MVF+ 900d fan planning (image heavy!)

[Mithos]

Hi guys, this will be a long post, but I am going to make it as easy to follow as I can.

I have a watercooling thread in progress elsewhere already, but I figured I should figure out my case fan setup here, since it is highly dependent on my Asus motherboard. On top of my watercooling loop, I want a solid, low-noise fan setup plan for my new case (600-1100 rpm).
For me, silence is king.

The case I plan on is that Godzilla monster, the Corsair 900D.
I know this case already has front and rear fans, but I will assume that they are ‘loud fans’ and plan a scenario without them.


Top: 2 x 140mm –or- 4 x 120mm
Rear: 1 x 140mm
Front: 3 x 120mm
Radiator: 8 x 120mm (Push/Pull) – Setup just like the rig in the picture. Both sides of the case at the bottom have mesh the fans can breathe with.

OKAY, so this is the setup I have in mind. Please feel free to recommend a better performing product, or a similar performing product that costs less money!

Top: 2 x Noctua NF-A14 ULN – connected together with rear to a 12v molex
Rear: 1 x Noctua NF-A14 ULN – connected together with tops to a 12v molex
Front: 3 x Swiftech Helix120-PWM (connecting to 1st Switchech 8way PWM splitter)
UT60 480 Radiator: 8 x Swiftech Helix120-PWM (connecting to 2nd Switchech 8way PWM splitter)


The Swiftech 8-Way PWM splitter I have in mind is shown below; this hooks into the PSU so I don’t have to worry about motherboard PWM amperage.



I am using an Asus Maximus V Formula motherboard that has 8 fan headers. According to Page 1-41 of the manual, it looks like CPU_FAN, CPU_OPT, OPT_FAN2 and OPT_FAN3 all have an "OPT FAN PWM” pin. The CHA_FAN1,2,3 do not have PWM pins.
It only states that the CPU_FAN maximum is 1A, so I will assume each PWM header has a max of 1A.
CPU_OPT
CPU_FAN
CHA_FAN 1,2,3
OPT_FAN 1,2,3 (beside each of these is a 2-pin OPT_TEMP header)

("OPT" means "optional fan" according to the manual)





Top + Rear: SO, I figure I can daisy chain the 3 x 140mm exhaust fans together with a single 12v molex.
At max speed the Noctua NF-A14 ULNs run @ 800rpm, while the low noise adapter could reduce them to 650rpm. I do not think 800rpm from a 140mm fan would be audible either way, but these fans sure are ugly compared to other liners... And painting/dyeing them voids the warranty and could ruin the balance.

Front: The front 3 x 120mm Swiftech Helix120-PWM will connect to the 1st Swiftech 8-Way PWM splitter and that PWM connector will connect to OPT_FAN1.

UT60 480 Radiator: The rad 8 x 120mm Swiftech Helix120-PWM will connect to the 2nd Swiftech 8-Way PWM splitter and that PWM connector will connect to OPT_FAN2.


THIS way I believe Asus Fan Xpert will be able to control my front fan speeds (3x) depending on case temperature (where I could set rpm to rise at a designated cpu temperature threshold)
It would sure be nice if Asus Fan Xpert controlled the radiator fan speeds (8x) according to my CPU temperature, but I am not sure how to do any of this temperature stuff yet.

Closing Thoughts:
- I would sure like to use the Noctua NF-F12s in place of the Swiftech Helix fans for my eleven 120mm, but that would cost nearly twice as much, and the color scheme would be terrible.

- I know the Noctua 14's clash with the color scheme as it is, but are there any other 140mm exhaust fans that would work as well as these vertically and horizontally?

- I would sure like to the use the Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP-15's, but they do not come in a PWM form, and I know of no other way to make my motherboard control my fan speeds than to go the PWM route. The voltage control route would leave that up to a hardware based fan controller, which sounds clunky to me (compared the FanXpert and the Bios stuff)

- I know splitter PCB boards exist for voltage controlled fans, but then there's no way to hook up a board with 8 fans to a single fan header without burning out the header, so going this way I couldn’t set software up to control rpms according to higher temperatures…
So that’s how I concluded that PWM is the way to go. I then went with the Helix PWMs because for $15 they seemed the cheapest while still being comparable for the GT AP-15s. But hell, if my color scheme already sucks, maybe I should just buy eleven Noctua NF-F12s.


THANK YOU for taking the time to read all of this!


SO, how does this all look? Did I make a terrible assumption or error in here somewhere? I clearly have no experience using fan controllers or PWM fans, or making fans do what I want them to do at different temperatures. That's all MVF terrirtory I've never set foot on...

[lizard]

@Mithos: It happens to be that I have the same motherboard (V maximus) and I'm using Fan Xpert 2 to control my fans. So in case you don't know I'll write down few notes for you. As you know you have a total of 8 (4-pin) fan conncetors.

CPU-Fan1 and CPU_Fan2 are capable of PWM control only, and their speed can be set to bo CPU temperature dependent.
CHA_Fan1 (2 and 3) can be controlled either through voltage or PWM, adn their speed can alo be set to be CPU temp dependent.
OPT-Fan1 (2 and 3) can also be controlled through both voltage and PWM, but in Fan Xpert you can NOT set them to be dependent on CPU temperature. But you can buy aftermarket temp sensors and connect them to the headers that are next to every OPT_Fan connector. Fan speed can then be controlled through Fan Xpert depending on temp provided from the sensor.

I hope I wrote it clear enough, for any additional info just ask 😉

P.S. I would also recommend not to use all programs availible in Ai Suite II. Today I use it only to control fans. I was having BSOD after every Windows startup. After some reasearch I found out that they were caused by Ai Charger+ (one of the programs availible in Ai Suite II). Anyway, when you instal Ai Suite II you can choose which programs you want or dont want to install.

[Mithos]

Menthol wrote:
I don't know about the Maximus, but it is a known fact on the RIVE that Noctua PWN fans have issues of not starting, running at very low speeds when controlled by the board. You can research that easily, I have no idea if Noctua has corrected this or if it is just on the RIVE. I purchased Noctua PWN fans at release and found that out before it had been documented. Cougar fans work very well and are quieter and better looking in my personnel experience. . I prefer a bay type fan controller for the fans on the radiator, I don't monitor the fan speeds with anything, my experience with software programs to control or monitor fans, keyboards, mice is they can cause problems with Windows and other software that can make trouble shooting very difficult. Personally I stay away from any of this kind of software. A physical rheostat is the simplest most reliable way to control anything, I am the old fashioned simple is better kind of guy though.

Thanks for the heads up about the Noctuas. I heard that mentioned on overclock.net by one fellow too. Also problems with them when on various PWM splitters. AMAZING fans for noise/air ration, but they sure don't play as nice with the other kids in the case as some cheaper fans do.
I will also keep that in mind about the simplicity and guarantee of a physical fan controller. Depending on how a PWM splitter test goes on another forum I am participating on, I may very well go down the fan controller path and switch from Noctuas to Gentle Typhoon AP-15s.

lizard wrote:
@Mithos: It happens to be that I have the same motherboard (V maximus) and I'm using Fan Xpert 2 to control my fans. So in case you don't know I'll write down few notes for you. As you know you have a total of 8 (4-pin) fan conncetors.

CPU-Fan1 and CPU_Fan2 are capable of PWM control only, and their speed can be set to bo CPU temperature dependent.
CHA_Fan1 (2 and 3) can be controlled either through voltage or PWM, adn their speed can alo be set to be CPU temp dependent.
OPT-Fan1 (2 and 3) can also be controlled through both voltage and PWM, but in Fan Xpert you can NOT set them to be dependent on CPU temperature. But you can buy aftermarket temp sensors and connect them to the headers that are next to every OPT_Fan connector. Fan speed can then be controlled through Fan Xpert depending on temp provided from the sensor.

I hope I wrote it clear enough, for any additional info just ask 😉

P.S. I would also recommend not to use all programs availible in Ai Suite II. Today I use it only to control fans. I was having BSOD after every Windows startup. After some reasearch I found out that they were caused by Ai Charger+ (one of the programs availible in Ai Suite II). Anyway, when you instal Ai Suite II you can choose which programs you want or dont want to install.

Wow, Thanks for all the interesting data, Lizard! :cool:
Man, so PWM control works on each of the 8 fan headers on the MVF, with both CPU fans AND the 3 CHA_FANs able to support PWM control based on SPU temperature using FanXpert from what I gather.
It may be valuable to contribute, I just recently read that PWM fan splitters ONLY work on the 2 CPU fan headers.

I never would have guessed that the OPT fans would become controllable after adding the temperature sensors! I should look into ordering a few of those for testing too.

And yes... I learned the hard way about the various BSODs associated with AI SUITE... Oh well, it's a great utility idea, but the interface is a little sluggish to move around in, and it causes some funky problems. Maybe the next revision will be better.