Jump to content
Corsair Community

Help-6 ll120 fans, plus 2 connected to the h100i aio


shaepaulo

Recommended Posts

First time builder here, I have the asus rog strix z390-e gaming mobo which looks like it has 8 fan headers for the pwm connectors on all of the ll120 fans. Am I seeing that correctly on my mobo? However, they’re all labeled certain things but I’ve read different places I’d just have to remember what fans are connected to which headers if I wanted to set the speeds in bios and that it doesn’t necessarily matter which headers I plug them into as long as I remember. Is that how that works?

Or should I get one commander pro and plug 6 of the fans into it and then maybe plug the h100i fans into the mobo? I’d be able to control the 6 chassis fans in icue correct? And then the h100i fans I would have to control in bios?

I’m very new to this so any suggestions on how you guys would set this up would help a ton.

For reference. I have the 680x case. Three fans pulling air in through the front. Two fans pushing air out the bottom. One fan pushing air out of the back. And then the two h100i fans I’ll most likely configure to pull air in from the top thru the radiator. Now where the heck should I plug all these fans in?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can use the motherboard. And yes, you'd need to know which ones are plugged in where to control them. You'd use the BIOS or your motherboard software (AiSuite) to control them.

And yes, a Commander Pro is an alternative. Now, you still need to remember what's plugged in where but you can also rename them in the interface. Furthermore, it gives you temp sensors to use a control sources for the fan curves. The fans on the cooler, however, should be plugged in to the cooler, not the motherboard or the Commander Pro. Look in the Liquid Cooler FAQ for details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the reply. I've gone ahead and ordered the commander pro to make things simpler for myself in the iCue software.

 

Now as far as a few other things go:

 

1. I've plugged the aio fans into the aio itself, but disconnected the rgb cables, left the two from the aio hanging, and the two from the fans running to the rgb fan lighting hub. Will this work the way I'm hoping it will? I won't be able to control the speeds of these will I since they're plugged into the cooler? Or will I actually be able to control them in iCue because I'll have the usb from the cooler plugged into the commander pro?

Does it work and sync with the other chassis fans in iCue if I connect those rgb cables from the fans on the cooler to those rgb cables on the cooler, ditch the extra rgb fan lighting hub since I won't be plugging those fans into it, or only the way I've stated above?

 

2. The other 6 chassis fans I've plugged into a separate rgb fan lighting hub and will connect them to the commander pro for control.

 

3. For the temp sensors that come with the commander pro, where exactly should those be placed? Just hanging somewhere as close to the important components as possible?

 

4. As for the aio cooler and it's fans. I understand that those fans need to be connected to the cooler, but what I'm assuming is the aio pump cable (the fan cable that splits off from the sata power cable) needs to be plugged into the cpu fan slot on my mobo, correct?

Edited by shaepaulo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) You can control the fan speeds of fans connected to the pump from iCUE. Yes, you'll be able to sync the RGB if you plug it into the pump. All will be controlled in iCUE and it'll save you an extra RGB Fan Hub. Both of these do require the USB from the pump to be plugged in.

 

2) Yup. Sounds perfect.

 

3) Pretty much, yeah. Place them where the temps are that you care about. Things like ... radiator intake ... internal case temp (usually right above the CPU pump - that'll give you a good read on both GPU and VRM heat) ... between hard drives (if you have multiple spindle drives, as these do get warm). There's no set placement and a lot depends on your system.

 

4) Yes, that's correct. It reports a tach signal to the motherboard to prevent a CPU Fan warning. It's not needed for proper operation of the pump but for that. This also provides a fail-safe in the event of pump failure - you'll get a CPU Fan warning if the pump isn't working.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) Yes, you will be able to control the AIO fans from iCUE now. Click on the cooler icon/name in the top menu bar. There are a couple of fan presets, but unless you have a strict climate controlled room always between 20-23C, you are going to want to make your fan curves. That takes a little observation and experimentation, but set a soft and quiet baseline at the idle coolant temp (usually 4-7C above room temp or wherever the cooler rests at idle). 9700K+240mm radiator is probably about a +10C coolant rise during high intensity or mixed GPU/CPU use. Regardless, set a fan speed you can stand somewhere around +10C higher than the idle or at the top of the range you see for your use. Most people start getting annoyed around 1300-1500. Gains past that are small, so don't drive yourself nuts for -1C of CPU temp.

 

2) Why are the two RGB wires from the cooler hanging? Did you run out of ports on the RGB hub (8 RGB fans?). The Commander Pro will give you fan control, but not replace the RGB Lighting Hub. That device is the lighting power conduit. 6 LL fans use up 4.3A for lighting alone. You can't pull that from the motherboard or along the fan controller.

 

*** Can you clarify which "H100i" you have? There are about 6 over the last 8 years. Most likely would be H100i Pro, H100i Platinum, or H100i v2. The platinum comes with RGB fans and has its own lighting hub, so that would solve a problem.

 

3) Wherever you like, but two suggestions. Put one above the radiator to measure the exhaust air temp from the cooler. This is approximately equal to coolant temp (H100i Temp) in iCUE and you can always set that directly in iCUE. However, when the software is not running (like during boot) the controller is cut off from the data and the fans will run hard. The T-sensors are native to the device and will work all the time. This effectively lets you imitate coolant temp at all times. This can be used to balance the other fans with the radiator fans. The other obvious control variable is GPU heat. Again, you can use "GPU temp" directly from the drop down menu, but not there if the software isn't running. You can tape it to the rear exhaust (outside) or anywhere inside above the GPU. Don't let it make metal to metal contact. You will get some gibberish readings eventually. It really doesn't matter the actual location, as long as you get a large enough range to make smooth and even fan control.

 

The other sensors could be used to measure intake air (bottom or front) and I liked to keep one near the top of the motherboard in my similar 740. It was always interesting to see the temperature difference between the bottom and the top of the case. These are more informational rather than fan control.

 

4) Not so much on the SATA power coolers. The "dummy header" reports a value and a presence to the BIOS to let it know there is a cooler in place. If you try to boot with nothing on CPU fan, you will get an immediate BIOS error. This is a protection. Unless you need CPU fan for something else, that is the best place and you will get an immediate error if something happens at power on. Other headers can be used and since the cable from the cooler is missing any kind of speed controls, there is nothing you can do to it from the BIOS. You would then disable the CPU fan boot warning in your BIOS. "The how" varies by motherboard maker.

 

 

*apparently I need to learn to type faster. Or less. Or both. Oh well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well looks like I can get rid of that extra rgb hub then lol

I was worried I needed that extra hub to sync the lights from the cooler. But I’ll just take that hub out and plug the rgb male connectors into the on female connectors on the cooler instead if it’ll sync up. Yay less wires.

 

I’ve seen mixed builds with the fans on the radiator (I have the h100i rgb Platinum se (white))

Seems like some people have set the fans up to exhaust air out the top of their case. And some have set up the fans to intake air through top of the case and through the radiator (which is how I’ve done it and how the manual suggested doing it) was that the best way?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, Platinum does have its own lighting controller. However, that does not necessarily mean you want to use it. It is fine for most effects, but for sequenced ones like waves, visor, arc, etc. the sequence follows the RGB hub numbering. The cooler is a separate device and it’s lighting will appear before or after fans 1-6 depending on the effect. In essence, things are out of order with the two top fans on the cooler’s lighting hub.

 

Possible solutions:

1) Use a second rgb hub and split the 8 fans in some combination that makes sense for the layout (6+2, 4+4, etc). Which one is the best depends on the effect, but the hubs will go one after the other if they are ch 1 and 2 on the same device (LNP or C-Pro).

 

2) Use the cooler as the second hub for two fans only, but likely not the top two fans. Probably the bottom 2 so the top sequence stays intact. Regardless you can set up the remaining in order. I don’t know where I’m sequence the cooler comes in. It seems to vary with the effect, but it is not guaranteed to be right after the other hub.

 

 

Top intake vs exhaust - It is really user preference. Having used the same layout in a 740, I prefer top exhaust. Intake can at times be 1-2C cooler, but it is highly variable and not guaranteed. I’ll take looking at the fans on the pretty side instead. On the other hand, with the glass top 680 you could effectively light the ceiling with top intake, top mount. Take the one that looks better. Generally, the case is a very good front/bottom intake, top rear exhaust. I have run it in odd combinations with dual 280mm radiators (top/bottom in, front/rear out and the reverse), but these are not likely to turn out well with an air cooled GPU.

Edited by c-attack
Link to comment
Share on other sites

More than likely I’m not sure I’ll use any of the sequencing lighting effects. Chances are I’m going to keep it a cool blue for a white/soft blue cold look or maybe run them rainbow at times so I think I’ll try the one rgb fan hub and just plug the fan cooler lights into the cooler. If I hate it I can always change it I suppose.

 

As for how I have my fans set up as of now, I’ve got three intakes on the front, the two intakes thru the radiator on the top, one exhaust on the back, and two exhaust on the bottom. My hope is that this will bring a bunch of air in all over the cpu and gpu and then blow all the hot air out of the bottom and back.

Depending on how it feels on my desk, I may change it to intakes on the bottom and exhaust on the top if it’s blowing a bunch of hot air on me around the desk. But then of course I have the ugly side pointing up if I change the bottom ones and they’re much more noticeable than the top ones so who knows lol. I guess once I get it all fired up once this commander pro arrives I’ll stress test it and make sure everything is staying cool.

 

I wanna do some cpu overclocking. I’m hoping all of this will be enough to keep everything cool. I’ve read places that the asus auto overclocking has gotten a lot better than it used to be. Is that the suggested route for some new to building and completely new to overclocking? Don’t wanna fry anything.

Edited by shaepaulo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You'll have to see how it pans out with the airflow. Bottom exhaust does work, but I don't have mine on the desk with me. That may be an issue. Also, the warmer side of the GPU is the top, so most of the heat will be up there coming off the GPU board/backplate. Either way, clearly something that can be changed later and so it is the extra RGB hub.

 

I just put in a Formula XI yesterday and noticed there was a whole new overclocking/performance section in the BIOS about this compared to Z370. Unclear to me if the information is actually calculated or from a table. Manual overclocking is always going to give you the best result in terms of temperature. Auto overclocking is always going to be a bit heavy on the voltage to make sure it works. Nobody wants auto overclocking that fails 50% of the time, so it goes a bit heavy. I think it is OK to start there and if it can be done from the BIOS (not using AI Suite) then that is a bonus. There are also a lot of Asus 9900 owners out there who can give you likely voltage targets. I can help you with the BIOS terminology as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Setting up RPMs and such in the iCue software now. What are the recommended settings for the pumps and fans? Pump at extreme, fans on whatever custom curve works for my system? And what about the voltages on the fans? Gives three options on the right side, 3.3V, 5V, or 12V. Not sure what they're supposed to be set to or if that's just something that happens automatically?

Will try to post snips of what I have now

Edited by shaepaulo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most people are just fine on the balanced pump speed. Flow head pressure is not usually an issue with AIO coolers and 1 block/radiator and short tubes. If you want to experiment with the extreme setting when at load, go ahead. Most people report 0-2C difference in coolant temperature.

 

Fan speeds are to noise level. With 120s you definitely will see a large loss in performance below 750 and they start to pick up around 1000 rpm. Since 900 and below is basically silent, start from there at the desktop then figure out where you think it gets loud. For most people, that is 1300-1500 rpm. Remember, +1C coolant temp = +1C CPU temp, so these small changes are indeed small.

 

The 3.3/5/12v are the power rails from your PSU. They have no bearing on the fans or settings. Just a reporting and there is nothing you need to do wit them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ooookay. That makes sense. The voltages were confusing the crap out of me lol. So I have the pump set to balanced, seems fine. How do the rest of the fans do on balanced? I've got a nice little custom curve setup (I think) for my chassis fans that seems to have gotten the noise down quite a bit. But the two fans on the radiator have only the option to set % custom curve so it's hard to tell. Maybe I should just keep the pump and the two radiator fans on balanced and only tweak the chassis fans to my liking with a custom curve?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless it’s cold and wintry where you are, set a custom curve for the radiator fans. In Summer if you case ambient temp is 30C, then that is the lowest possible coolant temp as well. You don’t need the fans at 1300 on the desktop. They could be running at 100K RPM and you won’t make it any cooler. There is no reason to spin your wheels without purpose.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...