.

First thing i'd do, according to the graph above, is flipping PSU around, fan facing downwards, so that PSU has it's own airflow setup which doesn't interfere with the rest of the PC. You don't want the hot air from inside the PC to heat up PSU internals even more, do you? And since hot air rises, it would be counterproductive to force that hot air downwards with PSU fan.

With PSU taken care of, there's only one choke-point left to deal with: GPU.
Due to the nature of inverted design, GPU fans will be counterproductive regardless the GPU used since GPU is mounted with fans up, where fans force any hot air rising from GPU back to the GPU's heatsink.

Unless you go with blower style GPU, open-air style GPU won't exhaust all the GPU's hot air directly outside at the back of the case. Instead, it dissipates all the hot air inside the case.
Also, i wouldn't use that case fan directly above GPU as an exhaust fan since it draws all the air from GPU which causes GPU to choke. Either don't mount fan there at all, or when you want to help out GPU, reverse it and set it as intake.

Another way to help out GPU would be creating it's own airflow setup by changing the top fans orientation. E.g:
closest spot to ODD bay - exhaust fan (medium speed)
middle spot - no fan
furthest spot, directly above GPU - intake fan (medium speed)

Took your pic and edited it a bit to give a better idea (don't mind my bad MS Paint skills).
Left image is fans placement while right image depicts airflow if you use Wraith top-down cooler (magneta for cold air, orange for hot air).

Since inverted designs are few and far apart, there haven't been much testing when it comes to the airflow. But the above depicted layout would be something that i would test out for sure to see how it would fare to more conventional layout (the one you presented).

Also, since you're aiming towards positive pressure, you don't need to run your front and bottom intake fans at high speed. Even running them at the same speed as the 2x exhaust fans will give positive pressure regardless (provided that all fans are same size and model). This will give you a lot less noise at the front of the case.

 

[01i]

The PSU was simply because it's unclear if I'll be able to feed from underneath. The case is designed for the PSU to be mounted fan down in a closed loop, but I've seen some reviews that suggest that the design of the case to allow for inverting, partially blocks the intake for the PSU from below in some instances, and that feeding from inside the case works better.

The high speed intake fans were how I was thinking of dealing with the PSU/GPU supplies. I figure that with more cool air entering the system than there is hot air being exhausted it should reduce the overall internal temperatures, and even with the fans on top, my choice to purchase a shorter GPU should help with internal currents. The MBB placement was about directing currents too.

I was thinking that the fan above the GPU would help draw high speed intake over above the GPU, but then wouldn't be able to exhaust it quick enough because the exhausts are low speed, allowing the cooler air would drop towards the GPU.

I was originally thinking about including an intake above the GPU, I saw a youtube video that suggested it would be cool for the GPU. But there's no filter up there on the dark base, but I guess I could get one specifically for that fan.

I was a little worried about creating a circle of recycled air though. Leaving a gap might help, but I still think there'd be some circulation between the opposite fans.

With exception of the rear exhaust, and the front fans (when the door is open), the fans on the Dark Base 900 Pro draw air through a mesh that runs along the sides of the case. I'm pretty sure that the top section would create a lovely little spot for circulation, even with the middle fan removed from the equation.

I'd think that the only way to do that on top would be to have a custom part made.

The part would need to close off the upper area between the central and rear 140mm fans. It would also need to block the side intakes for the rear portion, and the rear side vent that would end up intaking exhaust from the rear. Intake would then be limited to just the upper vents.

If it worked, the hot air could vent out the sides without resupplying the rear intake with hot air. I suspect that you could use three top fans with this setup (you'd lose a bit of intake out the exhaust, but not so much the other way around), and combined with an intake filter it would be a pretty handy little mod.

Basically, the the green parts would be solid walls, preferably with rubber capped outer edges to create a seal, the only opening through the blue square at the top. The yellow section would be an intake filter.

I can kind of imaging this sort of thing selling on the custom mods market, but wouldn't have a clue how to actually get on measured up and manufactured.

 

[Aeacus]

Inverted MoBo tray won't interfere with PSU's positioning since it sits above PSU. So, you can mount your PSU either way problem free.

With inverted design, i'm unsure which fan setup would be ideal since there are some conflicting factors (e.g GPU). Here, you need to test different setups and see how they would do temps wise. But sealing out the rear top intake fan could work. Sadly, i don't know where you could get those needed parts since i haven't modded my PC cases so far.
Another oddball with this case is that the solid side panel (behind MoBo tray) has support for 2x 120mm fans that can be either intake or exhaust. That in turn adds more headache when it comes to the airflow and if you plan to use those spots as well. Luckily, Be Quiet! includes dust filter for side fans as well.

As far as filters go, you can use Demciflex filters, e.g this kit specifically made for Dark Base Pro 900,
link: https://www.demcifilter.com/demciflex-magnetic-dust-filter-for-dark-base-pro-900-filter-kit
video introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcJYl8UdPjw

I also have Demciflex filter kits in use for my Skylake and Haswell builds for superb dust management.


About airflow pressure (positive, neutral and negative).
There are pros and cons with positive and negative pressure and i'll explain what those are.

Positive pressure (higher air intake than air exhaust)
Pros
Less dust enters the system
All case openings contribute to getting heat out

Cons
Less cooling than negative or neutral pressure
Can create stagnant air inside the case which causes internal temps to rise

Negative pressure (higher air exhaust than air intake)
Pros
Better cooling than positive or neutral pressure
Amplification of natural convection

Cons
More dust enters the system
All case openings contribute to the air intake

Neutral pressure is between the two above.

Further reading about setting up airflow: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/faq/id-1858957/airflow-101-setting-fans-keeping-computer-cool.html

I run my Skylake and Haswell builds in negative pressure for optimal cooling. Since i have all intake holes and grilles covered with Demciflex filters, there's no problem for dust entering my systems.

 

[01i]

The DD900PRO has a design flaw when it comes to the PSU that I saw mentioned on a youtube review. The PSU is mounted in the case, and can be positioned in the middle or to either side to allow for the various options when it comes to motherboard placement. Even in the middle, the PSU intake is partially blocked, but if the PSU needs mounting to either side, it's even worse. It's a slightly strange design, but you can see the issue in these two pics from a custom build log by Zeuligan.

That said, in all the product photos be quiet picture the PSU feeding from underneath so it might not be an issue.

I was aiming for something neutral but with slightly higher pressure. I figured that 4x high speed intakes having to pull air through filters, would match well to 4x standard speed exhausts combined with the supplimentary exhausts from the PSU and GPU.

Didn't realise that negative pressure was cooler though.

I found demcifilter the other day because they actually make a set of filters for the DB900PRO. Oddly enough, I sent them email yesterday to see if they could make custom filters with walls, but have not heard back yet.

Even with the full demcifilter kit it would require additional custom filters to cover all vents on the DB900P for a dust-free negative pressure setup.

There are vents on the PCI slot covers which are not covered in the DB900Pro kit (but could be dealt with by custom covers or by purchasing Gelid PCI filters), but the way the PSU is positioned inside the case creates a huge opening behind the PSU, which would require a two-part custom filter to deal with because, there's no filter in the demcifilter DB900Pro pack for that either.

Seems like I've got some trial and error ahead. Do you think that 4x high-speed and 4x normal speed would be a safe bet?

 

[Aeacus]

Looking at the pics of the case, there's big enough opening for a PSU intake with fan facing downwards and i don't see a problem why PSU can't have it's own independent airflow setup.

There's no point to filter exhaust air. Also, you may not need to put filter at the PSU's exhaust. Unless, you place the PSU fan up and PSU has semi-passive fan that doesn't turn on low loads (e.g most of the Seasonic lineup), thus creating a backdraft through PSU when you have negative pressure inside the case.

As far as covering the unused PCI-E slots of my cases, i've used the filter meant for a rear fan to cover those openings.
Here's an image of it too; Skylake build on left, Haswell build on right,

Rather than going with 4x high-speed fans and 4x standard fans, go with 8x high-end fans that have high airflow and high static pressure with PWM control and huge RPM range, so you can adjust fan speeds greatly and test out different airflow pressures in your system, e.g intake fans at 800 RPM and exhaust fans at 1500 RPM (for negative pressure) or intake at 1200 RPM and exhaust at 600 RPM (for positive pressure).

One such fan that can do all above is Corsair ML140 Pro LED series fan.
specs: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/LED-Color/Fan-Size/Package-Quantity/ml-pro-led-config/p/CO-9050047-WW
review: http://thermalbench.com/2016/07/29/corsair-ml140-pro-140-mm-fan/
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/D34NnQ,cfyxFT,sYNypg,ycH48d/

Here are the pros and cons of Corsair ML140 Pro fans:
Pros
* great airflow (20 - 97 CFM)
* great static pressure (0.2 - 3.0 mmH2O)
* great RPM range (400 - 2000 RPM)
* PWM control (4-pin fan)
* mag-lev bearing
* 4 color options (red LED, blue LED, white LED and non-LED version)

Mediocre
* noise output (16 - 37 dB(A))

Cons
* price

As you already know, i have Corsair ML Pro LED series fans in use in my Skylake build, both 120mm and 140mm. What you may not know is that i have them in use in my Haswell build as well, also 120mm and 140mm. Only LED color is different where i have red LED ones in Skylake and blue LED ones in Haswell to match the build's theme.

So far, i haven't find any other fan that would have better stats than Corsair ML Pro series fans have. Sure, there are airflow oriented fans out there that have even higher airflow but the static pressure is very low on them, making any restrictions in the airflow (e.g filters) hurt the fan performance really bad. Static pressure oriented fans, in the other hand, have low airflow and to get any decent airflow out of them, you need to run those close to the max RPM, increasing the output noise considerably.
Great balance between static pressure and airflow isn't the only thing that matters. There's also the fan bearing that plays a big role and i don't look towards any fan that doesn't have either fluid-dynamic bearing or mag-lev bearing. From here you can read why i prefer those two bearings and why i don't go with sleeve bearing or (double) ball bearing,
link: https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/779-computer-case-fan-bearing-differences
Another thing that's important to me when it comes to the fans is the RPM range. Most fans have either fixed RPM or low RPM range. Making it difficult to test out different airflow pressures, without replacing the fan itself.
And lastly, Corsair ML Pro series fans have single color LEDs to offer some eyecandy which is cherry on the top of the cake. Also, due to the nature of 4-pin fans in PWM mode, their LEDs will shine brightly, regardless the fan RPM. While with 3-pin fans in DC mode, their LED brightness depends directly on how fast the fan spins.

If Corsair would've taken the performance of ML Pro fans and combined it with the eyecandy of their LL-series fans,
LL140, specs: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Fans/ml-config/p/CO-9050073-WW

We would have the best performing and also great looking fan. In this case, i would've replaced all my 10x ML Pro series fans with RGB ones for additional eyecandy while maintaining the great performance of my fans.
While Corsair did came out with ML-series RGB fan,
ML140 RGB, specs: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/LED-Color/ml-pro-rgb-config/p/CO-9050077-WW

They capped the max RPM range from 2000 to 1200 which greatly reduces the fan performance, thus making it an average performing fan. That and also the RGB LEDs are only inside the fan hub and not around the fan frame, like the LL-series fan have. Oh well, i guess we can't have perfect fan. Though, i won't replace my fans to get more eyecandy in the cost of their performance.

 

[01i]

The case comes with 3x 140mm bequiet Silent Wings 3 PWM fans.

They only list airflow (59.5cfm/101.09m3h) and pressure (1.08) at 12V for these fans, but the operating voltage ranges from 5-13.2.

I was going to buy a fourth standard Silent Wings 3, and then combine them with four of the high-speed version, which also lists airflow (77.57cfm/131.79m3h) and pressure (2.16) at 12V with the same operating voltage.

I thought about LED fans, but I've never had a load of LEDs before and don't know if I'll find them irritating or not. My current case has an LED on the outside which I never used, but I can't see inside.

My thoughts initially were to buy non-LED fans, see if I like the LED's on the Wraith Spire and the two strips that come with the DB900Pro, and then purchase a Phanteks Digital RGB LED Starter Kit and some Halos.

At this point I still don't know what to do, I've not really got any closer to a final solution

I've got all the parts for my new build waiting in boxes on top of my wardrobe, but still haven't purchased the case or the fans

The fan controller that comes with the case also runs the LED strips and the Qi-Charger. I can't get any sort of response from be quiet regarding whether or not those two items can be controlled by any other means, allowing me to ditch the bundled controller and use the space it takes on the back panel for something else like a Commander Pro.

Plus, the fan controller includes four 4pin PWM connectors and four 3pin connectors. If I buy my fans for the controller as a temporary measure, I need to get four 3pin fans, because I also can't get an answer on how the controller deals with using a 4pin fan on a 3pin header. I obviously don't want to buy 4pins only to learn that 4 of them run at full-speed

I'm confused about skipping the controller an dusing the MB, because the 4pin connectors on the board only provide 12V, so unpowered Y splitters would only be able to deliver 6V to each fan? right? I don't really see the point in having 2x half speed fans instead of 1x full speed.

I still don't know whether to get 4x 4pin fans and 4x 3pin fans, or to get 8x 4pin fans and find space for a second fan controller

 

[Aeacus]

You can use DC control with 4-pin fan just fine since 4-pin fans support both control methods: PWM and DC. While 3-pin (and 2-pin) fans only support DC control method (since they lack the 4th pin needed for PWM control).

Also, you can connect 4-pin fan to 3-pin header just fine, provided the 3-pin header has enough space for wider 4-pin connector.
Image:

When you use Y-splitter on MoBo fan header, it's voltage won't be divided. It still can support up to 12V for both fans.
What happens though, is that with Y-splitter, you'll increase the amperage level on MoBo's fan header. Most MoBo fan headers are rated for 1A at 12V, while most fans are 0.3A at 12V. With that, you can easily connect 2x fans on one MoBo fan header where amperage rating would be 0.6A if you use 0.3A fans. Though, don't go overboard with fan amperage since when you do, you'll overload MoBo's fan header and fry it. E.g 3x 0.4A fans would make 1.2A. You can damage your MoBo even further when overloading it's fan header with fans.

 

[01i]

So, I could buy a 3x pack of Noctua Chromax Y-Splitters and combine them with the case controller and have 4 different channels for price of a cheap fan. Think I'll do that.

You linked to Thermal Bench and comparing the ML140Pro to the Silent Wings 3 (SW3) and the Silent Wings 3 High Speed (SW3-HS), both the be quiet fans come out with a higher rating. ML140Pro is faster but also louder.

ML140Pro: 400-2000RPM - 80% Rating
SW3: 350-1000RPM - 90% Rating (Highly Recommended)
SW3-HS: 450-1600RPM - 85% Rating (Recommended)

Whatever happens my case will have three of the normal speed SW3 fans, but the other 5 fans are still optional. I was going to go with bequiet simply for aesthetic consistancy, but I'm open to change that. The ML140Pro (in non-LED) comes out pretty much identical price to SW3 fans.

Just how important is that extra RPM in an aircooled, single GPU case with 8 fans?

 

[Aeacus]

You can go with Silent Wings 3 and it's High Speed version if you like to match them with your stock fans.

Though, do note that the 3-pin and 4-pin Be Quiet! fans have different fan curve between DC and PWM mode. It was also shown in the reviews, Silent Wings 3 140mm:

Silent Wings 3 High Speed 140mm:

And reason why ML140 Pro has lower score on Thermalbench site than Be Quiet! fans is due to the fan pricing at the time of the review.

As far as the extra RPM Corsair ML140 Pro fan can achieve, for an air cooled PC, high RPM isn't needed as much. But since ML140 Pro fans are also solid rad fans, they have high RPM ceiling for pushing air through the rad fins.
I prefer when my fans have the 2000 RPM limit and while i usually run them at 1100 RPM (+/- 100), it's satisfying to know that i can get a lot more performance out of them when needed. E.g during heavy benchmarking where i've used the extra headroom on cooling wise to keep my temps within reason.

 

[01i]

Ahhh.. makes sense that something had changed. 80% thermalbench seemed low for the fans as you described them.

Didn't realise that the stock fans were high-speed, the product page for the case on the bequiet website says that they are 1000RPM rather than 1600RPM. That's good to know, thanks.

So just buy high-speed for them all?

I saw that thing about the fan curve oddness. Hopefully it won't be so much of an issue with PC controlled PWM as it would be turning dials on a manual controller. Plus I can change to voltage control in the BIOS if it's an issue.. right?

I've also managed to get in touch with Zeuligan (the modder who's photos I referenced). He thought my idea was cool, and is going to build my top chamber dividing system for me

Probably going to swap to 4x120mm on top instead of 3x140mm because there's a nice dividing point between the front and rear pair of 120mm mounts.

This is my thought.

2x 140mm Front Intakes & 1x 140mm Rear Exhaust connected to Fan Controller on AIO
2x 140mm Bottom Intakes connected to Noctua Y-Splitter on Fan1
2x 120mm Top Exhausts connected to Noctua Y-Splitter on Fan2
2x 120mm Top Exhausts connected to Noctua Y-Splitter on Fan3 (converted to intakes after mod)

You've been really helpful by the way. Thanks for coming back to this thread over and over

 

[Aeacus]

It's better idea to go with the High-Speed fans over regular ones since High-Speed fans can go up to 1600 RPM while regular fans are stuck at 1000 RPM at max. Otherwise, both fans are identical. Strangely enough, High-Speed fan is a lot cheaper in Newegg than it's slower counterpart,
regular, newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V46Y1205
High-Speed, newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V46Y1208

Oh, i didn't say stock fans are High-Speed ones. Those are still regular SilentWings 3 140mm 1000 RPM fans, just like stated in specs page,
link: https://www.bequiet.com/en/case/699

As far as Corsair ML series non-LED fans go and if ML140 Pro costs a bit too much for you ($26.40 per fan), you can go with regular ML140 twin pack that costs $20 per fan, which would be cheaper than Be Quiet! High-Speed fan ($22.90 per fan),
ML140 non-LED twin pack, newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181111&cm_re=ml140-_-35-181-111-_-Product
ML140 Pro non-LED, newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181107&cm_re=ml140_pro-_-35-181-107-_-Product

Difference between ML Pro and regular ML is only aesthetical where regular ML has white fan blades and it's rubber corners aren't changeable to a different colored one. Other than that, both ML140 series fans are identical.