Is it safe to mix resistors and fan controllers?

[BadOmen]

Greetings
On an attempt to reduce noise, I plugged my HSF (a Scythe GT 1850) on a so called Quiet Mode Adapter that came with an old Zalman fan+bracket I used to have, and then plugged the adapter on my fan controller.

Fan rotates at 720 rpm minimum now (previous minimum allowed by fan controller without the QM adapter was 980rpm). It takes a while to start when the system boots (the controller even sounded the dead fan alarm on my first boot attempt), but it doesn't look that bad.

Question: is it safe? I have never heard of the resistor + fan controller combination before. Variable voltage mixed with fixed increased resistance, I don't have a clue if it's ok or not.
Thanks

 

[Binky]

I think the only problem would be the voltage drop at the resistor, and then at the variable controller. The variable controllers never really pass the full voltage even at "max" speed. You're really just running two resistors in series dropping the ~12v down to a range of X to something-less-than-12v. If X (or whatever you choose) is enough voltage to start the fan, it shouldnt be a problem. Be careful though, the fan start voltage may change as it ages.