How to set up 9 fan system?

[chrisrvn6]

I am making my first build and have purchased a Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Liquid CPU Cooler, a 3 pack of Corsair iCUE QL120 120 mm Fans, and 3 Corsair iCUE QL140 140 mm Fans. The CPU Cooler came with a iCue Commander Core and the 3 pack of 120 mm fans came with a 6 fan RGB hub. I am concerned that I will not be able to connect all of the fans as there is an extra cable on each of the fans that is not labeled and the included instructions did not provide an explanation. I am assuming that it is a cable for the fan itself based off of the layout of the Commander Core. With that being said, can I connect everything together as is, or would I have to purchase another controller(such as the Commander Pro) to get everything to work together?

[c-attack]

All Corsair fans have 2 wires — one for fan motor power (12v) and one for RGB power (5v). These go to separate places and require separate control. You Commsnder Core has RGB ports on one side and PWM ports on the other. That’s RGB and speed control for 6. The Lighting Node Core from the QL triple pack will be the RGB controller for the other fans. What you need is speed control for 3. 
 

A Commander Pro would offer speed control but it’s not going to be a good solution since you won’t have RGB integration for it. This leaves two viable choices. 
 

1) Commander XT - It looks like your Commander Core with 6 PWM ports on one side and 6 RGB on the other. You drop the lighting node Core and thus becomes the other controller. It requires a usb 2 connection and SATA power just like the Com Core and LNCore.

 

2) You also can do this with a PWM repeater. It’s about about half the size of a Com XT and acts like a powered splitter for 6-10 fans. You connect the control lead back to the Commander Core and it uses 1 fan port. All fans on the hub run the same speed but then you don’t need individual speed control for every fan. Fans grouped in 3s on panels can all run the same speed. The advantage of the PWM hub is it is smaller and about half the price of a XT. In a tight build this may matter, but newer users may find the Com XT setup and control much easier to understand and will also offer you an extra led port if you need strips or other internal strip based devices later.