Case has 12 fan slots, I want to fill them all. What do I need? (Thinking Corsair)

[spiffles]

Ok, so I'll be getting rid of my stock Redragon fans, but I want a system of 12 fans in my chassis, as it supports that many.  The Corsair LL120 RGBs (please suggest a better model if there is one!). My question is: what exactly do I need to be able to plug them all in and have full functionality? I know taht Corsair fans need separate plugs for the fan power and for the RGB power. I also know Corsair produces lots of different hubs, managers etc. So what would I need in order to support 12 RGB fans in synchronization with the minimal number of plugs to the mainboard? Could someone give me precise instructions here? Thanks!

[Guest]

I have 9  fans with room for 3 more using 2 commander pros.

(You don't need commander pros as your LLs will come with a LNP depending on the kit, but you're going to want a fan hub)

[Origami Cactus]

You would need 2x of the 3LL fan kits, which come with the Lighting node Pro's. Other fans you can buy single packs.

You plug 1x of the Lighting node pro into the motherboard usb port, and it has 2x of RGB outputs. You plug 2x of the fan rgb hubs into the ports. The fan rgb hub has 6 ports for fans.

Now, you would need to plug each fan into the ports in the correct order, to make the effects work.

 

To connect the fans to the motherboard, to control the fan speed, you could use the commander PRO and some fan splitters, that way you could control the fan speed with the same program, as your rgb effects. Or if your motherboard has enough fan headers you could use 3x splitters and use bios to control the fan speed.

[spiffles]

35 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

You would need 2x of the 3LL fan kits, which come with the Lighting node Pro's. Other fans you can buy single packs.

You plug 1x of the Lighting node pro into the motherboard usb port, and it has 2x of RGB outputs. You plug 2x of the fan rgb hubs into the ports. The fan rgb hub has 6 ports for fans.

Now, you would need to plug each fan into the ports in the correct order, to make the effects work.

 

To connect the fans to the motherboard, to control the fan speed, you could use the commander PRO and some fan splitters, that way you could control the fan speed with the same program, as your rgb effects. Or if your motherboard has enough fan headers you could use 3x splitters and use bios to control the fan speed.

So basically I'd need two Commander Pros, two RGB hubs and enough fan splitters as well? Oh dear god.

Do NZXT fans also use two separate connectors for RGB and fan power?

[Origami Cactus]

1 minute ago, spiffles said:

So basically I'd need two Commander Pros, two RGB hubs and enough fan splitters as well? Oh dear god.

No?

 

The rgb hubs and lighting node pros come with the 3x fan kits, so you would just need 2x of these kits.

 

Commander Pro is only needed if you want to control the fan speed with the corsair software instead of the motherboard one. It also has a Lighting node pro built in, so you could plug the fan rgb hubs directly into it. It has 6x fan headers, so splitters would work fine.

[spiffles]

2 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

No?

 

The rgb hubs and lighting node pros come with the 3x fan kits, so you would just need 2x of these kits.

 

Commander Pro is only needed if you want to control the fan speed with the corsair software instead of the motherboard one. It also has a Lighting node pro built in, so you could plug the fan rgb hubs directly into it. It has 6x fan headers, so splitters would work fine.

Alright. I can probably live without fan speed control in the software. So basically the other cables than the RGB ones on the Corsair fans (the ones meant to go into the motherboard) are only for controlling fan speed with software? Will the fans get enough power on their own just from the RGB connectors? Because without a splitter, I'd have to find 12 plug in slots for fans on the motherboard, and that's damn near impossible. I'm hoping to only have 1 or 2 MB plugs tops. 

[Origami Cactus]

1 minute ago, spiffles said:

Alright. I can probably live without fan speed control in the software. So basically the other cables than the RGB ones on the Corsair fans (the ones meant to go into the motherboard) are only for controlling fan speed with software? Will the fans get enough power on their own just from the RGB connectors? Because without a splitter, I'd have to find 12 plug in slots for fans on the motherboard, and that's damn near impossible. I'm hoping to only have 1 or 2 MB plugs tops. 

The rgb cables only control RGB.

 

The fans have 2 cables. 1x RGB cable, 1x PWM 4pin. 

Putting all the fans into 1 or 2 MB headers would be a bad idea, these usually only give out enough current for max 4 fans. You would need a fan controller, or a powered hub.

[spiffles]

Ok, so since I'm pretty new at this: does this diagram pretty much reflect the gist of things?

 

[spiffles]

45 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

The rgb cables only control RGB.

 

The fans have 2 cables. 1x RGB cable, 1x PWM 4pin. 

Putting all the fans into 1 or 2 MB headers would be a bad idea, these usually only give out enough current for max 4 fans. You would need a fan controller, or a powered hub.

Pls chek the diagram above and tell me if I got it right

[Origami Cactus]

28 minutes ago, spiffles said:

Ok, so since I'm pretty new at this: does this diagram pretty much reflect the gist of things?

 

Looks fine, but because you put commander pro instead of a lighting node, you could connect the fans to it, using 2x splitters for each fan headers, so 2 fans per header.

 

But I'll tag @Corsair Nick, he can help you with corsair stuff.

[Corsair Nick]

@spiffles - Pretty much everything @Origami Cactus has explained is accurate.  If you don't want to have software control for fan speed, you would use a Lighting Node Pro (Included in 3x Fan Packs).  To obtain RGB control for 12x fans, you can purchase your fans and accessories in the following manner:

• 2x LL120 3-pack fans, 6x Single LL120 fans

The photo below is from one of our Beta Testers that outlines all the connectivity:

 

[spiffles]

4 minutes ago, Corsair Nick said:

@spiffles - Pretty much everything @Origami Cactus has explained is accurate.  If you don't want to have software control for fan speed, you would use a Lighting Node Pro (Included in 3x Fan Packs).  To obtain RGB control for 12x fans, you can purchase your fans and accessories in the following manner:

• 2x LL120 3-pack fans, 6x Single LL120 fans

The photo below is from one of our Beta Testers that outlines all the connectivity:

 

Thanks a bunch! So for 12 fans, I'd just have to use another RGB Fan Led Hub and plug that one into the other channel on Lighting Node Pro? I'd still need just one USB connection to the MB and 3 SATA power connections? 

Also, could you please also share a diagram for the option where I actually would like to have software control over fan speed? Thanks a lot!

[Corsair Nick]

Yes, you can purchase a separate LED Fan Hub and buy (1) 3-pack of LL120 fans, and (9) Single LL120 fans.  Link to the LED Fan Hub sold separate:

 

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Custom-Cooling/Accessories/CORSAIR-RGB-Fan-LED-Hub/p/CO-8950020

 

This is kinda what you are looking for.  Snapshot of the wiring diagram he did for a Corsair 1000D build:

 

[spiffles]

Gee, thanks a lot! Now that is helpful!

[spiffles]

To be fair, seeing as how my chassis model is redragon ironhide, my setup is like this: 4 intake fans on the front panel, 2 exhaust fans in the rear, 3 exhaust fans at the top and 3 intake fans on top of the PSU compartment (bottom of the main case chamber). What setup would be optimal for such an arrangement?

[FALC0N]

Fourteen fans?  That sounds like vacuum cleaner waiting to happen.  Does that count the heat sink fan(s)? 

[spiffles]

22 hours ago, FALC0N said:

Fourteen fans?  That sounds like vacuum cleaner waiting to happen.  Does that count the heat sink fan(s)? 

I was only counting the chassis fans. There are 12 slots for those. Ofc there are also the fans inside the PSU, the one on the CPU cooler and 2 on the GPU - I wasn't counting those :P

[spiffles]

Alright, just completed the installation of all the fans. I'll swap the hardware on the weekend. Fun

[spiffles]

Ok, it actually works! 


Proud of myself for doing a successful swap on the first try. It was easier than expected. 

Now, what kind of software can I use to actually alter the fans speed and light patterns? I didn't get anything with the Commander Pro, so I'm a wee bit confused on that

EDIT: NVM, I got iCUE from the website and it works splendid!