iCue best practice fan control

OK, so I am trying to get iCue to control my case and AIO fans in the best possible way and am looking for feedback/advice. My main aim is to get the best possible combination of low noise and optimum cooling. This is where I have got so far:

 

My case is a Corsair Obsidian 500D with 3x 120mm (ML120) intake fans on the front, 1xML120 rear fan and 2xML140s on my H115i liquid cooler on the top.

 

My kit is Core i7-8700 and an Nvidia RTX 2060 (open air-cooled) on Asus Prime 370 PII

 

So, the way I have it set up is:

 

My H115i fans cut in when the H115i liquid temps reach 29 degrees C

 

All my other case fans are controlled via a temp probe that is near my rear fan and is controlled by the Corsair Commander Pro.

 

My central front intake fan and my rear exhaust fan cut in at a case temperature of 30 degrees C. My other two intake fans at the front are set to cut in at a case temp of 32 degrees C.

 

So what does this all mean?

 

Basically, the AIO fans tend to spin at 600 RPM most of the time (except at night when they turn off)

 

All my other fans tend to be off whenever I'm just doing web browsing, email, word processing etc.

 

If I start to do a bit more or the weather picks up then I get one front intake and one rear fan spinning at about 600 rpm.

 

Start gaming and all my fans eventually cut in and expel the air from the RTX 2060.

 

I really like the way you can get this kind of granular control with iCue and a Commander Pro and have a near-silent computer most of the time, yet automatically having the fans ramp up (based on case temp and AIO coolant temp rather than CPU temp).

 

Am I just over complicating things or do any of you do this?

I am not an advocate of the zero fan model since it puts you at a thermal deficit or penalty compared to keeping the fans at a nominal low speed. There is a definite difference between slight airflow and none. Also, depending on your hardware, taking the fan noise out of the mix may reveal other less desirable noises underneath. However, this is certainly user discretion and you are the only one in the room with it.

 

The only thing to be partially mindful of is the top radiator fans are also serving as cooling for the the VRM, RAM, and motherboard capacitors in that same area. It is unlikely you would get into a situation with no coolant rise but high motherboard current, but something to be aware of when manipulating the top fans. I think it is more of an issue for using zero fan modes. Again, a little bit of airflow may keep you several degrees lower from the start.

 

I think the only thing you may run into the necessity to micromanage the temp change points on the curve. Unless you live in a rather controlled temperature space, this tends to move seasonally and often daily as well. Pretty common for me to have 5-8C warmer temps in the later afternoon vs morning as the sun bakes the glass one one half the room. However, this would be the case regardless if you were running this set-up or another, so at some point you may need to change the trigger temps to keep it quiet for idle work and running for play/load.

Thanks c-attack; that gave me plenty to think about. I've basically modded my settings so that top fans are always at at least 600rpm, so that I have a nice very quiet breeze throughout the case. I am, though, a fan of micro-controlling the other fans based on case temp as that seems to be working really well to keep things under control whatever the weather and whatever my graphics card is doing :)

OK, give it a few days. If there isn't a meaningful improvement, go back to what you're doing. In either scenario you are not putting anything at risk.

OK, I've played with the settings and tested it for a few days now and am happy with my setup. I've ended up with:

 

* For the AIO cooler: from 27 to 30 degrees C liquid temps I have the fans turning at 630rpm. above that I ramp up in a curve to 45 degrees where I have the fans at max

* My front middle intake and rear output fans are at 625 rpm from 29 degrees C to 32 degrees C case temps. They then ramp up to 1400 rpm at 35 degrees C.

* My other two intake fans are set as follows: @33 degrees case temp, 753 rpm, @34 degrees 1200 rpm, @ 38 degrees 1400rpm

 

This seems to work well to keep the temps inside my case at 34.5 degrees C or less regardless of what I throw at it whilst also keeping noise levels really low.