I need a fan controller!

[Bubbleawsome]

. . . But would not the alarm be tripped from thermal level(s)? So far, what you're telling me is that the Sentry is a darn good deal if it works as you say.

Does it allow the fans to spin up at continuously-increasing RPM with the temperature? Or do they just spin up from a preset level to full-bore after a thermal threshold? If the latter, that's a minor drawback from the more expensive, USB-connected "on-board processor" models I'd mentioned.

But it's only minor . . . .

I haven't used it but I think it runs based off math. If the alarm goes off at 80 40c=50% fan. It only go as low as 40% though, lower equals off.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I haven't used it but I think it runs based off math. If the alarm goes off at 80 40c=50% fan. It only go as low as 40% though, lower equals off.

It sounds like a decent controller for use with the intake fans. And like I said -- I'd run a thermal sensor to get a good CPU temperature.

I can imagine a more "complex" situations with a big case, maybe water-cooling with rads, where you might want to place more sensors in the case. But I really just feel that a midtower rig with air-cooling would do great just with a CPU sensor or control taken directly from the CPU's internal sensors.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

It sounds like a decent controller for use with the intake fans. And like I said -- I'd run a thermal sensor to get a good CPU temperature.

I can imagine a more "complex" situations with a big case, maybe water-cooling with rads, where you might want to place more sensors in the case. But I really just feel that a midtower rig with air-cooling would do great just with a CPU sensor or control taken directly from the CPU's internal sensors.

Each diode only controls it's fan though. So you would have 5 all stuffed into the CPU. :twisted:

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Each diode only controls it's fan though. So you would have 5 all stuffed into the CPU. :twisted:

So . . . you can't control several (up to four) fans from a single sensor? That's a b****.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Each diode only controls it's fan though. So you would have 5 all stuffed into the CPU. :twisted:

You might want to experiment (briefly) to see if you couldn't mod the fan wires together -- perhaps with one yellow sensor wire connected. See if you could run two fans of 2 x Amp_spec x 12V < Port_Watts_Limit so you could control them with a single sensor. The fans would be wired in parallel, which is really quite simple.

You could make your own patch cable with the proper three-pin plugs from old fans that you hate. Just tin your wire-tips before you add the final solder-blob -- if you have to solder any wires. If the experiment fails or gives a less-satisfactory result, you could just plug the fans back into the NZXT on separate ports again.

I think you can unclip and remove one yellow sensor wire from a plug on the fan end. You should be able to do it without damage, so you could just stick it back in the plug if you're not happy with the result.

Seems to me I did this with a pair of 92x25mm Thermaltake LED fans (I used to love 'em). The right speed would show up on either the computer SW or the disjoint controller's digital read-out. I was pretty well able to run those fans over their full range, but they got noisy at the top-end and were great at about 75%.

And also -- I think you could run the spare sensor wire to a mobo plug, just for monitoring. I think I did just that, and also satisfied with the result.

ADDENDUM/CORRECTION: Somewhere I maybe said that the NZXT 200mm fan(s) top-ended at 1,700 RPM. My correction here applies to the three or so other threads that intersect this topic, if that's where I said it.

No. 1,700 RPM is about par for several different 140x25mm fans -- some slightly lower.

700 RPM is a likely speed for 200mm fans like the NZXT or the wimpier CoolerMaster.

I see now that NZXT now has 200mm-LED offerings -- Blue, Red, etc. Hot diggity! They also come with two pairs of fanholes -- which appear to be relatively offset!! Yowza, yowza, yow-zaaa! Rubber fan mounts in sidepanels. Get them with the nipple on one end and the round flat head on the other. Why would the LED fan be worse than their cream-colored unit?

DOUBLE-TAKE: Hmm. Maybe I'm wrong. The unit I think I have -- FN-200RB -- will do 1,300 RPM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ords%29&amp;Page=1

I should also put a link in another thread about cheap fans.

Now dig this! I bought two -- one in the parts locker box unopened; the other is deployed in my HAF side-panel. None of the customer reviews for 1 or 2 *s seem to apply. But the 1* and 5* frequency counts are in the same order of magnitude, even with 5* more widespread.

I've been totally satisfied with it, if that's the model I've got.