Fan Control Question on Noctua Industrial PPC PWM fans

[ZeferiniX]

Total noob here planning to build a PC and join the PCMasterRace . So I decided on getting the Noctua Industrial PPC PWM Fans but found out that it doesn't have a pin connector with the package.

 

Can you suggest which fans should get 3pins and 4pins?

 

3 NF-A14 and 3 NF-F12 on a NZXT H440

 

2 NF-A14 w/ the NZXT Kraken X61

1 NF-A14 for rear exhaust

3 NF-F12 front intake

 

I'd like to control the fans' speed and it seems like 4pins can do that but the MoBo fan headers are limited. I can probably use the molex that comes with the NZXT H440 but as far as my research goes, it runs the fans at max speed unnecessarily which makes it loud also. Should I get a fan controller and get 4pin connectors for all the fans? Need some help and suggestions guys.

[LogicalDrm]

Currently most hardware based fan controllers only support 3pin fans. For PWM controlled fans you need to use motherboards headers. But the catch is that not all mobos have PWM controlling option on their SYS_FAN headers. So in that case you could get something like NZXT Grid+ (still with 3pins only if I remember this right) or get PWM splittter and have all fans routed from CPU and CPU_OPT headers.

[ZeferiniX]

Currently most hardware based fan controllers only support 3pin fans. For PWM controlled fans you need to use motherboards headers. But the catch is that not all mobos have PWM controlling option on their SYS_FAN headers. So in that case you could get something like NZXT Grid+ (still with 3pins only if I remember this right) or get PWM splittter and have all fans routed from CPU and CPU_OPT headers.

 

Hmm I'm getting the Maximus VII Formula. The NZXT Grid+ seems like a good solution, and yea still 3 pins

[LogicalDrm]

Hmm I'm getting the Maximus VII Formula. The NZXT Grid+ seems like a good solution, and yea still 3 pins

 

Asus boards have PWM on mobo headers. So PWM fans might be good choice too.

[ZeferiniX]

Asus boards have PWM on mobo headers. So PWM fans might be good choice too.

 

I wonder how many headers that MoBo have.. Still googling and haven't found anyone talking about it, most people suggest a splitter or a fan controller D:

[LogicalDrm]

I wonder how many headers that MoBo have.. Still googling and haven't found anyone talking about it, most people suggest a splitter or a fan controller D:

 

CPU and CPU_OPT plus 6 chassis fan headers. So total 8. http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_FORMULA/specifications/ Internal I/O ports.

[ZeferiniX]

CPU and CPU_OPT plus 6 chassis fan headers. So total 8. http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_FORMULA/specifications/ Internal I/O ports.

 

*facepalm* now I feel stupid for overlooking that

 

hmm, how should I connect the fans?

 

I can use the 4 chassis fan headers for 3 front intakes and 1 rear exhaust but how about the 2 fans for the rad? should I put one on the CPU and the other on CPU_OPT? or should I use a Y splitter on the CPU fan header?

[MourningSouls]

The Kraken will take care of it's fans. Just need one header.

[LogicalDrm]

*facepalm* now I feel stupid for overlooking that

 

hmm, how should I connect the fans?

 

I can use the 4 chassis fan headers for 3 front intakes and 1 rear exhaust but how about the 2 fans for the rad? should I put one on the CPU and the other on CPU_OPT? or should I use a Y splitter on the CPU fan header?

 

CPU and CPU_OPT use same internal controller for speeds. Also others may use same controller for several headers. This means that each controller sets same speed curve for all headers that use it. Besides that every header can power 2-3 fans. So using PWM splitter for those you want may be needed but not necessary.

[TheProfosist]

Question can you use 2x 140mm as the intake? If so I'd advise that because you could put all the fans into a PWM splitter and control them all off of one header.

If you can't do that either use two headers that have independent control or since they have the same RPM up them all on a splitter together. When you do that though your going to have to have then NF-F12 be the one that reports. This is because it won't go to as low of a PWM due to its smaller size. Yes your NF-A14's will not be running as low as possible but at least you have control on all your fans.

I was really surprised by my NF-A14 industrial IP67 2000rpm fans that I just put into Chibi PC. I can actually get them to PWM lower than their normal 1500 RPM variant because of the better motor. I see below 200rpm which is the lowest the cpu fan warning will go on asus boards so I had to turn it off on Chibi PC so I didn't get errors from ai suite right and left.

Hmm I'm getting the Maximus VII Formula. The NZXT Grid+ seems like a good solution, and yea still 3 pins

I might be worried if it can deliver enough amperage with all those high power fans.

Asus boards have PWM on mobo headers. So PWM fans might be good choice too.

That's what I would go with as you can get the fans to go much much lower rpm.

CPU and CPU_OPT plus 6 chassis fan headers. So total 8. http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_FORMULA/specifications/ Internal I/O ports.

CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT just have the PWM part split off so if your doing more than 2 fans consider them the same header.

[Maowhree]

I've always wondered why NZXT included that fan hub into the H440 in the first place.. maybe they thought the sound dampening foam and small airflow grids would be enough to keep the system quiet, even with all fans running at full speed? Or maybe you're supposed to use very low speed fans all around.

 

Anyway, in your case I think using a fan controller would be quite hard to manage.. and that is one of the reason I don't like the H440, no 5.25" bays. So I would also suggest to connect all of the fans to the motherboard headers and use Y splitters where needed. But this is no time to think about which fans to connect to which header. Get the motherboard and the fans first (PWM ones or 3pin fans a with low noise adapter if you're going to use a lot of them, or it will turn out to be one hell of a noisy case), and then you can start experimenting with different fans configurations.

[TheProfosist]

The Kraken will take care of it's fans. Just need one header.

I'd be a bit worried that one fan header can power the pump and two industrial Noctua's.

CPU and CPU_OPT use same internal controller for speeds. Also others may use same controller for several headers. This means that each controller sets same speed curve for all headers that use it. Besides that every header can power 2-3 fans. So using PWM splitter for those you want may be needed but not necessary.

Just a heads up on this get something like the swiftest one where the power comes directly from the PSU otherwise you'll probably blow a fan header.

I've always wondered why NZXT included that fan hub into the H440 in the first place.. maybe they thought the sound dampening foam and small airflow grids would be enough to keep the system quiet, even with all fans running at full speed? Or maybe you're supposed to use very low speed fans all around.

Anyway, in your case I think using a fan controller would be quite hard to manage.. and that is one of the reason I don't like the H440, no 5.25" bays. So I would also suggest to connect all of the fans to the motherboard headers and use Y splitters where needed. But this is no time to think about which fans to connect to which header. Get the motherboard and the fans first (PWM ones if you're going to use a lot of them, or it will turn out to be one hell of a noisy case), and then you can start experimenting with different fans configurations.

They did it so that you'd have decent fan control for the cpu fans that would be controlled of the same temperature that the pump is.

Also with industrial noctua's I would not use Y cables due to very possible amperage limitation issues.

[Maowhree]

@TheProfosist: But aren't they running off the PSU only? How is the hub connected to the pump?

Well, if they're going to run at a low rpm speed and never exceed a certain rpm speed they'll draw less power from the motherboard's header anyway. That might be risky though.

[MourningSouls]

I'd be a bit worried that one fan header can power the pump and two industrial Noctua's.

Fan power comes from a SATA connector, pump power comes from the CPU header.

 

http://www.nzxt.com/manuals/krakenx61/X61-115X.html

[TheProfosist]

Fan power comes from a SATA connector, pump power comes from the CPU header.

http://www.nzxt.com/manuals/krakenx61/X61-115X.html

Oh sorry I was speaking from experience with my X41 I just put in Chibi PC, my bad.

Well, if they're going to run at a low rpm speed and never exceed a certain rpm speed they'll draw less power from the motherboard's header anyway. That might be risky though.

Yep I'd consider that risky as best because with PWM it'll have the same amperage it'll just be turning on and off rapidly.

I suggest getting a splitter like the swiftech or a cable that splits off power and control. It's actually pretty easy to make one if you can't fine one using a fan extension.

[Maowhree]

Oh sorry I was speaking from experience with my X41 I just put in Chibi PC, my bad.

Yeah, you were talking about the kind of fan hub which is included in my case as well, but that one is different... and from my point of view, kind of useless too. Well, anyway, back on topic!

 

Yep I'd consider that risky as best because with PWM it'll have the same amperage it'll just be turning on and off rapidly.

Right, that's something very true.

[ZeferiniX]

uhh, so I'm not supposed to use the MoBo's chassis and CPU Fan headers but rather find a way so that it'd be connected to the PSU because I might blow up a fan header with these high powered fans?

 

so many suggestions I'm not sure which one to follow anymore, I just want to control my fans without blowing up my fan headers @_@

 

what are my chances of blowing up a fan header between using a splitter for the 2 fans on the rad vs each fans on one fan header?

 

I'd be a bit worried that one fan header can power the pump and two industrial Noctua's.

 

So should I just connect the pump to the CPU fan header and the 2 noctuas for the rads to a chassis fan header?

[TheProfosist]

uhh, so I'm not supposed to use the MoBo's chassis and CPU Fan headers but rather find a way so that it'd be connected to the PSU because I might blow up a fan header with these high powered fans?

 

so many suggestions I'm not sure which one to follow anymore, I just want to control my fans without blowing up my fan headers @_@

 

what are my chances of blowing up a fan header between using a splitter for the 2 fans on the rad vs each fans on one fan header?

 

 

So should I just connect the pump to the CPU fan header and the 2 noctuas for the rads to a chassis fan header?

you can connect them to them for PWM fan control but power them off of the power supply. There are many different kinda of cables and adapter you can buy or even make to do this.

With the industrial fans, pretty good,. Though usually the CPU header has double the amperage that the rest of the headers do.

If I recall the pump on the X41/X61 actually plugs in via 3 pin not 4 pin so i would just plug it into a chassis header.

I would pick up this http://goo.gl/M2s4T3 and plug all fans into it making sure one of the NF-F12's is plugged into the red port which is the one that reports fan speed. PLug the 4 pin connector that just has tachometer and PWM info the CPU header and you should be good to go.

If you would rather have the Kraken do all of the control you could plug it into that also but then makesure to move the Kraken's 3 pin cable to the CPU header.

If you check out my Anthrax build log you can see I have experience controlling just a few fans. Also in Chibi PC I converted Scythe Gentle Typhoon high Speeds to PWM. I then later upgraded to 2000RPM IP67 industrial Noctua's on a Kraken X41 (update coming soon tm).

[MourningSouls]

uhh, so I'm not supposed to use the MoBo's chassis and CPU Fan headers but rather find a way so that it'd be connected to the PSU because I might blow up a fan header with these high powered fans?

 

so many suggestions I'm not sure which one to follow anymore, I just want to control my fans without blowing up my fan headers @_@

 

what are my chances of blowing up a fan header between using a splitter for the 2 fans on the rad vs each fans on one fan header?

 

 

So should I just connect the pump to the CPU fan header and the 2 noctuas for the rads to a chassis fan header?

If you feel uncomfortable running the fans off of headers, you can use one of these, they will then take all their power direct from the PSU while still being PWM controlled. The Kraken comes with a 4 fan splitter that connects to the pump and is powered from a SATA cable direct from your PSU, so you don't need to worry about that.

[TheProfosist]

If you feel uncomfortable running the fans off of headers, you can use one of these, they will then take all their power direct from the PSU while still being PWM controlled. The Kraken comes with a 4 fan splitter that connects to the pump and is powered from a SATA cable direct from your PSU, so you don't need to worry about that.

thats the exact thing i just recommended.

[ZeferiniX]

you can connect them to them for PWM fan control but power them off of the power supply. There are many different kinda of cables and adapter you can buy or even make to do this.

With the industrial fans, pretty good,. Though usually the CPU header has double the amperage that the rest of the headers do.

If I recall the pump on the X41/X61 actually plugs in via 3 pin not 4 pin so i would just plug it into a chassis header.

I would pick up this http://goo.gl/M2s4T3 and plug all fans into it making sure one of the NF-F12's is plugged into the red port which is the one that reports fan speed. PLug the 4 pin connector that just has tachometer and PWM info the CPU header and you should be good to go.

If you would rather have the Kraken do all of the control you could plug it into that also but then makesure to move the Kraken's 3 pin cable to the CPU header.

If you check out my Anthrax build log you can see I have experience controlling just a few fans. Also in Chibi PC I converted Scythe Gentle Typhoon high Speeds to PWM. I then later upgraded to 2000RPM IP67 industrial Noctua's on a Kraken X41 (update coming soon tm).

 

 

If you feel uncomfortable running the fans off of headers, you can use one of these, they will then take all their power direct from the PSU while still being PWM controlled. The Kraken comes with a 4 fan splitter that connects to the pump and is powered from a SATA cable direct from your PSU, so you don't need to worry about that.

 

This 8-way splitter seems like a good solution since it's being powered by the PSU. I have a few questions though:

 

1. Since I want the Kraken to control the fans and Swiftech's 8-way splitter recommends to use the CPU_Fan connector, I'll put the Kraken's connector in the CH1(Red slot) then the rest of the noctua fans connector on the available slots in the splitter. Am I doing it right?

 

2. I don't know if this question is still applicable if we do what I mentioned in question number 1 but can I still control all the fans with Fan Xpert? Swiftech mentions:

 

Since only one RPM signal can be read by one motherboard connector, only channel 1 of the PWM splitter carries an RPM signal; thus the motherboard will only read the RPM signal of the PWM device that is connected to channel 1 of the splitter.

doesn't that mean, I can only get 1 signal in Fan Xpert? And since I want the Kraken to control the fans, can it still do the job? I'm wondering because that is a PWM Splitter which means for 4 pins right? But the Kraken only have 3 pins, how's that suppose to control everything? Sorry, really confused about this pin shiz.

[MourningSouls]

This 8-way splitter seems like a good solution since it's being powered by the PSU. I have a few questions though:

 

1. Since I want the Kraken to control the fans and Swiftech's 8-way splitter recommends to use the CPU_Fan connector, I'll put the Kraken's connector in the CH1(Red slot) then the rest of the noctua fans connector on the available slots in the splitter. Am I doing it right?

 

2. I don't know if this question is still applicable if we do what I mentioned in question number 1 but can I still control all the fans with Fan Xpert? Swiftech mentions:

doesn't that mean, I can only get 1 signal in Fan Xpert? And since I want the Kraken to control the fans, can it still do the job? I'm wondering because that is a PWM Splitter which means for 4 pins right? But the Kraken only have 3 pins, how's that suppose to control everything? Sorry, really confused about this pin shiz.

You can use any header, some boards only have PWM support for the CPU header so recommending that makes things somewhat easier for tech support.

 

Both of the Noctua fans you want to use come in the same specific speeds, 2000RPM and 3000RPM. As long as they are matched, there is no issue with control unless you want very specific control. Worst case scenario you can always buy a second or a fifth module.

 

As for the Kraken, the 3 pin header for it is just for the pump. Generally you want it running at a constant speed, hence the lack of PWM control. PWM control for the radiator fans is controlled by the pump (And software via a USB2.0 connection) and powered by a SATA cable. As for running all the fans at the will of the Kraken, you may be able to connect the Swiftech module to one of the extra fan connectors on the Krakens adapter. Or you should be able to setup a fan profile that is based on the CPU temp, even through a chassis header.

 

(For the record, I have zero experience with FanXpert, while I own 7 PWM only one is actually mounted in a case and it's plugged into a molex adapter and running at 12V.)

 

(PS Don't run Corsair SP120's at 12V, they're really frakking loud.)

[TheProfosist]

This 8-way splitter seems like a good solution since it's being powered by the PSU. I have a few questions though:

 

1. Since I want the Kraken to control the fans and Swiftech's 8-way splitter recommends to use the CPU_Fan connector, I'll put the Kraken's connector in the CH1(Red slot) then the rest of the noctua fans connector on the available slots in the splitter. Am I doing it right?

 

2. I don't know if this question is still applicable if we do what I mentioned in question number 1 but can I still control all the fans with Fan Xpert? Swiftech mentions:

doesn't that mean, I can only get 1 signal in Fan Xpert? And since I want the Kraken to control the fans, can it still do the job? I'm wondering because that is a PWM Splitter which means for 4 pins right? But the Kraken only have 3 pins, how's that suppose to control everything? Sorry, really confused about this pin shiz.

If you want the kraken to control the fans you would plug them into the Kraken and the Kraken into the CPU header. The splitter just says CPU fan header because it the only one that has always been PWM since the P4 days.

No you would control them using the kraken if thats what you want to control them. All the pans in that splitter show up to what ever is controlling them as one fan.

The splitter only send 1 rpm that represents all the fan which is fin if they have teh sam rpm and can do the same curve. But it sends the same PWM signal to them all to control that at that RPM. The kraken is controlled over USB and its software controls the fans. The 3 pin is just power and to tell the MB the speed of the pump.

You can use any header, some boards only have PWM support for the CPU header so recommending that makes things somewhat easier for tech support.

 

Both of the Noctua fans you want to use come in the same specific speeds, 2000RPM and 3000RPM. As long as they are matched, there is no issue with control unless you want very specific control. Worst case scenario you can always buy a second or a fifth module.

 

As for the Kraken, the 3 pin header for it is just for the pump. Generally you want it running at a constant speed, hence the lack of PWM control. PWM control for the radiator fans is controlled by the pump (And software via a USB2.0 connection) and powered by a SATA cable. As for running all the fans at the will of the Kraken, you may be able to connect the Swiftech module to one of the extra fan connectors on the Krakens adapter. Or you should be able to setup a fan profile that is based on the CPU temp, even through a chassis header.

 

(For the record, I have zero experience with FanXpert, while I own 7 PWM only one is actually mounted in a case and it's plugged into a molex adapter and running at 12V.)

 

(PS Don't run Corsair SP120's at 12V, they're really frakking loud.)

only think I would do is makesure a NF-F12 is reporting the speed not a NF-A14 because the NF-A14 can actually go to a lower speed. This is because the blades are bigger and they have more momentum.

The CAM software will control the speed of the pump as needed through USB.

FanXpert works great and is one big reason I buy ASUS. You would use it instead of the Kraken for controlling the fans.

And yes very true. So are even the 2000rpm industrials at full tilt.

[ZeferiniX]

No you would control them using the kraken if thats what you want to control them

From the sound of it, are you saying there other better ways to control the fans aside from:

1. Connecting all fans to the mobo cpu and fan headers.

RAD powered by PSU, pin on CPU fan header and all noctua fans on fan headers.

2. Connecting the splitter to the kraken and the kraken to the cpu fan header both powered by the PSU.

I thought the kraken will be able to control all of them individually. Im getting the 2000 RPM IP52 model btw.

[TheProfosist]

From the sound of it, are you saying there other better ways to control the fans aside from:

1. Connecting all fans to the mobo cpu and fan headers.

RAD powered by PSU, pin on CPU fan header and all noctua fans on fan headers.

2. Connecting the splitter to the kraken and the kraken to the cpu fan header both powered by the PSU.

I thought the kraken will be able to control all of them individually. Im getting the 2000 RPM IP52 model btw.

Ok so first things first you plug all the fans into the swifttech splitter. They will all be controlled as one fan. Put a NF-F12 on the plug with the red cap as it cant spin down as low as the NF-A14.

Then either plug it into the MB if you want it to control the fans or the Kraken if you want it to control the fans. If you have the Kraken control the fans plug its fan cable into the cpu header so you MB know you have something cooling it.

Also on the X61 it like they are all on the same lead coming off the pump like the two on my X41. This means they would all be controlled at the same speed.