Fan Controller Question

[zero koopa]

I just purchased a new PC (hasnt even arrived yet) and I wanted a fan controller, so I picked up the Scythe Kaze Master 5.25.

Here are some of the parts in the new build
Fan Controller: Scythe Kaze Master http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811998038
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling 610W http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817703005
Case: Antec 900 http://www.antec.com/us/produc...ails.php?ProdID=15900#
Motherboard: Gigabyte ds3l http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059

Fans
1. 200mm exhaust top
2. 120mm exhaust rear
3. 2x120mm intake bottom front
4. 120mm heatsink fan (Noctua NF-P12-1300 Ultra w/ a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme)

I was wondering am I able to link the 2x120mm intakes on the same level (one nob on the fan controller) so that both intake fans are incorporated on the same nob? If so how?
If not, am I able to connect the 200mm top exhaust ,120mm rear exhaust, 120mm heatsink, and one of the 120mm front intake to the fan controller and the other to the motherboard?

There is an option of getting a 120mm to blow behind the intakes as well as on the side door. If i decide to do this will I be able to hook these up either to the motherboard or the fan controller?

Also if anyone has this case if they would recomend keeping the fans that come with the case or replacing them.

 

[AmberClad]

$0.79 Y-cable

 

[zero koopa]

will this allow me to use the 2x fans at full power? or is the power halved?

 

[AmberClad]

No, you need something like a 12v --> 9v cable that actually reduces the voltage to reduce the speed. The splitter still outputs the same voltage on both ends.

Edit: Just don't overdo it and trying to daisy chain a whole bunch of them together into a fan Christmas tree...
Edit 2: It looks like you're ordering from NewEgg. They have this too.

 

[aigomorla]

your gonna love that controller. I absolutely love mine.

some advice, keep your wires in check. With all the temp probes and the fan leads going ito it, it can get extremely messy.

 

[zero koopa]

I just picked up the 3 Y adapter. After looking at the fans, it looks like all the fans are 4 pin I am wondering if anyone has run into this problem. Should i just get a 4x 4 pin to 3 pin adapters? Do they even make these?

 

[aigomorla]

oh no koopa you bought the wrong fans. :\

as i said in your pm's those are PWM fans, They can only hook up to your cpu fan header.

I dont know how to convert them to regular fans, you might want to pm and ask zepper as he knows a lot more about fans then i do.

 

[AmberClad]

Ack! I didn't realize his case fans are PWM. Oh dear...

 

[zero koopa]

what if i replaced the 3 120mm that are already in the case with some noctuas or scythe fans (3 pin) and leave the 200mm (PWM) as is, so i have some blue light. Is that possible?

I wouldnt mind spending money on fans as long as i can get the fan controller to work, i just think that thing looks rad.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: zero koopa
what if i replaced the 3 120mm that are already in the case with some noctuas or scythe fans (3 pin) and leave the 200mm (PWM) as is, so i have some blue light. Is that possible?

I wouldnt mind spending money on fans as long as i can get the fan controller to work, i just think that thing looks rad.

yes that will work.

Noctunas arent worth it imo.

My favorate 120mm fan would be this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835118021

since you wanted blue.

 

[Zepper]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves as I doubt your fans are PWM. Are the 4-pin connectors you are talking about, the big Molex ones that can connect directly to a peripheral connector on the PSU or ones like the standard 3-pin fan connector, but with an extra pin. On PWM fans the connector is the latter (like 3-pin but with one extra), the first three pins are the same as a standard fan's the extra pin is the PWM control line. So they will work on a regular fan header off your controller or the mobo, just let the PWM control pin hang off the end.

re. connecting two fans together: Yes, you can do that, but only the power lines (usually red and black) can be Y-ed - only one speed sensor wire (usually yellow) can be connected at a time, so if both fans are the same, then one speed sensor cans serve for both. You can remove the yellow wire from the connector shell of one of the fans. Easy to figure out how to do if you get your magnifier and study the connector a bit.

. You can Y (parallel) together as many fans per channel as long as the total current or power doesn't exceed the channel's rating. Say your controller is rated at 12 Watts per channel. Then the Amps on the channel can be up to a total of 1. So, assuming two fans, each fan can be up to 0.5 Amp or power can equal 6 Watts per fan (both mean the same assuming 12V fans).

.bh.

 

[zero koopa]

I think this is what i was looking for. Involves modding the fans but i think it will work.

http://www.tomshardware.com/fo...-controller-antec-case
You can use a fan controller on the 900 with some limitations
1. You need some kind of 3 pin to molex Adapter(a backwards one since you are not running a fan on a molex, you are telling a 3 pin fan controller to be a molex) since the Tricool fans only us the 4 pin molix.
2. Getting a fan controller with RPM monitoring is unless with the fans in the 900 as they do not send any kind of speed signal.
So? What to do?
First off get a controller with a voltage variance of 5 to 12 volts(this is to stop you from shutting the fans off)
Next if you can not get a reversed 3 to 4 pin adapter you can just use 3 pin extension cable cut off the 3 pin male end


the one on the right is the make end(for obvious reasons )
Now cut off the molex from the fan and you will have 2 wires(Red = Positive , Black = Negative)
Now skin the wires and connect(twist, and solder if you can, if not just be careful not to pull then apart in the future) red to red and black to black....tape(electrical tape) up the yellow wire as there is nowhere to connect it to, but you do not want it loose. carefully tape up your wires in a way so they do not touch. first electrical tape the red one, then around the black one then tape them together(make sure they are well covered before this.). Last tape the yellow wire to them to keep it out of the way....
Now you can plug the tricool fan into any fan controller(3 pin) and vary it's speed.
Note:
Some fan controllers(zalman MFC 1) will not light up without a speed signal. It will control the speed but you will get no pretty light.
There may be a fan controller on the market that lets you use 4 pin molex right away. This would be a good option as it avoids any need to mod the fans.
due to the 900s open design i have found there to be little temp difference from low to med and almost none med to high.....so maybe you could just try low and see how it fairs....
EDIT
-------------------------------------------
Some Vantec fan controllers come with a reverse adapter....may be worth a look


Message edited by nukemaster on 10-15-2007 at 07:04:04 PM

 

[Zepper]

Here is the adapter you need:
http://www.jab-tech.com/4-pin-...onnector.-pr-1803.html - no fan mods necessary. You can use this adapter with your Y as there are no speed sensor wires involved.

.bh.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Here is the adapter you need:
http://www.jab-tech.com/4-pin-...onnector.-pr-1803.html - no fan mods necessary. You can use this adapter with your Y as there are no speed sensor wires involved.

.bh.

DOE!!

thanks for the save zepper, i completely forgot theres big molex types on fans.

Except when theres 4 big molex, theres usually a 3pin attachment as well.

The op said no 3 pin, so i automatically assumed pwm fan!

 

[zero koopa]

THANKS!!!!!

You just saved me like 50 bucks!

Now hopefully my local Frys has that.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Except when theres 4 big molex, theres usually a 3pin attachment as well.

The op said no 3 pin, so i automatically assumed pwm fan!

Yeah, that's what threw me too. My fans either have both the 3-pin and a Molex, or it has a separate adapter. So I assumed he bought something like those Arctic Cooling PWM fans.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: zero koopa
THANKS!!!!!

You just saved me like 50 bucks!

Now hopefully my local Frys has that.

this is why i said you should really pm that guy.

he knows a ton about fans.

 

[zero koopa]

Originally posted by: AmberClad

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Except when theres 4 big molex, theres usually a 3pin attachment as well.

The op said no 3 pin, so i automatically assumed pwm fan!

Yeah, that's what threw me too. My fans either have both the 3-pin and a Molex, or it has a separate adapter. So I assumed he bought something like those Arctic Cooling PWM fans.

I didnt "buy" the 4 pin molex fans, they come with the antec 900 case. The only fan i bought was a noctua NF-p12 for my heatsink. Might replace that to something with more power eventually. Just want to see how it performs with this fan first.

 

[Zepper]

The fans Antec supplies with many of their cases are the Tricool types, since they have built-in speed controls, Antec uses only the big Molex connections on them.They assume you'll just hook direct to the PSU and set the speed you like and fageddaboudit...

.bh.

 

[zero koopa]

WARNING:
I just want to say if you have an ANTEC 900 case and SCYTHE KAZE MASTER fan controller you cannot get the fans to display the rpms since the molex fans only have a power and a ground cable. (there is no sensor)

I'm going to swap out 3 fans, (rear and 2x intakes) for the Scythe Slip Stream 1900 RPM fans, (8-10 bucks a piece and move a ton of air) and hook those up to the fan controller. Just simple intake and exhaust boost. Turn my other fans all to low and add 2 of the 3 fans back into the case on the side and then inside the case cooling the video card.

This will leave a 4th port open (maybe even 2 if I Y the two front intakes)

NEW QUESTION:
1. Should I pull the heatsink fan off of the mobo and go into the fan controller?

2. Also, I have the Corsair dominator fan for my memory. Should I plug that into the fan controller or leave it in the mobo?

3. Where should I put my temperature gages? Id like to have one reading the CPU area, other than that I dont know where else to put them. Do I place them directly on the hard drive or memory?

 

[AmberClad]

1. You can. I've used my CPU HSF on a fan controller before. But if I'm not mistaken, your particular fan controller is capable of turning fans completely off, so be careful. Depending on your motherboard, you'll need to disable the CPU Fan alarm in the BIOS.

 

[Zepper]

I have my CPU fan hooked to my controller, but on mine it is not so easy to turn the fan down and I think the lowest it drops to is around 5V equivalent (PWM, so actually the voltage is always around 11.something anyway, so most fans will continue to run even at lowest setting). My Rheobus can go to zero, so if you have one of those be careful as Amber warned - be sure you have your health monitor utility up and running and set to warn you if your CPU temp goes out of bounds. Amber's other advice is on the money too as some mobos won't start without a working fan with a working speed sensor line connected to the fan header marked CPUFan (or similar). Most have a setting in the BIOS to disable that protective feature, but you have to boot at least once with a fan connected there (doesn't have to be the actual CPU fan, can be any fan with a working sensor) in order to change the setting.

.bh.