Hi, I've just finished building my first pc and have used a Fractal Define R2 case. To keep the cooling going I bought a couple of extra fans. Unfortunatley the fan controller that comes with the case only supports 3 fans and seems to be the weakest manufactured part. Currently I've installed 4 case fans - 3 in the fan controller and 1 as a system fan on motherboard however I think I would like a better method of controlling the fans. I also have an additional fan to install as I couldnt work out how to power it! I don't really want to overclock the processor until I've sorted out the cooling. Any ideas how to fix this / suggestions on decent fan controllers - they all seem to be limited to 3 fans maybe 4 at most. Build: Fractal R2 Case Gigabyte PM55-UD2 Intel i7-870 4gb DDR3 1600 Corsair Dominator ram Antec TruePower 750w Titan Fenrir cooler Sapphire Vapor-X 1gb HD5870 gfx card
You have the option of a fan splitter, most fans dont have a particularly high load so getting 2 onto 1 header is not a problem. Some of the shop bought fan controllers can take up to 4 fans per header. So that gives you loads of room to expand.
Depends how much power the fan controller can supply, as I was going to do this with 3 Gentle Typhoon 1850's on one header of my fan controller (Schythe Kaze Master Ace 5.25") but the 3 fans pull just over 14W at start up and the controller is rated to 12W per channel. This would burnout the controller I'd have thought.
You're dead right Pete, it would indeed lead to a melt down, the real power house controllers require their own feed direct from the PSU in order to supply the wattage that they need.
The Fractal R2 fan controller is rated to 10w. As the R2 has a door, you won't be able to fit 3.5" or 5.25" bay controllers, unless they don't have any knobs. Maybe another PCI slot controller, something like this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Aset...-Kit-3pin-Fan-Fan-Controller-Motherboard-Kit?
Not true, though every review I've seen of this case for some reason makes this point. I have an R2 and a Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus, and it fits fine - all you have to do is mount it further back in the 5.25'' slot, there's plenty of space behind because fan controllers are so shallow compared to optical drives. So long as you don't mind there being a slight gap there it works. Having said that, if you don't already have a fan controller, the touch screen ones look okay. They're probably a bit fiddly compared to just turning a knob, but arguably cooler and less prone to attracting dust.
Fair point although I wouldn't like the gap - personal preference I guess. I have never thought that the touch screen controllers were anything but fiddly, does anyone else know better?
thanks for the posts. would something like this do: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/NZXT-Sentry-2-Touch-Screen-Fan-Controller-525 apart from looking like a teenages hifi system it has 5x10w channels which would be ample for me. I'm not sure how you'd go about sticking more than one fan into a channel... i imagine i could buy special dual to single cables or would have to merge the 2 fans into one cable myself after buying a new connector?
Something like this will do: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Akasa-AK-FY320-3pin-Female-to-2-x-3pin-Male-(Fan)-Splitter-Cable, unless you want to make them up yourself. I agree with the comment about the controller looking like a teenage hi-fi, I would search the reviews on the touch screen controllers to see which is worth it tbh, a lot of reviews I have read mention that it is fiddly to change the fan speeds.
I would also 2nd splitter cables. You can even make your own controller using some switches from maplins. i made a lovely 7v/12v switch that i fitted to a pci plate on my old machine
I've had a bit of a look around and http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/fan_control/sentry_2 seems to be about the best option as far as I can tell. I prefer the LX version but the case I'm using doesn't have 2x5.25" bays spare so I'll just have to not look under my desk or shut the door on the case! I could have gone for the LXE but I don't really want something else cluttering up my desk so the lesser of all evils appears to be the teenagers hifi / car stereo look. I don't think I'm quite up to modding / building my own at the minute - although it has to be said i've found building my own pc to be far FAR easier than I expected. thanks.
The 1 you've pick is ok , but be careful because it's got quite low wattage on each channel, other than that it'll do just what you want it to.
