Advice Needed on RGB fans for H150i Pro

Hey Guys,

 

So in a couple of weeks I'm going to take the plunge and get the H150i Pro. I'm planning on doing a push/pull fan setup with the radiator in the front of my 570x case.

 

Right now I have 6 HD120 fans (3 in front, 2 on top, 1 in rear). I plan on getting 3 new RGB fans for the push/pull set-up and not using the stock ML fans that come with the H150i Pro.

 

Question: Should I get a 3-pack of the RGB ML120 fans and do push/pull with those & 3 HD120's already on the front of the case? Or is mixing the fan types not recommended due to different speeds, etc.

 

The alternative I was thinking about was to just move my two top case HD120's and buy an extra to do push/pull on the radiator with just HD120's (6 total). And then get two new HD140's for the top of the case for exhaust. That way the fan types would all be the same for push/pull on the radiator and I could increase exhaust via the larger HD140 fans up top.

 

But I'm not sure if the HD120's are not advised for radiator cooling or if I am just overthinking things. Are ML120's better for radiator cooling in general? I don't have the budget to buy 6 new ML120 RGB's for the push/pull configuration. I want to stay with the RGB theme for all fans of course so that is the conundrum.

 

As always, I appreciate the awesome advice on this forum! Thanks! :biggrin:

Mixing fan types isnt an issue dude..I have done this and sync fan speeds/curves in link,,,

 

The HD's are fine on a rad.. and I would say stay with them due to having so many already...

 

I currently have LL fans on the front of my rad (did have HD's) and HD's on the back, I didn't go for LL fans on the back as the Lighting loop isnt on the back of an LL fan.... HD's light up at the sides so work well on the back of the rad in the 570x.

 

this may help for set up idea's.... Last diagram.....

 

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=173880

As above, mixing fans on the opposite push-pull sides is not a real issue. If you get the fan speeds too far apart, you often get some weird acoustical noises and the weaker becomes resistance for the stronger. However, from a performance standpoint it won't matter much. You are not going to see temp difference between a 3 HD120/3 ML-RGB stack and a 6 HD120 stack, at the same speed.

 

Now, if you were using the existing ML low speed fans in the push-pull stack, I wouldn't say another word and let it go at that. However, I would not buy a new set of ML-RGB unless you are dying to try them out. Zero performance difference between those and the included plain version. I would probably prefer to keep all the fans the same and get 3 more HD120. Those two fans have a very different appearance.

 

You ask if the HD fans are OK for the radiator? Absolutely. I have had them on my heavy set-up for months and a single HD120 can manage my 120mm radiator cooled Titan X just as well as a ML120 (2400) at the same speed. It is that speed that likely has more meaning and in fact, the HD120 might actually outperform the ML120-Low speed at the maximum, just slightly faster. However, I would not base your decision on performance and all of these are too close to matter. If you were building a benchmark machine or something for extreme loads, then you would go with the 2400 RPM ML120 and run them that fast. Your plan is probably the opposite and you want to run the fans slow. You can do this easily with 6xHD120 or the combo.

Thank you c-attack and Zotty for the fast, excellent advice! Your responses really help a lot. I think I'll stay with the HD fans for a seamless RGB look now that I know that they will be OK for the push/pull set-up.

 

And, yes, c-attack, my rig is certainly not a benchmark machine although I will be doing some OC'ing, and the ideal is to keep the fans running slow as temps will allow, so your explanation about the different fans is right on point.

 

Thanks, Zotty for the link to the diagram. Yes, that is pretty much the EXACT set-up that I am working towards, except I plan on putting all 16 Pro RGB strips into my case if I can fit them!

 

I gotta save some money first before putting my complete upgrade plan in action. Thanks again, guys!

And that is obvious point to keep in mind. You don’t have to commit to push pull on the front right away. I would probably run the HD120s alone and see how the performance goes (it will be good). At a later date, put the stock ML120 Quiet fans on the back and see if push pull has any value.

I guess I didn't plan that one out well. I just ordered the h150i and had planned to use my existing SP120 RGB fans on the front side and use the ML120 fans that come with it on the back for push-pull. I didn't realize the SP120 fans can't be controlled by the h150i controller. Not sure what to do, I don't want to ditch the RGB fans and I can't afford the ML-RGB fans for awhile.

I guess I didn't plan that one out well. I just ordered the h150i and had planned to use my existing SP120 RGB fans on the front side and use the ML120 fans that come with it on the back for push-pull. I didn't realize the SP120 fans can't be controlled by the h150i controller. Not sure what to do, I don't want to ditch the RGB fans and I can't afford the ML-RGB fans for awhile.

 

You can still make this work ... it's just that you'll have a challenge on how to properly control the speed of those SP120 fans.

 

I didn't see mention of it ... do you have a Commander Pro or are you controlling the SP120 speeds from your motherboard?

Has the Corsair 460x Case so going to assume they are on the motherboard at the moment....

Has the Corsair 460x Case so going to assume they are on the motherboard at the moment....

 

Correct, I'm controlling them off of the motherboard right now.

I looked at your motherboard manual, hoping that it had a temperature sensor header. It doesn't.

So the best you'd be able to do is to use the CPU temperature for the Fan Speed. Add some delay into it and don't have them spin too fast; let the MLs do most of the work.

Ok, i'll give that a try. Thanks for the advice!