I Need A Fan Controller

[Poseidonas]

Hello! I never owned a fan controller before so I am not sure what to demand/expect. My motherboard has plenty of headers but only three offer temperature sensitive automatic throttling.

Here is what I'm looking for:

1. Must be 5.25" wide (single or dual slot acceptable)
2. Must be white or black to match my case
3. Must be able to set an auto throttle depending on temperature
4. Must have 4 channels or more
5. Must have lighting in either white, red or green (unless it is changeable)
6. Must show at minimum the RPM and temperature in Celsius.

Here are seven units that caught my attention:

1. Lamptron CW611
2. AeroCool Touch 2100
3. NZXT Sentry 2
4. BitFenix Recon
5. Thermaltake Commander FT
6. Scythe Kaze Master II
7. Scythe Kaze Master Flat II

Thanks for any help!

 

[Paperdoc]

Before you make that decision, let me prompt you for some other info. It sounds as if you would prefer to use automatic control of your fans by the mobo, based on temperatures measured by its sensors. BUT you have more fans than mobo headers. By the way, in case you were not aware, mobos normally have two such systems: one for the CPU cooling based on a sensor inside the CPU chip, and another for case ventilation based on a sensor in the mobo.

If too many fans is your basic issue, there are two good ways to deal with that. But before we get into those details, there is another important issue - matching of fan type with header type. Fans come in 3-pin and 4-pin types, and so do mobo fan headers. If fan type matches header type there is no problem. A 4-pin fan can be controlled by either type of header, but of the two, a true 4-pin header is the better option. HOWEVER, a 3-pin fan plugged into a 4-pin header operating in true PWM Mode can only run at full speed - no speed control.

3-pin headers operate in 3-pin mode, better called Voltage Control Mode (or DC Mode) because they control fan speed by varying the voltage supplied to the fan on Pin #2. A true 4-pin header operates in PWM Mode. In this design, the voltage supplied on Pin #2 is always 12 VDC (not varying), and the header also provides a new signal, the PWM signal, on Pin #4. Inside a 4-pin fan a small chip uses that PWM signal to control what fraction of the time that fixed 12 VDC supply is actually allowed to flow through the motor, and that controls speed. A 3-pin fan has no such chip, so if it is on a PWM Mode header it gets full 12 VDC all the time and runs full speed. A 4-pin fan on a 3-pin header does not receive the PWM signal and hence cannot modify the power supplied on Pin #2. BUT that power is VARYING, so the motor speed can be controlled.

What gets confusing is that the number of pins on a mobo header does NOT tell you reliably what type it is! 3-pin headers can only operate in Voltage Control Mode. But there are many mobos that have 4-pin headers that actually operate as if they were 3-pin headers (using Voltage Control Mode) with a useless 4th pin. For purposes of powering and controlling one fan (or a few fans via a splitter), this works because both 3- and 4-pin fans can work with this control mechanism. BUT for use with HUBS it's a problem, because a fan Hub MUST have a PWM signal (from a true 4-pin header that uses PWM Mode) to work.

OK, that's the background. From that you may have figured out that, for a modest number of fans, a SPLITTER can do the job you need IF the fans you have are of the right type for the headers you have. For lots of fans, a HUB may be necessary, but can only work if the header in use is a true 4-pin type.

To get to the final answer, we need more info. Tell us how many fans you plan to use for case ventilation, and what type are they: 3-pin or 4-pin? (Do not include your CPU cooling system - I always recommend that you use the CPU_FAN header for that, and that case vent fans be done separately with the SYS_FAN or CHA_FAN headers.) Now tell us which mobo you have - maker and exact model number. With that we can look up its fan header specs and advise how that matches with your fans, and how best to connect them together to achieve automatic fan speed control.

By the way, I see you have grasped an important point in this field. Although we all talk about fan speed control, the truth is that these are TEMPERATURE control systems. Each of the two constantly compares a temperature measured in the respective sensor area to a target appropriate to the component and manipulates the speed of fan(s) to achieve a target temperature. It does not really care what that speed is - it just makes the temperature come into line.

 

[aigomorla]

kaze masters are all garbage.. toss them out of your list.

lamptron had some quality, but i dont know if they still do anymore.

Sunbeam made great controllers, but people would complain about the LED's being too bright.

 

[dlerious]

kaze masters are all garbage.. toss them out of your list.

lamptron had some quality, but i dont know if they still do anymore.

Sunbeam made great controllers, but people would complain about the LED's being too bright.

I still have a pair of Sunbeams running on another computer. I went with the Aquaero in this computer because I can do quite a bit with the software (fan profiles based on temps in different areas, monitor flow rates, and control LEDs).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I still have a pair of Sunbeams running on another computer. I went with the Aquaero in this computer because I can do quite a bit with the software (fan profiles based on temps in different areas, monitor flow rates, and control LEDs).

Generally, if one determines to buy a front-panel controller or add-on controller, the Aquaero 5 once had a bare circuit board with simple mounting hardware that connected via USB to the motherboard and had its own processor. To me, the front-panel thing is just glitz and bling, provided you can get monitoring info and make thermal-control tweaks with software.

Otherwise, unless you want a manual controller or just can't resist spending money on an add-on controller, a controller that comes with its own sensor wires, a controller of 3-pin, 4-pin PWM or some combination (they DO exist!) -- you can otherwise do all this through the motherboard.

You must first simplify your cooling "problem" so that you deem it adequate to control fans as Paperdoc said -- in two groups: fans connected to the CPU_FAN and a "CPU_FAN_OPT" option fan port on the motherboard with strictly PWM fans, and fans connected to a CHA_FAN port that can be either a group of PWM or a limited number of 3-pin fans. I'll explain shortly what "limits" the number of 3-pin fans, but you most likely have two and possibly more CHA_FAN ports or "combo" ports depending on the model of motherboard and what you spent on it. But you must use a port either for PWM fans (and a splitter) or 3-pin fans -- not a combination wired to the same single port or splitter.

On some boards, you can probably control one or more 3-pin fans from the 4-pin PWM CPU_FAN Port(s), but you have to do the same work you might encounter for CHA_FAN control connections. And Some CHA_FAN ports on SOME motherboards can be used as either 3-pin or 4-pin ports.

Spend the $10 and buy a Swiftech 8-port PWM splitter. you can only monitor one of the 8 connected fans or devices, but you can control up to 8 with a single CPU_FAN or [. . ]_OPT connection, and power comes directly from the PSU -- thus no strain on the motherboard.

For 3-pin fans connected to 3-pin or "combo" 3/4-pin CHA_FAN ports of the motherboard, and if you know how to make neat solder joints for splices in the wiring, you would add up the amperage of all fans you want to connect to a single fan port. They should not exceed the per-port amperage limit for the motherboard -- usually 1A per port. Then connect the fans in parallel and run the tach wire for ONLY ONE FAN to the motherboard port. You can usually manufacture a simple multi-fan harness to a single 3-pin motherboard port (or the 3 pins used that way on a combo port).

It simplifies things if all the fans connected to a splitter or wired in parallel to a single port are identical, since you only would need to monitor one in the group if you can visually confirm for yourself that all the fans are running normally.

If you want to extend monitoring to one or more individual fans running from either PWM splitter or a parallel-wiring harness as I described, you could run the tach wire (usually yellow) from that fan to a free fan port -- even a "PWR_FAN" port that cannot be controlled.

I don't THINK you need a ground-wire connection for these latter, but if you do, it only complicates the wire-splicing work by doubling it.

Otherwise, AigoMorla, Paperdoc, and dlerious all contribute something here.

But the essential point of it: you can thermally control quite a few fans from motherboard ports if the mobo has adequate fan control for two groups of ports, you choose to use only PWM CPU and CHA fan ports with two Swiftech or Akasa splitters, or you buy one splitter and do your own soldering work for a 3-pin wiring harness.

And sometimes, certain fans can only be obtained as 3-pin models. But you can still splice together 3x 0.25A fans and plug the harness to a single 3-pin or combo port.

I just see no reason to buy an add-in controller if you can do it this way, or if you're fine with controlling fans as two groups using bundled motherboard software.

Otherwise -- Aquaero. But you'll pay for it -- probably between $50 and $100.

 

[Paperdoc]

There are a couple of wrinkles to add to what BonzaiDuck said. The only devices that can allow you to connect more than 4 or 5 fans to ONE mobo header and control them are HUBS, not SPLITTERS. The Swiftech 8-way PWM Splitter he mentioned actually is a Hub, because it does NOT depend on the mobo header for power to the fans. It gets fan power directly from the PSU with a connection to a SATA power output. But it DOES pick up a PWM signal from the header to share to all its fans, and that's how control is done. Like any PWM Hub, this means the header used MUST be a true 4-pin header operating in PWM Mode, AND it means the normally you can only use this to control 4-pin fans.

The problem is that many mobos today have 4-pin SYS_FAN or CHA_FAN headers that are "universal" in the sense that they can power and control BOTH 3-pin and 4-pin fans, and that works just fine for one fan, of for a few using a SPLITTER that does NOT get power from the PSU. BUT the way it does this is that it really is NOT a true 4-pin header. It operates only in 3-pin Voltage Control Mode, and relies on the backwards compatibility feature of 4-pin fans for them to work. That means that the 4th pin is useless and does NOT provide the PWM signal that a HUB must have. Thus a 4-pin PWM HUB can NOT work with these headers.

How do you tell? it can be very difficult. OP, post back here the maker and exact model number of your mobo. We can look up its manual and tell you what type of fan headers you have. Post also what type of case ventilation fans you have (3-pin or 4-pin) and how many. I see your case is the Corsair Carbide Series 540 which includes three pre-instaled 3-pin fans, but do you have others, too? Just to complete the list, what are you using for your CPU cooling system?

A small alert: normally you can NOT control 3-pin fans using a 4-pin PWM Hub because of the difference in how the two fan designs are controlled. However there IS one Hub I know of that can do it IF a Hub turns out to be your best solution. But it MIGHT be that a couple of splitters will do what you want.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

There are a couple of wrinkles to add to what BonzaiDuck said. The only devices that can allow you to connect more than 4 or 5 fans to ONE mobo header and control them are HUBS, not SPLITTERS. The Swiftech 8-way PWM Splitter he mentioned actually is a Hub, because it does NOT depend on the mobo header for power to the fans. It gets fan power directly from the PSU with a connection to a SATA power output. But it DOES pick up a PWM signal from the header to share to all its fans, and that's how control is done. Like any PWM Hub, this means the header used MUST be a true 4-pin header operating in PWM Mode, AND it means the normally you can only use this to control 4-pin fans.

The problem is that many mobos today have 4-pin SYS_FAN or CHA_FAN headers that are "universal" in the sense that they can power and control BOTH 3-pin and 4-pin fans, and that works just fine for one fan, of for a few using a SPLITTER that does NOT get power from the PSU. BUT the way it does this is that it really is NOT a true 4-pin header. It operates only in 3-pin Voltage Control Mode, and relies on the backwards compatibility feature of 4-pin fans for them to work. That means that the 4th pin is useless and does NOT provide the PWM signal that a HUB must have. Thus a 4-pin PWM HUB can NOT work with these headers.

How do you tell? it can be very difficult. OP, post back here the maker and exact model number of your mobo. We can look up its manual and tell you what type of fan headers you have. Post also what type of case ventilation fans you have (3-pin or 4-pin) and how many. I see your case is the Corsair Carbide Series 540 which includes three pre-instaled 3-pin fans, but do you have others, too? Just to complete the list, what are you using for your CPU cooling system?

A small alert: normally you can NOT control 3-pin fans using a 4-pin PWM Hub because of the difference in how the two fan designs are controlled. However there IS one Hub I know of that can do it IF a Hub turns out to be your best solution. But it MIGHT be that a couple of splitters will do what you want.

I was stunned with your observations. I have assumed for a long time that the combo CHA_FAN ports on ASUS boards would work just like the CPU_FAN AND [. . . ]_OPT ports do. While I might run a PWM fan on one of those CHA ports, it would still be controlled, but by varying voltage and not PWM.

So I can see why a Swiftech "hub" wouldn't work with a string of PWMs on one of those combo ports. And I feel bad, because I may have advised people in this or older threads that they do.

It complicates the opportunity to control fans in two groups.

Thanks again for your observations, but I'm unsettled by this discovery. I found an ASUS ROG site by querying the topic, and indeed -- what you say about those CHA combo ports is true for a Maximus board -- therefore, all boards in the product line. And ASUS had always implemented this fan-control feature as well or better than some other board makers. At least -- that I know of . . .

 

[Paperdoc]

Yeah, it took me a while to recognize what the design is, and why it has been used so widely. The mobo makers that use this approach do not make it easy to detect that from their manuals. For example, although the header pin labels make it clear in many cases, the same manuals provide. in other part of BIOS Setup, instructions for how to adjust the fans when in Manual Setting mode, and those indicate the settings are in terms of %PWM per Celsius degree. That unit does not make sense for a port working in Voltage Control Mode.

I agree with you that ASUS has done VERY well with fan header design on many of their boards. Some offer the option to allow the user to specify the control Mode on every header - CPU_FAN and SYS_FAN - and some offer on each SYS_FAN header a choice of several temperature sensors by which to guide that header's control function. But of course they don't do that on every product.