Good Fan Controller for case with no 5.25 bays

[MemBusX]

Hey there

Looking for a good fan controller that is internal. The case I bought is the Corsair 570X Which means no 5.25 bays. I was looking at the Corsair Commander but that thing is too damn big and I don't like the Corsair Link software. It's been too buggy. I've used it with the current H100i over the last 4 years. I did like how the fans would have a curve along with temps

The one controller I am looking at is the NZXT Grid+

https://www.nzxt.com/products/GRID-Plus-v2

Has anyone used this? or can suggest another low profile controller? Since this case is all glass everything will be in sight and the front will have the loop. Not much space left

Thanks in advance

[Hooded]

Phanteks is cheaper and supports more fans
http://www.phanteksusa.com/collectio...anteks-fan-hub

Newegg has plenty to choose from
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...681&isNodeId=1

Daz has some Alphacool solutions
https://www.dazmode.com/store/category/controllers/

[snef]

the motherboard with a powered splitter is the simplest and best controller, I have a aquaero 5 XT and aquaero 6 and I never use them, always use motherboard, they are really good

[nass]

I use the alphacool ones also. No need for fan controllers these days.

https://www.dazmode.com/store/produc...-splitter-pcb/

[MemBusX]

Alright I'll take a look guys

thanks for the reply.

So the Fan hubs speeds are pretty much based on the CPU fan speed? I'll be running 6 of those SP120 RGB's off it.

Hell that is a lot cheaper too $10 vs $100

[nass]

Your motherboard controls the speed via one connection to the cpu.

[Necrodead]

I'm getting into only using mobo as well, so I am stocking up on PWM fans and those PWM splitters.

[Izerous]

As an owner of a Corsair Commander I can suggest staying away from it like you have already mentioned. The unit all together as it has been nothing but a headache. In windows 10 it took several months for Corsair to have a solution to the endless connect/disconnect issues that plagued more than just myself. I left it disconnected and was stuck with the last programming until they released a solution which was a third party tool.

I bought a few of those external power PWM boards and plan on tearing it out and going that direction just haven't had time and need to figure out alternate lighting since I have been using the Corsair Link lights.

[MemBusX]

As an owner of a Corsair Commander I can suggest staying away from it like you have already mentioned. The unit all together as it has been nothing but a headache. In windows 10 it took several months for Corsair to have a solution to the endless connect/disconnect issues that plagued more than just myself. I left it disconnected and was stuck with the last programming until they released a solution which was a third party tool.

I bought a few of those external power PWM boards and plan on tearing it out and going that direction just haven't had time and need to figure out alternate lighting since I have been using the Corsair Link lights.

Yeah I had to deal with CLink over that past few years with the H100i and it's been a rough ride for me too. It has improved since CLink first came out I'll give em that but still there's some bugs with the firmware or something. The LED flashes white sometimes here and there. I stuck a pair of Delta AFB1212SHE Fans on it with a shroud

http://www.delta.com.tw/product/cp/d...0x120x38mm.pdf

They go 4100 RPM with 190 CFM Crazy Static Pressure



Suckers Scream when I fire up the PC. I was and still am surprized the H100i could handle 2 of em. Apparently it can handle up to 4 amps.

Now I figure it's time for a change and go with custom loop with SILENCE.

The new case handles 6 fans, I'm thinking SP120 RGB all the way around.

When I was at work I got to thinking. What could be an advantage of using a fan controller over Hub or vice versa and it led me to a great idea for maybe a video for Daz to investigate. Here it is. A fan Controller allows you to control individual fans right? You know how there's a point where cooling diminishes with fan RPM? What if you had a controller on a 360mm rad with 3 fans. 2 of the fans are set to low and only one ramp up with temps or at the lower temps one fan ramps up and as temperature goes up the second and third will speed up. Do you think a system could be quieter yet dissipate the heat efficiently?

Also another idea in regards to fan controllers. Makers should make em the size of an SSD or even HDD and have em fit in the Brackets. Bing bam boom, neat and tidy.

Another question too. Does the RPM's read right when you have 6-8 fans connected to the Hub? I know the RPM's go all wonky on the header I put a Y splitter on. It reads anywhere from 100000 to 100 and bounces around to unrealistic numbers

[nass]

Your fan curve u can set with your motherboard one connection controls all at the same speed that are connected to the header. It is pretty simple really . Also you want to hide this setup as it is messy, back of motherboard best idea usually not all your wires running to a drive bay idea

[nass]

Have fan controllers in one system still never change or use it really Sept to see Temps that use as a reference from normal idea.

[machiningguy]

There are a few options available for you. I've been researching this for a bit and unlike a lot of people in this forum, I do not have a newer motherboard which enables me to set a fan curve for specific hardware temperatures. Example. If my cpu is working hard I don't need my gpu radiator fans ramping up. Here are a couple of choices that I've been looking at.

http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cooli...fan-controller
http://www.aquatuning.us/air-cooling...fan-controller

It is my understanding you can set a fan curve to a specific temperature sensor or a motherboard sensor, and also control your rgb lighting if your into that.
Or if your motherboard supports it SpeedFan.
I'm sure there are more options out there if you look around.

[MemBusX]

I don't have drive bay area. @machiningguy problem is I don't have any bays to put that in. The only really discrete option is 1) Do like everyone suggested and keep it simple by using a hub or 2) The NZXT Grid+ with CAM software https://camwebapp.com/ <This is pretty much the best internal controller I could find. I just wonder how much CPU overhead that will cost in the background. Maybe you can not let it run on startup. I just like the idea of being able to control individual fans rpm's and monitor temps but maybe the best solution is the simple one.

[snef]

There are a few options available for you. I've been researching this for a bit and unlike a lot of people in this forum, I do not have a newer motherboard which enables me to set a fan curve for specific hardware temperatures. Example. If my cpu is working hard I don't need my gpu radiator fans ramping up. Here are a couple of choices that I've been looking at.

http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cooli...fan-controller
http://www.aquatuning.us/air-cooling...fan-controller

It is my understanding you can set a fan curve to a specific temperature sensor or a motherboard sensor, and also control your rgb lighting if your into that.
Or if your motherboard supports it SpeedFan.
I'm sure there are more options out there if you look around.

if you have only one loop, set different speed will not make any change, this is true for 2 separate loop
better to keep all fan at same speed in one loop configuration

and these are the best controller on market but don't worth the price , you can have the same result with a way cheaper controller
these cost really to high

or if you have a older motherboard simply use 3 pin fan powered splitter, as I remember, all MB have fan headers

I don't have drive bay area. @machiningguy problem is I don't have any bays to put that in. The only really discrete option is 1) Do like everyone suggested and keep it simple by using a hub or 2) The NZXT Grid+ with CAM software https://camwebapp.com/ <This is pretty much the best internal controller I could find. I just wonder how much CPU overhead that will cost in the background. Maybe you can not let it run on startup. I just like the idea of being able to control individual fans rpm's and monitor temps but maybe the best solution is the simple one.

both controller from Machiningguy are not 5 1/4 , you can hide them on back of the case, but if you take the 5 LT you need to add it to the loop or give it a very good cooling, can have high temp and speed of your fan jump to 100% to cool down the controller (vrm stop working when fan are at 100%)

s

[machiningguy]

if you have only one loop, set different speed will not make any change, this is true for 2 separate loop
better to keep all fan at same speed in one loop configuration

and these are the best controller on market but don't worth the price , you can have the same result with a way cheaper controller
these cost really to high

or if you have a older motherboard simply use 3 pin fan powered splitter, as I remember, all MB have fan headers





both controller from Machiningguy are not 5 1/4 , you can hide them on back of the case, but if you take the 5 LT you need to add it to the loop or give it a very good cooling, can have high temp and speed of your fan jump to 100% to cool down the controller (vrm stop working when fan are at 100%)

s

SNEF is 100% correct on the price of these fan controllers and the fact that you can mount them anywhere on your case, and also the fact that purchasing these controllers for a single loop would be a waste of money. For myself I have a dual loop also I use pwm fans on a motherboard with only one pwm header that I can control. One thing I didn't realize is that the 5LT has an overheating issue. Now I wonder if the 6LT has the same issue and if the separate heat-sink you can buy for it would be a smart thing to do?