Pan_Melas Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Good morning (or good evening, depending where everyone is located) to all The thread is all about its title. And it is somehow connected with my previous thread about a request of mine for a descriptive and detailed connection guide for Commander Mini. As we all know, the above Corsair model Hydro H80 CPU cooler comes complete, with its radiator cooling fans (Corsair CF12S25SH12A 120 mm - 1300~2500 RPM, Fan airflow: 46 ~ 92 CFM or 78 ~ 156 m3/hr) included in the package. However, these fans are provided with three (3) cables and a 3-socket connector, which means that they are DC controlled and not PWM controlled fans. The same (DC control) is also true for its water pump, which is provided with a Molex power connector, having only two pins (12V + GND) and a 3-socket type fan connector, having only one cable (and pin socket), the RPM monitoring one. This combination allows the user to power the pump and monitor its RPM, by connecting the 3-socket type fan connector to one of the motherboard 3-pin or 4-pin fan connectors (usually the CPU fan connector and - in my case - perhaps the WATER PUMP connector). As I already mentioned in my above mentioned previous thread, I intend to use this CPU cooler to cool a Skylake , on an Asus Z170 Pro motherboard. The cooling system will be completed with the Corsair Commander Mini unit (from now on, referred as "CL Mini"), powered by a SATA connector and controlling the operation of the water cooler, its fans and the fans of the computer case. In my case, there is a peculiar situation, which may cause conflicts on how to mount and configure the whole system. The following are to be considered: The Asus Z170 Pro provides DC or PWM control of all the fans and the water pump, that are connected on its fan/pump connectors. Five out of the six fan connectors are 4-pin ones and one of them is a 5-pin connector. The connectors are the following: - CPU_FAN - CPU_OPTIONAL - CHA_FAN 1 - CHA_FAN 2 - WATER_PUMP - EXT_FAN (5-pin) The user can select, via the BIOS setup, to control the fans and the pump with DC (volt regulation) or PWM (Power Width Modulation), depending on the fan cables and connectors. As we all know, the DC control can be achieved with a 3-cable configuration, while the PWM control requires a 4-cable configuration. The radiator fans of the Hydro H80 CPU cooler are both provided with 3-cable configuration, therefore they can only be DC controlled. The CL Mini has six (6) fan connectors, all of them with 4-pin configuration, which means that they can apply PWM control on every fan, connected on it, if the fan(s) is (are) 4-cable configured. The CPU block of the H80, which has the water pump embedded in it, has two 3-pin fan connectors, used in the first place for powering the included 120 mm radiator cooling fans. However, I assume that the user is free to use any powering method for these fans, but powering them from the cooling block connectors is recommended, as per Corsair instructions. At this moment, powering the fans from the CL Mini is also an option, but whether it is the best recommended or not, is a matter to be discussed. I am thinking if it would be better to buy two after market fans, equipped with 4-cable PWM connector, or stay with the existing Corsair fans. Getting after market fans, with similar specs is not an easy task (at least here, where I am). There are a lot of 120mm fans out there, but all of them are giving less air supply, compared to the maximum 92 CFM (156 m3/hr) that the Corsair Hydro H80 fans provide. On the other hand, staying with these fans, will not give me the full advantage of PWM control that the CL Mini (and the motherboard BIOS, as well) provides. Another question that arises is what to do with the computer case, a Lian Li PC-A10A one. This case is equipped with four 120mm, 3-cable fans for internal cooling. Connecting them on the CL Mini may be meaningless, since I cannot use its PWM control. However, if they can still be controlled by the CL Mini, in a better way that the Asus BIOS (and/or motherboard software), I'd like to know it. Of course, this may be a minor issue, which I may simply forget and connect them on the motherboard, having them under DC control, via the BIOS. But I surely like to know. Finally, let me summarize and simplify my questions: - Is it advisable to get two after market cooling fans for the H80 radiator, equipped with 4-cable PWM capability, or is it better to stay with the existing ones? If the second is the best option, what about their control from the CL Mini? - Again, if I stay with the existing (supplied) Corsair fans, what is the best recommended connection? Should that be on the 3-pin connectors of the H80 water block, or should I connect them on the CL Mini 4-pin fan connectors, provided of course, that the H80 is controlled by the CL Mini? - What about the Lian Li case fans? Should they be connected on the motherboard and controlled by the Asus software, or is it better to connect them on the CL Mini, bearing in mind that they are 4 fans in total, which have a current (amperage) spec of about 0.30A each? (Note: I know that, in order the CL Mini to control the Hydro H80 and consequently the radiator and the case fans, it requires an earlier version of software, the CL 3.2.5742. I received this piece of advice some days ago, by our Corsair software engineer red_ray, on another thread of mine) - What would you suggest, regarding the connection of the water pump? Should I connect it on the CPU_FAN or CPU_OPTIONAL connector or on the WATER_PUMP one? Thanks - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 -If noise isn't a problem for you, you can stick to the stock fans. If i recall correctly, the Cooling Nodes from the first generation of CorsairLINK worked fine with the fans though i'm not sure if it will work fine with the Commander Mini. If you want to replace them with PWM fans, you can as well. -You should be able to control the stock fans only via LINK even though it is connected to the H80 fan controller. (The person will light up on the block if the fans are controlled by LINK instead of the bars). If the Commander Mini, H80 and the software sees everything. -I think the Commander Mini can control 3-pin fans a lot better than the previous Cooling node but whether its worth controlling will probably depend on the fan itself. -The 3-pin coming off the block is for RPM readings, It should be plugged into the CPU_FAN header to prevent the CPU_FAN error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pan_Melas Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 -If noise isn't a problem for you, you can stick to the stock fans. If i recall correctly, the Cooling Nodes from the first generation of CorsairLINK worked fine with the fans though i'm not sure if it will work fine with the Commander Mini. If you want to replace them with PWM fans, you can as well. -You should be able to control the stock fans only via LINK even though it is connected to the H80 fan controller. (The person will light up on the block if the fans are controlled by LINK instead of the bars). If the Commander Mini, H80 and the software sees everything. -I think the Commander Mini can control 3-pin fans a lot better than the previous Cooling node but whether its worth controlling will probably depend on the fan itself. Thank you for this very useful information. I will follow your advice and I mill probably come back with the results. -The 3-pin coming off the block is for RPM readings, It should be plugged into the CPU_FAN header to prevent the CPU_FAN error. In the Asus Z170 Pro link, that I provided in the starting post, someone can find all the required information, when necessary, including the motherboard manual. In this manual, there is specific reference and information regarding water cooling and the water pump control and setup. The BIOS setup has two modes, the EZ Mode and the Advanced Mode. In the EZ Mode, there is a specific paragraph, under the section: "EZ Tuning Wizard" and the subsection "OC Tuning", describing how the user can choose the Main Cooling System between the following options: - Box Cooler - Tower Cooler - Water Cooler or - I am not sure. In the Advanced Mode, under the section "Monitor menu" and the subsection "Qfan configuration", there is a specific paragraph for the Water Pump. In that, the user can notice that the BIOS gives him (or her) the ability to "enable" or "disable" the water pump at water cooling mode. If it is "Enabled", the user can choose between DC or PWM control, depending of course, on the cabling of the water pump. At "enabling", there are more values to setup, like Upper, Middle and Lower Temperature of the pump and Maximum, Middle and Minimum Duty Cycle. Especially, the following are noted (please, see them in an attachment image form, since the text cannot be copied and it is rather long, to be written manually): Therefore, I believe that: The H80 block (pump) connector should be connected on the WATER_PUMP motherboard connector. It would be necessary for me, during the BIOS setup, to choose the "Water Cooler" option at the "EZ Mode" setup. Also, at the Advanced Mode, I have to "Enable" the water pump at the "DC Mode" Control. Given the above, the following need to be clarified and/or answered: What I don't know is whether I have to go further and set the values of the individual settings for the Temperatures and the Duty Cycle, or leave them at their default values. If the first option (setting the values of the individual settings) is necessary, what should be the settings, so that they are the optimal for the H80? (once more, please, see the default values of the BIOS at the provided attachment, to form an opinion) Will it be any difference in readings (and settings, perhaps) between the ones in the BIOS (the Asus software) and the CL Mini? If yes, do I have to do something, to trim the conflict, if any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-attack Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I think you are digging too deep into some of this, but admittedly Asus terminology takes some time to sort out. 1) The water pump/air cooler/"I don't know" stage in the E-Z Tuning visual BIOS is for simple overclocking to one of several presets. You tell it what kind of hardware you have and your PC uses. It picks a modest overclock for you from one of 3 presets. It won't do anything from a control standpoint and it only sets the CPU frequency. You do not need to use this feature, but can use it to overclock as a starting point. Ultimately this is something you will want to do manually. 2) You want to make most changes from the advanced BIOS. It takes some time to figure out what a lot of it means. There are a few terminology guides that help, even though they are from prior boards (Guide 1, Guide 2). 3) The one exception to that rule is the Q-fan control on the bottom of the E-Z BIOS. It will allow you set quick presets for fans or anything else connected to the headers. You can go into the Advanced BIOS --> Monitoring sub menu and further specify exact change points. However, what you need for your pump is in that Q-Fan control box. There will be a tab for DC/PWM and down below select either 1) Full speed (maximum voltage) or 2) Manual (and move all points to the top). I would recommend using the 'Full Speed' option, as it typically locks down the pump and greys it out in the Fan Xpert control scheme. This will prevent unintended changes to the pump control while at the desktop, something that is surprisingly easy to do. Even if the connector is only for monitoring purposes, it would be better not to give it control points. The H80 should need DC power, but I suspect 12v PWM at maximum speed will also work on that sensor. Some users have reported it necessary to set their pump header to PWM and full speed mode to be recognized by the BIOS on Z170. However, that was on the newest generation of cooler and I don't know how the H80 will react. 4) If you put the H80 sensor on the water pump header, what will be on CPU_FAN? Presumably nothing. Surely, Asus intended for this to be a bypass to the classic CPU_FAN error on boot, but with the lead being a sensor only, I don't know if it will work. You may need to move it to CPU_FAN if it does not. If you are powering the fans from the H80, there should be free headers anyway. If at some point you decide to power the H80 fans from the board, you could move it back to water pump and put fans on the CPU&OPT headers. 5) CPU_OPTIONAL is typically a mirror of the CPU_Fan header. It will mimic whatever voltage/speed the CPU header is currently receiving and has no control of it's own. Be careful using it individually. The 5 pin header requires a special cable and can connect to an Asus 3 fan extension module, originally part of the X99 Deluxe and now sold separately. I have one. I used it once. It allows you to drive 3 additional fans that are controlled from one motherboard header. However, they must all run the same speed. Unless you have a monster sized case with 7-10 fans, it isn't something you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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