Fan questions regarding 570x build

Hello there,

 

So I've just bought a 570x, and I have about 90% of my build purchased and just waiting on two parts. I have some questions about the fans, and about what my course of action should be. I'm going to be using a Kraken X52 AIO cooler for my CPU, and the motherboard I have is the ASUS ROG STRIX Z370-E. (This is a Coffee Lake build)

 

So my plan for my build was to use the SP120 fans that come with the 570x, and buy 3 more SP120's. 2 would be used for my AIO radiator, and the last in the rear as exhaust. I did this mostly as the cheapest cost solution without having to upgrade to 6 HD120's. But after doing some research, I don't think my board has enough fan headers to support 6 fans. This is where I got confused and I've come here for help :)

 

What would be the easiest way to configure 6 SP120's with my mobo? 3-way fan splitters? A cheap fan controller? From what I understand, my board has 2 Chassis-fan connectors, and 2 CPU connectors (Asus lists one as "OPT", I'm assuming this means optional for 2-fan radiators), so I don't think there's enough. However, I do realize that using SP120's will mean that I can't control them through the CAM software that comes with the Kraken, I will need to use my motherboard to control them. I don't really care too much about the fan speeds, since I think as long as they're configured properly, everything should stay pretty cool and I don't expect it to be too loud.

 

So my next question: Given that I am using a Kraken, is it worth considering upgrading to HD120's, and getting the Corsair Commander Pro? The HD120's are PWM fans, so they should work with the Kraken and the CAM software. It looks like I'll have a lot more control this way. One more question, since I had trouble finding a direct answer because I'm a noob: Does the Corsair commander also provide power to the fans? Does this eliminate the need to plug the fans directly into the mobo headers? I'm assuming yes, but I want to be sure lol.

 

Thanks so much to anyone who chimes in with some help, I apologize if I sound uninformed or anything. I've built before, but I went with a relatively simple case and fan-setup. I saw the 570x and loved it right away, and had to have it :sunglasse but it's not as straight forward as I anticipated lol.

You kind of miss out a bit if you don't have a Commander Pro or Lighting Node Pro so you can software tweak the lighting. I don't think it is quite as dramatic on SP-RGB, but it is kind of miss on the HD's. Regardless, a Commander Pro would solve your header issues and it can be used to power and control the fans or as a standalone lighting interface. The header issue may be a little worse than first anticipated. It appears that board has 4 fan headers, 2 normal CHAssis fan headers and then CPU + OPT. The problem is OPT is a mirror of CPU fan and not individually controllable. Both CPU and OPT can only be tied to CPU temperature. So, you could easily put two radiator fans on CPU fan, but then what do you do with OPT? Whatever case fans are connected there will mimic the radiator fans. You don't really want your case fans jumping up and down with CPU temp, especially on a water system where that is of no use. On the bright side, the header on the X52 does nothing and reports a crazy, nonsensical pump speed. You can only see the real pump speed in CAM. So, perhaps it just works out. The two radiator fans on CPU and OPT, the remaining 4 case fans on 2 splitters. I am not sure why there isn't a current draw listed for them on the website, but since the lighting is offloaded to the controller, you likely can also run the front 3x120 on a 3 way and the back fan alone.

 

You may want to take a look at some videos and weigh the value of HD vs SP-RGB. The SP are you typical RGB with lots of flexibility. The HD are something altogether different with 12 little spotlights and a vastly different look. If you decide to go HD, you really should get the C-Pro. It is worth for the brightness adjustment alone, something you can't do on the standard controller. Whichever you decide, you likely do not want to mix and match. You need separate controllers for each and there isn't a lot of visual similarity.

Thanks for answering some of my questions! So if I want to go HD, I should definitely look into the Commander Pro, and that will solve my header problems. But if I want to go the SP route, I should be able to get away with a simple 3-way splitter as you described. I was thinking the same, the 3 front fans on a 3-way splitter, the 2 radiators fans on CPU and OPT, and the back fan on the remaining header. I think I'll attempt that route first. I might get a fan hub too and that might make cable management a little better. I'll see what I can find. and if I don't like it I'll look at swapping it all out for HD's. But at least I have a proper idea on how to power and wire everything, I've never had to use this many fans before. So thank you for your help!

Technically you can run the HD series in the same way on your board headers without the C-Pro. The real reason to get a Commander Pro or Lighting Node Pro is for the software lighting control. Huge difference in options and usability. I run 3xHD120 on one of my board headers. That's about 0.90A total which is pushing it a bit. However, since the lighting load is on the controller and the board only needs to cover the fan speed, I am less worried about overshoot on the specifications. You can try things as they are now and decide on a Commander Pro later. I guess the real question is HD vs SP-RGB. The fans are not cheap, so you likely don't want to buy both sets.

I'm gonna go with a fan hub for now (was $2 more than a decent 3-way splitter that I could find on Amazon), try to place it on the back of the mobo somewhere and I'll go with SP120's and see how that goes. I'll probably put the two radiator fans on the board so that they're controlled by CPU temps. I can always upgrade the fans to HD120's later. If I decide to spend money on HD's, I'll probably get the Pro and have the convenience of all the lighting control and everything that they offer. I've seen videos and they certainly look nice. But I think I'll be good with this for now :)

The trouble with slaving your fans to the CPU temp is that the CPU temp is more volatile and rises and falls faster and more often than the cooler liquid temp. This can lead to the fans "pulsing" as your CPU temp goes up and down. On my Asus motherboard I have fan Xpert and that allows me to control the fans and introduce a "time lag" of about 10 seconds which stops the fans pulsing. I think that someone posted on here that this was no longer possible with the newer Asus boards though.