Help with fan setup please!

Hi, this thread : http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=172666 was SUPER helpful and would really appreciate some help to make it more customized to my setup.

 

I am using a c700p case, with a h115i radiator (push/pull), and 9 fans.

 

-Front 3 fans are LL140

-Radiator fans are 2x LL140 for push, and 2x Noctua Industrial 2000 PWM for pull

-Rear exhaust is LL140

-Bottom fan is Noctua Industrial 2000 PWM (to have some positive pressure and keep out dust)

 

I am also getting the Commander Pro, and Lighting Node Pro for Corsair LED strips.

 

How can I set these all up to have control in just one place, Corsair Link?

 

This workstation is for work and I'll spend whatever I need to make this work.

 

Thanks so much! This will save me such a headache!

 

-Alex

Some questions/thoughts:

What CPU are you using?

The Noctua fans are probably overkill for the radiator. Unless you are going to be running your machine at high load for extended periods of time, it's unlikely that the coolant would get all that warm. Have you considered some of the ML fans? They are very quiet and work extremely well on radiators.

How many LED strips are you talking about? Four? Eight? More??

I'm at the office right now and can't create you a diagram. However, if you have a copy of Visio 2016, I can send you a link to the shape file that I've used to create the diagrams. You can then map it out and post here for review. If Zotty's on, he could probably whip a diagram up for you as well. Otherwise ... I'll do it after I get home.

And your job is buying this PC for you? Do you have any openings?

Thanks for the reply! The CPU is 7980xe, overclocked to a maximum of 4.2GHz. This PC will be 3d rendering for possibly hours at a time. I don't mind noise too much to be honest. I'm so used to the crazy noise with the ones I have now haha.

 

I've taken some steps to possibly decrease temps (delidding, etc).

 

LED strips maybe like 4 tops.

 

I'm a 3D designer and work from home, so as much as these need to be functional, I can't help myself to make it a bit aesthetic as well haha. Here's what my workstation is like as of last year (36-cores). Replacing my main (the blue one) with this 7980xe to make it 48 cores! :-)

 

 

Again, thanks so much for the help. Been up nights figuring this stuff out and it's making me go crazy haha.

 

-Alex

Jeez sorry for the size of that image... I don't know how to make it smaller since it's a link!

It's cool ... that's pretty awesome!

And yeah, if you're doing 3D rendering for hours on end, you'll put that radiator through its paces. If you already have the Noctuas, might as well use them. And you will be kicking up some heat. If Zotty doesn't beat me to it, I'll put together some diagrams for ya later this evening. It'll be a few hours; I'm in Texas and it's mid-afternoon here right now.

It's cool ... that's pretty awesome!

And yeah, if you're doing 3D rendering for hours on end, you'll put that radiator through its paces. If you already have the Noctuas, might as well use them. And you will be kicking up some heat. If Zotty doesn't beat me to it, I'll put together some diagrams for ya later this evening. It'll be a few hours; I'm in Texas and it's mid-afternoon here right now.

 

I can't thank you enough! Seriously a million times thank you!

 

I actually haven't gotten the fans, commander pro, strips, etc yet. I was about to get them but I'll wait until later to order everything together if there are any other things you might recommend.

 

Thank you!!

 

-Alex

Based on your original specs, here's an option:

Now ...

I connected the Noctuas to the H115i for fan control as they'll be the primary fans for cooling the radiator. When you configure them in Link, tie them to the H115i temperature. It's the liquid coolant that they need to cool, not the CPU. That said, if you don't have it yet, it may be worthwhile to hold off and wait for the H150i Pro or the H115i Pro, which are due out any day now. That case will handle either one. (It's purty too ... I was looking at that as well but it didn't have enough 5 1/4 bays for my needs) Initial (now pulled) reviews of the H150i Pro were pretty darn amazing. With either one of those, you have ML series fans that are equivalent to the current RGB ML fans, but at a lower RPM than the older, non-RGB MLs (ML LED, ML Pro, 2 pack ML "plain edition"). I still think that the ML series fans would do the job for you, be quieter and also last longer. At some point, pushing more air through the radiator doesn't do any more good; it'll only cool so much.

I'm also a little concerned about the push-pull configuration; they'll be pretty unbalanced at load. There's no way around that ... the LL fans just don't push as much air as those Noctuas. It may not be a big deal but thought it worth mentioning. (I'm guessing you want the fans to play "Pong" though. ;-)) That said, the two LL's on the radiator should be linked up together and in sync ... so definitely a splitter there. (And you need at least one if you want to control all of your fans via Link.) The C-Pro will also allow you to tie them to the radiator temperature, although you'll need to have Link running to do that.

For the front fans ... I have them individually controlled but you don't need to. You can put 2 of them on a splitter if you want. I'm not sure if I, personally, would be comfortable with putting all 3 on a splitter but I have no solid data to back that up. It's a "feeling".

You won't need a Lighting Node Pro at this time. Now, if you want more RGB strips or you want more RGB fans, then you'll need a LNP. But the Commander Pro will be able to handle the RGB duties that you have, thus far, specified. However, the case RGB won't be handled by the Commander Pro or the Lighting Node Pro ... that'll be connection on your motherboard or the built-in case controller. It's most likely a 5050 connection, which seems to be the standard (both my Asus and Asrock motherboards have them). The manual doesn't say it explicitly but the pinouts match the RGB 5050 pinouts.

Hope this helps!

Oh ... I forget to mention ... the temperature probes. The Commander Pro has 4 of them.

You can use them for controlling the fan speeds of your case fans. If the source temperature for the fan speed is one of the C-Pro sensors, you won't need to run Link for fan control. You will, however, need to have it running for control of the LL fans.

For me, I view the RGB as a nice-to-have ... but I definitely want to have my fan curves active whether Link is running or not.

With my system, I have my case fans tied to the Commander Pro sensors that are in various places within my case. After all, basing the fan speeds on CPU temps on a water-cooled system is somewhat pointless. Your GPU(s) will kick up heat and a lot of it ... you'll want temp sensors around the GPU and use those ambient temps to control when you kick up the fans. You definitely want to make sure that the radiator is getting cool air blowing over the fins. Additionally, you'll want to make sure that your NVME drives have good airflow over them as well ... they are typically placed right around the GPU PCIe slots and the heat from the GPUs can warm up the NVME drives. And then they throttle and are slow, which makes me sad.

Thanks so much! I am slowly digesting all this information haha. This really helps a lot. Doing some research on the different fans on the push/pull.

Switching out the Noctua Industrial 2000 fans for Chromax. Is that more appropriate?

They will be easier to balance, yes.

Look at the comparison between the ML fans and the Noctua fans here, though: http://thermalbench.com/2016/07/12/corsair-ml120-pro-120-mm-fan/3/

 

Note that these are the non-RGB ML fans. The RGB ML fans have a lower top RPM.

So as to total fan control from one interface...

 

The easiest solution would be Corsair Commander Pro. It has six powered fan ports, up to 4 temp probe receptors if you want them, 2 USB inputs, and can replace the Lighting Node Pro the LL fans require to interface with Link. The LNP can also plug into the C-Pro to expand lighting control beyond 6-12 RGB fans. There are other options in fan controllers, but since you have to run Link for the LL fans and cooler, it makes sense to use it as the fan controller as well.

 

Balancing the 9 fans across the C-Pro and H115i requires a little more thought. 2xLL140 & the 2xNF-A14 industrial fan have a low enough current draw they could be pair on spiltters from the H115i pump block. Amperage limit is 2.0A. Total current will be well under that. However, this is where balancing the speeds may be an issue. The push and pull side don't need to be the same (I prefer pull a bit slower), but with two different ranges on the fans it might hard to keep them close. No way to know until you plug them in.

 

With those 4 all on the H115i, the remaining case fans could all plug into the C-Pro. You have multiple choices for a control variable (including the probes), but motherboard specific temps like VRM or PCH are not available. I only mention this because I like to use VRM as the case fan control variable.

 

Another way to deal with the LL140 vs A14i speed discrepancy is to move one set to the C-Pro. You can still use coolant temp (H115i temp) as the control variable from C-Pro and you can sync the fans curves together or make individual graphs. However, this would mean there are no longer enough fan ports on the C-Pro for a 1 to 1 connection. Likely you would put the two radiator fans on a splitter into one fan port. I am not sure this aspect has every been discussed in forum and ultimately the C-Pro must have some sort of device current limit, but I am estimating it to be in the 3.5 to 4.0A range, welll above the total load you will carry. Perhaps someone from Corsair can add to this.

 

I just saw the new lower speed, color corner Noctua industrial fans the other day. Is it worth the cost for you to switch? My immediate answer is no. The A14i has a very usable range from 500-2000. No, you don't need speeds over 1500+, but your existing fans should be quite controllable and when on the C-Pro they won't do the max fan start up test like most controllers. You won't hear them and you have the headroom is needed. I am curious if the new 1500 rpm variant has a different tone in the middle range (800-1000). The blade is the same so this would hinge on the motor phases, but this would only be of interest to people trying to build a super low noise system. While I might recommend the 1500 rpm version to someone buying for the first time, if you already have a pile of the 2000 RPM PWM versions, I would sit tight. That group includes me as well. If you want something different, I would be more inclined to recommend any of the ML series fans. I have lots of both groups. You have flat black, high speed LED, and now mid-speed RGB variants to compete. Kind of hard to buy a lower speed version of what you have when you can get a RGB version instead. The only reason I can think of to swap out the 2xA14i would be for a matching speed fan to use so they can all be on the H115i controller. You could use the lower speed A14i. You could also use lower speed ML or at that point you might as well get another pair of LL fans, whatever you prefer. I would be more inclined to try out the hardware you have first and discover any weaknesses or issues in the control scheme before making another purchase.

Thanks a lot both of you! This helped me so much...

 

I'll take away the bottom fan to relieve a port to by able to use fan curves to match the ones plugged into the H115i

 

Will go with the Ml140 as you guys suggested as well!

 

Another thing... I already bought the H115i, am I going to miss out on A LOT of performance by not getting the h115i pro or h150i pro?

 

Thanks!

Or perhaps i'll just put one or both of the stock h115i fans on the bottom, and hook it up to the case controller with a low setting? Would that work alright?

The stock fans are actually pretty decent at pushing air through a radiator. They're just LOUD, especially over 60% RPM. And they have a weird hum to them as well. The ML fans are just as good (perhaps better) at pushing air, MUCH quieter, and don't have the weird hum (just a whoosh of air ... that motor/bearing combination is nearly silent). And since they don't have any physical contact and the friction associated with it, they should last a good deal longer than even fluid bearings.

Matching them with the stock fans would give you a better balance ... they'll be closer in performance/pressure/airflow at similar RPMs.

As you can tell, I'm a big fan of 'em.

Now ... how much performance are you missing out on? It's impossible to say. I saw one review (now pulled) of the H150i PRO that had them with a > 10C advantage in max CPU temps over the NZXT Kraken X62. There wasn't a comparison to other Corsair coolers. The 150 will be a 360 mm radiator as well ... so we'd need to change up things. The H115i PRO will be another 280.

And let me know if you need an updated diagram.

Or perhaps i'll just put one or both of the stock h115i fans on the bottom, and hook it up to the case controller with a low setting? Would that work alright?

 

I didn't read up on the case very much and that one is new to me. If you have a SATA powered case controller, that can certainly lighten the load if it's convenient. Something like the rear or bottom fan(s) could go on that since they work well with steady speeds and do not need to be reactive.

 

I would not use the stock SP140L fans on the bottom. It has the same range as the planned A14i, only it will be louder. This is even more true since the bottom is probably intake and there will be the usual inverted rifle bearing grind. The A14i has a different bearing type. Nothing wrong with A14i on the bottom, you just don't need them to blast away.