iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU Cooler with Linux

[daschronos]

I'm going to be moving to Linux as my daily driver. Given that iCue is not supported in Linux, in addition to my personal preference/paranoia of software failures, especially in an unsupported OS, would I be better off plugging the 3 AIO fans directly to the mobo bypassing the Commander Core all together? Currently, with Windows, I use the hardware profile for both the RGB and cooling management with iCue completely uninstalled after initial config. 

So I guess my questions are:

- Will the hardware cooling profile persist even with Windows removed?
- Should I keep all of my 6 fans plugged into the Commander Core and use an open source software in Linux?
- Should I go the mobo route and giving up on setting the fans to coolant temp and use CPU temp instead?

I am still not clear about the safeguard with the Commander Core but I haven't been stressing my CPU since I built it so I haven't ran into any cooling related issue yet. 

This is my hardware configuration:

- AMD 7900X (updated to the latest chipset)
- Asrock X670E SL BIOS 2.02
- 4x32GB Corsair (CMH128GX5M4B5600C40) – Unfortunately, I mistakenly selected this model without proper filters, and it's not even on the QVL list. Returned them and got Corsair 2x48GB with QVL 
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Gigabyte
- 1300W EVGA Gold
- Corsair icue 360 pump + 3 Corsair QL AIO + 3 corsair SR 120 (2in side+ 1 ex rear)
- 2 Noctua ippc 3000 bottom
- Hyte Y60

[c-attack]

4 hours ago, daschronos said:

Will the hardware cooling profile persist even with Windows removed?

Yes.  Settings are saved to the device itself.  Once done, it runs that until new instructions are given in CUE or some type of emergency threshold is crossed.  If the pump stops running and the coolant temp skyrockets, the fans will kick into maximum and it will flash red to notify you there is a critical issue. 

 

4 hours ago, daschronos said:

Should I keep all of my 6 fans plugged into the Commander Core and use an open source software in Linux?

Definitely the three radiator fans.  Coolant temp is still the native control variable and they will follow their directive without CUE.  Coolant temp also makes a good control variable for case fan use because it is additive along with the case ambient temp.  That makes keeping the fans on a steady beat pretty easy.  However, if you prefer direct control and really like to race your fans around as CPU and GPU temp change, then you'll want the remaining three on the motherboard.  I don't recommend that avenue, but some people prefer it.  

 

The other reason you might consider using MB control instead is if you run a lot of near maximum professional loads where you need to set the fans to the highest tolerable level before each render/encoding run.  Obviously booting into Windows to that in CUE is not an ideal plan.  

 

4 hours ago, daschronos said:

2 Noctua ippc 3000 bottom

And just noticed this.  Be careful with these on Corsair controllers.  Historically they have been difficult with some odd behavior and they have a high minimum speed (~800 rpm).  I was about to warn you on their amperage levels, but when I went to verify I noticed Noctua has redone that motor and drastically reduced the current max on those 3000 rpm models.  They are almost like a normal fan now.  It looks like you have 6 Corsair RGB fans for the Commander Core slots, but if you intent is to place them on a splitter on the Commander Core, I would advise caution.  You really don't want to use splitters with those controllers unless it's a safe bet.  

 

 

4 hours ago, daschronos said:

Should I go the mobo route and giving up on setting the fans to coolant temp and use CPU temp instead?

I recommend you do not as it makes the fans drastically more active while adding nothing to the cooling effect of the CPU.  Water coolers do not function exactly like an air cooler and you don't need to shed heat instantly in order to maintain your baseline.  Some motherboards have decent hysteresis programming to help tone this down, but that is very board and model specific.  Most CPU/OPT headers are deliberately programmed to be very active regardless of what you put into the BIOS for delays.  

 

Given CUE is a bit of a nuisance to install/uninstall all the time, I would recommend leaving it installed in your Windows drive so at least you can boot in and change programming when needed, especially if you not going to be running it day to day anyway.  

[daschronos]

On 2/2/2024 at 7:55 PM, c-attack said:

Yes.  Settings are saved to the device itself.  Once done, it runs that until new instructions are given in CUE or some type of emergency threshold is crossed.  If the pump stops running and the coolant temp skyrockets, the fans will kick into maximum and it will flash red to notify you there is a critical issue. 

 

Definitely the three radiator fans.  Coolant temp is still the native control variable and they will follow their directive without CUE.  Coolant temp also makes a good control variable for case fan use because it is additive along with the case ambient temp.  That makes keeping the fans on a steady beat pretty easy.  However, if you prefer direct control and really like to race your fans around as CPU and GPU temp change, then you'll want the remaining three on the motherboard.  I don't recommend that avenue, but some people prefer it.  

 

The other reason you might consider using MB control instead is if you run a lot of near maximum professional loads where you need to set the fans to the highest tolerable level before each render/encoding run.  Obviously booting into Windows to that in CUE is not an ideal plan.  

 

And just noticed this.  Be careful with these on Corsair controllers.  Historically they have been difficult with some odd behavior and they have a high minimum speed (~800 rpm).  I was about to warn you on their amperage levels, but when I went to verify I noticed Noctua has redone that motor and drastically reduced the current max on those 3000 rpm models.  They are almost like a normal fan now.  It looks like you have 6 Corsair RGB fans for the Commander Core slots, but if you intent is to place them on a splitter on the Commander Core, I would advise caution.  You really don't want to use splitters with those controllers unless it's a safe bet.  

 

 

I recommend you do not as it makes the fans drastically more active while adding nothing to the cooling effect of the CPU.  Water coolers do not function exactly like an air cooler and you don't need to shed heat instantly in order to maintain your baseline.  Some motherboards have decent hysteresis programming to help tone this down, but that is very board and model specific.  Most CPU/OPT headers are deliberately programmed to be very active regardless of what you put into the BIOS for delays.  

 

Given CUE is a bit of a nuisance to install/uninstall all the time, I would recommend leaving it installed in your Windows drive so at least you can boot in and change programming when needed, especially if you not going to be running it day to day anyway.  

Thank you for your detailed and nuanced reply; it certainly helps clarify many things. The two noctua fans are actually plugged into the mobo header directly off a splitter (all fans headers on the board are 2A so I'm well within power limits) with the curve set to respond to mobo temps. They are also blowing directly on the a vertically mounted GPU. I left my set up as is (i.e. all Corsair fans plugged into the Commander Core). 

I may eventually just move to a non-RGB setup and just abandon the 360 AIO altogether. 

Cheers!

[Doug Sharp]

I have VMWare Player running under Linux, and Windows 11 running under VMWare player.  You can run icue from the Windows VM, and grant the VM control over the corresponding Corsair  hardware.  I have this set up on my current linux box, and I plan to set it up on the threadripper box I am currently building.  For the threadripper I am using an icue-h150i-elite cooler, so it will be even more important in order to avoid having the hardware anumation displaying on the screen...  VMWare player is free, so I think this constitutes a valid approach that does not require a linux port of icue...   You do need to have sufficient resources to run a Windows VM on Linux, which is a little heavy for just icue.