Fan Speed Question

[jspiegel]

I just installed 10 ML120 RGB Elite fans in my 5000X case.

6 intake (front and side) plugged into the Commander Core XT

4 exhaust (3 top fans exhausting through the H150i ELITE CAPELLIX and 1 rear) plugged into the Commander Core that came with the cooler.

iCUE shows the fan speeds for the intake fans never reaching below 1300 rpm, but the exhaust rarely go above 700 rpm (the cooler pump shows around 2200 rpm). These speeds are during rest and not gaming. All fans and the cooler pump are set to quiet mode.

I had only 6 fans before installing these new fans (3 SP120 front intake that came with the case and 3 ML120 Pro top exhaust that came with the cooler). I don't remember the speeds I had before, but my system was not nearly this loud at rest. 

Is this normal? Any input is greatly appreciated. 

[Corsair Notepad]

The difference comes down to the sensor used by the respective controller. The Commander Core for the cooler is utilizing the coolant temperature, while the Commander Core XT is most likely using CPU temperature. The presets are most likely not going to be the best option for your personal preferences with the fans connected to the Commander Core XT and you would most likely benefit from a custom fan curve instead.

[jspiegel]

4 hours ago, Corsair Notepad said:

The difference comes down to the sensor used by the respective controller. The Commander Core for the cooler is utilizing the coolant temperature, while the Commander Core XT is most likely using CPU temperature. The presets are most likely not going to be the best option for your personal preferences with the fans connected to the Commander Core XT and you would most likely benefit from a custom fan curve instead.

Can you make any recommendations on this? 

I would think that since both are plugged into a USB port on the MB and these are PWM fans that it would communicate the temperatures of the CPU to the Core XT and all fans should run at the same RPM. If not, on what basis are the fans running their speeds at? 

[c-attack]

Your Commander Core is using coolant temperature of the H150i Elite as the control variable for its fan presets.  This is the proper method for water cooling as the fans expel heat from the coolant stream, not cool the CPU directly.  While these are hidden on the Commander Core, you can create a duplicate of the presets by going to the cooling tab, + for new curve, and in the lower right corner of the graph are 4 shape tools.  Three of them correspond to the three presets.  Choose one then change the 'sensor' to H150i Temp.  That is the coolant temperature.  Finally reassign your fan radiator fans to this new curve.  It is the same as the preset, but now you can see it and make any baseline or maximum speed adjustments you prefer.

 

As for the other fans, there are a couple of options.  Easy and quick is to use the same control curve for the radiators fans case wide.  Since coolant temp will increase/decrease 1=1 with ambient case temp, they are related goals.  The downside is the Com XT fans will not be able to get the coolant temp data when CUE is not running since it is native to the other controller.  The next best option is to use a 10K thermistor probe (temp probe) from the XT box and place the sensor end in the case.  Best spots are rear exhaust, either inside or outside.  You then need to create a curve to match your normal temperature range.  That will take some time to discover and narrow down.  A third option is to take the temperature probe and run to the exhaust side of the H150i radiator.  Exhaust air temp will be approximately equal to coolant temp.  This lets you run all fans on the same curve and it will be able to get the data when CUE is not running.  The temp sensor data is also native to the controller.  

[jspiegel]

2 minutes ago, c-attack said:

Your Commander Core is using coolant temperature of the H150i Elite as the control variable for its fan presets.  This is the proper method for water cooling as the fans expel heat from the coolant stream, not cool the CPU directly.  While these are hidden on the Commander Core, you can create a duplicate of the presets by going to the cooling tab, + for new curve, and in the lower right corner of the graph are 4 shape tools.  Three of them correspond to the three presets.  Choose one then change the 'sensor' to H150i Temp.  That is the coolant temperature.  Finally reassign your fan radiator fans to this new curve.  It is the same as the preset, but now you can see it and make any baseline or maximum speed adjustments you prefer.

 

As for the other fans, there are a couple of options.  Easy and quick is to use the same control curve for the radiators fans case wide.  Since coolant temp will increase/decrease 1=1 with ambient case temp, they are related goals.  The downside is the Com XT fans will not be able to get the coolant temp data when CUE is not running since it is native to the other controller.  The next best option is to use a 10K thermistor probe (temp probe) from the XT box and place the sensor end in the case.  Best spots are rear exhaust, either inside or outside.  You then need to create a curve to match your normal temperature range.  That will take some time to discover and narrow down.  A third option is to take the temperature probe and run to the exhaust side of the H150i radiator.  Exhaust air temp will be approximately equal to coolant temp.  This lets you run all fans on the same curve and it will be able to get the data when CUE is not running.  The temp sensor data is also native to the controller.  

Thank you for the detailed reply. 

Is this something that most people do, i.e., go to these lengths to customize the fan curves?

[c-attack]

Hard to say what most people do.  You definitely do not want to leave it running from CPU temperature.  Your cooling does not work that way, it responds dynamically to the sudden CPU temp changes, and the presets will use the coolant temperature range as the base curve.  That's why the one set of fans are kept up at 1300 rpm+ when at idle.  Once you have set this up, it's great and does not require more work.  Fans follow directions all the time, software running or not, and you don't get distracting hard speed changes.

[jspiegel]

15 hours ago, c-attack said:

Hard to say what most people do.  You definitely do not want to leave it running from CPU temperature.  Your cooling does not work that way, it responds dynamically to the sudden CPU temp changes, and the presets will use the coolant temperature range as the base curve.  That's why the one set of fans are kept up at 1300 rpm+ when at idle.  Once you have set this up, it's great and does not require more work.  Fans follow directions all the time, software running or not, and you don't get distracting hard speed changes.

Is it a problem that my intake fans RPM is much higher than my exhaust fans, meaning the air coming in is at a much faster rate the air going out?

Additionally, would you say its safe to copy the fan curve of the cooler's "Quiet" profile (the profile the cooler fans are using at the moment) and apply it to the XT fans?

[c-attack]

4 hours ago, jspiegel said:

s it a problem that my intake fans RPM is much higher than my exhaust fans, meaning the air coming in is at a much faster rate the air going out?

Generally not. In most cases higher front intake volume will force air out the rear vented sections of the case. This can be more advantageous in guiding gpu waste heat out the rear rather than through a tip mounted cpu radiator. 

 

4 hours ago, jspiegel said:

Additionally, would you say its safe to copy the fan curve of the cooler's "Quiet" profile (the profile the cooler fans are using at the moment) and apply it to the XT fans?

That is the first option from above. When you use the custom curve ‘shape tools’ it will create a matching “Quiet” curve regardless of controller. That curve is designed for a typical water temperature value, so make sure you change the sensor to “H150i Elite Temp”. 

[LeDoyen]

37 minutes ago, c-attack said:

Generally not. In most cases higher front intake volume will force air out the rear vented sections of the case. This can be more advantageous in guiding gpu waste heat out the rear rather than through a tip mounted cpu radiator. 

And usually, you will have less dust inside the case too, since most of the air coming in passes through the filters. Well.. it will build up a lot slower.

[jspiegel]

41 minutes ago, c-attack said:

Generally not. In most cases higher front intake volume will force air out the rear vented sections of the case. This can be more advantageous in guiding gpu waste heat out the rear rather than through a tip mounted cpu radiator. 

 

That is the first option from above. When you use the custom curve ‘shape tools’ it will create a matching “Quiet” curve regardless of controller. That curve is designed for a typical water temperature value, so make sure you change the sensor to “H150i Elite Temp”. 

Ok. I applied the custom setting to the XT and my fan speeds seem to have gotten more normal and the temps don't seem like they are rising. There is a noticeable difference in sound. It's much better this way! 

Here is an image of my fan speeds after the change, running chrome and excel. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b0YRfmQdi7heaXTU5GZbBfT_-76pGL0n/view?usp=sharing

Here is an image of the custom curve, which was taken from the H150i Quiet setting. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DK2BSwXdkLXyqYH0lkMK-ayXTZZ_dZYB/view?usp=sharing

Question, will this setting also work when the PC is locked? I'm asking because my fans were louder when the PC was locked. I logged on and quickly went into iCUE to see the RPMs at 1500.

[c-attack]

When you lock the PC, you sever the connection to CUE and the XT controller will lose the coolant temp data.  This is the one downside to the quick, easy first way.  The other two suggestions involving the use of any 10K thermistor on the XT controller will resolve the control issue for the lock screen, boot/shutdown, or any time you are not in a CUE environment.