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Need help configuring fans (14 in total)


EeK

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I'm upgrading my rig and also moving it to a new case. I need help properly setting up the fans and finding out the best way to control them.

 

Here's my current system (relevant info regarding cooling only):

  • Case: NZXT S340 Elite;
  • GPU: EVGA 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid;
  • GPU cooler: EVGA CLC's 120mm radiator at the rear (exhaust), with 1x Noctua NF-F12 and 1x Corsair ML 120 PRO LED, in push-pull;
  • CPU: Intel i7 7700K;
  • CPU cooler: Corsair H110i's 280mm radiator at the front (intake), with 2x Noctua NF-A14, in push.

 

Extra fans:

  • 1x ML 140 PRO LED fan at the top, as exhaust.

 

New system:

  • Case: Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic (Razer Edition);
  • GPU: Aorus 2080 Ti Xtreme Waterforce;
  • GPU cooler: Aorus CLC's 240mm radiator at the side (intake), with 2x Noctua NF-F12 and 2x ML 120 PRO RGB, in push-pull;
  • CPU (future upgrade): Intel's 10th generation CPU;
  • CPU cooler (future upgrade): Corsair H150i Pro's 360mm radiator at the top (exhaust), with 3x Noctua NF-F12 and 3x Corsair ML 120 PRO RGB, in push-pull.

 

Extra fans:

  • 1x Corsair ML 120 PRO RGB at the side, as intake;
  • 3x Corsair ML 120 PRO RGB at the bottom, also as intake.

 

Total: 14 fans.

 

Currently, I use SpeedFan to control my fans, which are all connected directly to the motherboard, as, at the time I built my first system (2017), that was the only way of controlling fan speeds according to the temperatures of the actual components, and not of the coolant or the case.

 

The problem with SpeedFan is that it has been abandoned by its developer, and it also causes issues with some games (mainly those that use BattlEye anti-cheat), so I'd like to move away from it.

 

Since it's been introduced, it appears that iCue has improved considerably, and now also allows for setting fan and pump speeds according to whatever the user wants (including CPU and GPU temps).

 

For that reason, I already purchased 1 Corsair Commander Pro and 2 packs of ML 120 PRO RGB fans with 3 fans each, which also come with 1 Lighting Node in each pack. I intend on using iCue for fan control.

 

I understand that each Lighting Node supports 6 fans, and each Node can then be connected to 1 of the 2 LED headers on the Commander Pro. I also understand that the Commander Pro only has 6 fan headers.

 

My main question is: what is the best way of connecting all those fans and controlling them (including the pumps)?

 

Additional questions:

 

  1. Since I have 14 fans in total, I'd probably need a couple of USB fan hubs before connecting those to the Commander Pro, right?
  2. Would there be any benefit to, instead of connecting all fans to the Commander Pro, using the headers included with both the CPU and GPU's coolers?
  3. The CPU cooler has 3 fan headers, while the GPU cooler has 2. Even if I connect fans to those, potentially reducing the number of remaining fans to 9, I'd still need at least one fan hub, no?

 

I look forward to hearing your advice. And yes, I'm aware that 14 fans is probably overkill, but I live in what is basically hell, when it comes to temperatures, and if I can fit and already have most of those fans, why not make the best out of them?

Edited by EeK
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The fans for the cooler should be controlled by the cooler. That'll take 3 off of the CoPro. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to adequatelypower 6 fans from the H150i.

 

You can use splitters with the Commander Pro HOWEVER ... no more than 2x splitters and no more than 9 fans on a CoPro is the usual recommendation. That gets you to 12 fans. You can, however, use a SATA powered PWM hub to put more than one fan on the CoPro fan header. You'll need to make sure that you specify that it's a 4-pin/PWM fan as it likely won't auto-detect it. Of course, they'd all be controlled as a single fan from the CoPro's perspective but that isn't a bad thing, necessarily. And it does make them easier to manager.

 

And, for the record, 14 fans isn't overkill. I have 15 in mine. ;-)

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The fans for the cooler should be controlled by the cooler. That'll take 3 off of the CoPro. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to adequatelypower 6 fans from the H150i.

 

You can use splitters with the Commander Pro HOWEVER ... no more than 2x splitters and no more than 9 fans on a CoPro is the usual recommendation. That gets you to 12 fans. You can, however, use a SATA powered PWM hub to put more than one fan on the CoPro fan header. You'll need to make sure that you specify that it's a 4-pin/PWM fan as it likely won't auto-detect it. Of course, they'd all be controlled as a single fan from the CoPro's perspective but that isn't a bad thing, necessarily. And it does make them easier to manager.

 

And, for the record, 14 fans isn't overkill. I have 15 in mine. ;-)

 

Thanks for replying and also for making me not feel like a weirdo for going with 14 fans, haha!

 

For now, since I haven't upgraded my CPU yet (an i7-7700K), I'll keep using the H110i cooler. So, I'll have 13 fans in total: 4 for the CPU cooler (in push-pull), 4 for the GPU cooler (also in push-pull), 4 for intake (3 at the bottom, 1 at the side) and 1 for exhaust (at the top).

 

2 can be controlled by the CPU cooler, even if it's still the H110i? And I can use iCue to determine to which temps it should respond, instead of arbitrarily going with the coolant temp for both fan and pump speeds?

 

If so, that'd leave 11 fans. I went ahead and ordered two 4-port fan hubs by Deepcool like this one: http://www.deepcool.com/product/dcoolingaccessory/2018-10/12_9882.shtml

 

My plan was to use a fan hub for the 4 intake fans, and another one for the 4 GPU cooler fans, and the connect those two hubs to the CoPro, leaving 4 headers free for the 3 remaining fans (2 from the other side of CPU cooler and the 1 acting as exhaust).

 

According to what you said, I wouldn't be able to do that because those hubs aren't SATA-powered? That'd suck. :(

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