Balanced fan speeds

[Clint Singer]

Hi,

I just did a new build and first time using all of the corsair fans and controllers.   In iCue I have set the fans to be "balanced" and I noticed that all of the fans connected to the 150i run around 500rpms and all of the fans connected to the XT run around 2000 rpms on the same setting.   The PC is just idle with around 30c for the package temp.   Is there a reason the XT appears to be running the fans so high?   It would seem that the 500rpm would be more appropriate to match the 150i.  The fans on the XT are controllable because I can set a custom curve, or zero rpm option, etc and they respond accordingly.

[c-attack]

“Balanced” is not a universal term and has different values across the three Commander controllers.  There has to be a control variable for the fans and there are two different ones in play. The Commander Core is intended to be the control center for the radiator and liquid cooling. “H150i temp” or coolant temperature is the correct control variable for liquid cooling. The Com XT does not have access to the temp sensor in the pump and will use cpu temp if nothing else is specified. The problem is cpu temp is a terrible control variable and has little relation to case fan function. You need something else.

 

Immediate stop this noise fix: Go the Com XT cooling tab. Hit the yellow +. A custom curve and graph will appear below. Underneath the graph are 4 shape tools. Click on “Quiet” or “Balanced”. Then for Sensor change it to H150i Elite Capellix Temp. Apply to all fans above. Your two controllers now are running the same fan profile. You can do the same on the Commander Core so you can see and understand the fan behavior. Unfortunately Corsair chooses to hide the control points on the presets. 
 

There is one problem with this and its CUE must be running for Com XT to fetch Com Core’s data. The fans may still max out at boot or when not running CUE. The only fix for this is to use the Com XT’s native sensor — the temp probes. The best placement for most users is near the rear exhaust (inside or outside the case) as a measure of case waste heat. It will follow a natural range  similar to the coolant in heavy gpu tasks like gaming. The other option is to put the probe on the radiator exhaust side and that will be very similar to liquid temp. This will keep the fans level at all times. 

[Clint Singer]

Thank you for the explanation and the help.   I found the black box nature of the built-in profiles a bit frustrating. 

Now it sounds much better.

[c-attack]

Yeah, I don' t like that either and there is no way a normal user is going to figure this out on their own.  Best advice I can give most users is to make "copies" of the presets like described above so you can see what it's doing and learn the system.  Then you can switch between the copies just like the normal presets.  It also will allow you to tweak high or low values.  Coolant temp baseline is always going to be most heavily influenced by room temp.  You will want something different in Summer vs Winter.  The custom curves let you drop the baseline speed to your normal idle value for that time of year so it stays quiet at rest.