Did I Install My Cooler Properly and Do I Need to Buy a Fan Controller?

[LetoAtreidesII]

I have a new build in progress (this is my second PC build from scratch ever):

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z370 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Core i7-8700K Coffee Lake 6-Core 3.7 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 95W BX80684I78700K

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model CMK16GX4M2B3200C16

PSU:
EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G3, 220-G3-0850-X1, 80+ GOLD, 850W Fully Modular, EVGA ECO Mode with New HDB Fan

CPU Cooler:
CRYORIG H7 Plus Dual Fan Tower Cooler For AMD/Intel CPU

Case:
Corsair Graphite Series 760T CC-9011074-WW White Full Tower Windowed Case

Two main issues/questions:

1. Did I orient my CPU Fan (my Cyrorig H7 Plus) correctly? I tested both orientations before I installed it, and I went with pointing the fans away from the RAM sticks because it seemed to fit better. In fact, when I tested it before installing it, it didn't seem to go the other way (fans pointed towards RAM sticks) at all. Either way, it seemed like the first RAM stick slot would be blocked off (no matter which way I oriented it). Afterwards, I began to have doubts. There were no installation videos for the Cryorig H7 Plus, only for the H7 (which might be the same thing except with only one fan). But the videos I could find all seemed to show the fans oriented towards the RAM sticks (NOT the way I pointed it). So, do I need to reinstall my CPU fan to point it the other way (rotate 90 degrees, essentially)? Does it matter, and if so, how much?

Alternate view:

https://imgur.com/vaXZ0xH

2. Do I need to buy a fan controller or anything else? The connectors for my case fans don't seem to fit any connectors from my PSU (in my last build, I connected my case fans directly to the PSU). It seems that I might need to buy a fan controller or something. If so, which one should I buy, and do I have to buy anything else in addition to the fan controller (cables, etc.)?

Alternate view:

https://imgur.com/gv7bENY

Some minor questions:

3. I could probably figure this out, but I bought 2 additional case fans and I couldn't figure out where to put them (couldn't find anything in my case manual about that). So, any tips would be helpful.

4. Did I connect the power to my GPU correctly? I connected everything from one PSU cable to the GPU. It's an EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 XC ULTRA GAMING, 08G-P4-2183-KR, 8GB GDDR6, Dual HDB Fans & RGB LED

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487403

I'm pretty sure I did it right but it doesn't hurt to be sure.

(

 

[aigomorla]

1. yes it looks properly installed.
if you had problems with it blowing out, then keep it blowing up.
Normally tho you want it the other way so you can get air movement on your ram and keep them cool, but if it compromises a proper seat, then its better to keep it as you have it.

2.. no you dont need a fan controller, you can most likely connect it to a motherboard header and use pwm settings to control them via gigabyte auros app.

3. having the fan blow out up next to heat sink fan would be good and ideal, to again keep air movement on your ram.
It will also help keep static and prevent heat build up at top since it looks like the case is shielded up top.

4. if you didnt connect it properly, the gpu would either smoke and burn up, or it wont boot up.
You really cant go wrong in connecting the gpu as each of those pins are shaped so they can only go in 1 direction in 1 set order.
So if its not plugging in easily, then its the wrong connector.

 

[Campy]

1.Definitely preferable if you could rotate the CPU cooler 90' counter-clockwise, that bottom fan on it doesn't have very good access to air so close to the graphics card.

2. You can plug fans into the smaller connectors, and the large connector looks like it will take a SATA power connector from the PSU to power the fans.

3. If they're 140mm, up top as exhaust probably? I'm not familiar with that case, it looks a bit dated and wouldn't be on my list of recommended cases in 2019.

 

[Paperdoc]

Regarding fan connections, see my post in your "duplicate" on Tom's.

 

[LetoAtreidesII]

1.Definitely preferable if you could rotate the CPU cooler 90' counter-clockwise, that bottom fan on it doesn't have very good access to air so close to the graphics card.

2. You can plug fans into the smaller connectors, and the large connector looks like it will take a SATA power connector from the PSU to power the fans.

3. If they're 140mm, up top as exhaust probably? I'm not familiar with that case, it looks a bit dated and wouldn't be on my list of recommended cases in 2019.

1. So I've decided to rotate the cooler as suggested (it'll be a PITA to clean and reapply thermal paste but if nothing else, I can use all of my RAM slots this way). But to do that I might have to remove or raise one of the two fans. I didn't even realize that it was possible to move or remove the fans before I had already installed the heatsink. Not sure exactly how to do it but maybe I'll be able to figure it out by looking at it.

This video shows one of the fans elevated in some of the shots, but doesn't show how it was done:

Also, this might be something that's so obvious that nobody ever mentions it, but I assume the arrows on the side of the fans show the direction in which they blow? Because nobody ever mentions it, I'm not sure, and it doesn't hurt to be sure.

2. So connecting that large connector to a SATA PSU connector will power all the preinstalled case fans? What are the other 3 smaller connectors for then? They're for plugging fans into? Am I suposed to plug the preinstalled case fans into them or are they for additional optional fans? I took another look at the manual (when I last looked at it it made no sense).

According to my case manual (page 13):
https://www.corsair.com/corsairmedia/sys_master/productcontent/GRAPHITE-760T-Install-Guide.pdf

"Installing the fan speed selector"
"1. Connect the SATA power connector to the PSU SATA power cable. "
OK, so I'm assuming that's the wide connector and I'll try connecting that to a PSU SATA cable next time.

"2. Connect the 3 or 4-Pin fan connecter to the case fan header."
Huh? No idea what this means.

"Note: The case fans come pre-connected to the fan speed selector."
So this might mean you're right and that connecting the wide connector to the PSU via SATA will power all the fans. If so, then what are those three 3 prong male connectors I'm also holding in my hand in the photos above? Could they be for plugging additional optional fans into? Or am I supposed to plug the case fans into them and the supposed pre-connection didn't happen?

3. having the fan blow out up next to heat sink fan would be good and ideal, to again keep air movement on your ram.
It will also help keep static and prevent heat build up at top since it looks like the case is shielded up top.

The shield on top can be removed, exposing a grill. That grill is what I think I can install optional fans to. I think I can have 1 or 2 optional fans on top and 1 optional fan on the bottom. I have 2 extra fans right now. Should I install 1 on top (exhaust) and 1 on the bottom (intake) or 2 on top (exhaust)? Or should I buy a third one and have 2 on top and 1 on the bottom? The preinstalled fans are 2 intake fans in the front and 1 exhaust in the back.

 

[Campy]

I haven't used that particular CPU cooler, but it seems to use the standard small metal clips to attach the fan to the heatsink. You should easily be able to move the fans up a bit.

The standard is that fans pull air in from their "open" side and push it out the other side. Usually the direction of flow is indicated by an arrow.


From Tomshardware: "The 760T’s two-speed fan controller supports up to four fans, using a SATA-style power plug to eliminate the need for four-pin cables."

Your case has a simple two-speed fan controller. Attaching SATA power to that large connector pictured will power up to four fans that must be plugged into the small connectors. There is a button on the front panel with a picture of a fan, this should be the toggle between the two speeds.

If you don't want to use the case's fan controller you should be able to plug the fans directly into fan headers on your motherboard instead, and control the fans from either bios, or windows using appropriate software.

 

[LetoAtreidesII]

I haven't used that particular CPU cooler, but it seems to use the standard small metal clips to attach the fan to the heatsink. You should easily be able to move the fans up a bit.
...
Your case has a simple two-speed fan controller. Attaching SATA power to that large connector pictured will power up to four fans that must be plugged into the small connectors. There is a button on the front panel with a picture of a fan, this should be the toggle between the two speeds.

If you don't want to use the case's fan controller you should be able to plug the fans directly into fan headers on your motherboard instead, and control the fans from either bios, or windows using appropriate software.

Thanks. I'll try that. I had initially believed the CPU fans were integrated into the cooler.

And thanks for probably confirming what I suspected about the fan controller. I'm still confused by the step in the manual (page 13) that says "Connect the 3 or 4-Pin fan connector to the case fan header." If it's referring to the three 3 pin male connectors in my hand in the photos above, it should be referring to to connectors and headers (plural) and not make it sound like there's only one. It's also not clear whether those are for additional optional fans or for the supposedly preconnected fans.