First build needing advice on cooling

[WatchNLearn]

Got 10 AL120's all connected to the hub that came with the fans that is then connected to the SATA, USB 2.0 header and the fan header. RGB cable from that splitter cable is currently not being used and is not connected into anything.

My question is how do you all test your system through benchmarking and set fan curves to keep the cpu and gpu cool? I don't see any of my fans on my motherboards BIOS but I do see all of them on LC3. Do you all just create your fan curves from within LC3 and just have the program running everytime your pc gets turned on or what?

 

I have been hearing that it is better to unplug all of the fans from the hub and into the motherboard fan headers so I can keep track of them from within the BIOS. With this being said which specific motherboard fan headers should I plug my fans into if the goal is to have the fans adjust their speed based off the cpu and gpu temperatures? 

Current Fan layout:

6 Fans (3 on the side and 3 on the bottom both set to intake)

AIO mounted up top with the 3 fans set to exhaust (this is currently set to the CPU_Fan header with the fan set to 100% all the time already)

Single fan in the back set to exhaust

 

Had it built for a few days now and reluctant to start playing anything or benchmarking anything because I don't know how to set up the fans to keep everything cool. Not to mention what to do if the benchmarking goes wrong and makes something extremely hot due to my fans not being set up.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Parts for reference:

Case - Lian Li o11 Dynamic EVO
Intel I9-12900k
EVGA FTW3 3090 Ti
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming Motherboard
NZXT Kraken Z73 360mm - AIO

[Pikatchu]

45 minutes ago, WatchNLearn said:

Got 10 AL120's all connected to the hub

I am assuming it is corsair's hub and fans, you have to download Corsair's software to control them.

 

45 minutes ago, WatchNLearn said:

6 Fans (3 on the side and 3 on the bottom both set to intake)

AIO mounted up top with the 3 fans set to exhaust (this is currently set to the CPU_Fan header with the fan set to 100% all the time already)

Single fan in the back set to exhaust

This is the standard setup for LianLi 11o dynamic. 6 intakes and 3 exhausts, with evo adding one more exhaust.

 

With Corsair's software, you will be able to adjust each fan base on GPU or CPU temperature read outs.

 

As for temperature testing and fan tuning, this will take some effort. This is usually what I do (Remember to allow the components to cool down between each testing):

Base Mark

1) Leave everything stock and run all fans at 100%, run your CPU benchmark of your choice (Cinebench, 3Dmark...) then run your GPU benchmark.

2) Record score for both.

3) Record maximum temperature for both.

Fan

1) Tune the fan % to the maximum tolerable noise for you, this is different for everyone. For me, it is usually in the 65%-75% range.

2) Run the same benchmark again with the lowered maximum fan speed you set.

3) Record score for both CPU and GPU.

4) Record maximum temperature for both.

 

At this point, you will either see that the temperature is significantly higher or an unnoticeable increase (3 degree or lower).

My general rule of thumb for maximum comfortable temperature for CPU and GPU is 75 and 70 in that order.

If the temperature is higher than you'd like for either component, you can, either, try to increase the fan speed slowly (1-3% each step) or dip your toes into undervolting.

[RAM555789]

Start it up and run it through it benchmarks and actually see if it heats up. The number of fans you got sounds like complete overkill. Modern parts will shut themselves down or underclock before heat damages the parts and seeing high temps only can become a problem in the long term.

[WatchNLearn]

3 hours ago, Pikatchu said:

am assuming it is corsair's hub and fans, you have to download Corsair's software to control them.

Nope, they are the AL120's from Lian Li so they are connected to Lian Li's hub. I do have the software downloaded already, it is called L connect 3 (LC3.)

 

3 hours ago, Pikatchu said:

With Corsair's software, you will be able to adjust each fan base on GPU or CPU temperature read outs.

I see that I can change/create a custom fan curve based on the cpu and gpu temperature but they are different curves and it seems like you can only pick one or the other for each set of fans. 

With this being said, wouldn't I be contradicting the fans if I set certain ones to kick up if the gpu reaches to high of a temp and vice versa?

Example 1: CPU temp would be fine at the moment but gpu would be getting hotter, so the fans would kick up to cool off the gpu even though the cpu doesnt need it. 

Example 2: All fans would have a custom curve for the cpu and they would kick in whenever the cpu gets to a certain temp, which would ignore how hot the gpu would be getting resulting in higher temps for the gpu before the fans realise they need to do something. 

 

If this is the case, which set of fans would need to have their curve rely on the temps of the cpu or gpu? If its a matter of picking one or the other, wouldn't it be wise to create the curve for the gpu since the gpu tends to heat up faster than the cpu does thus keeping the cpu cool at the same time?

Idk if I'm just not understanding that correctly or if I'm just not understanding LC3 correctly.

 

Another question would be if I plug these all into the motherboard headers, isn't there certain ones I should avoid plugging into or no?

 

[WatchNLearn]

3 hours ago, RAM555789 said:

Start it up and run it through it benchmarks and actually see if it heats up. The number of fans you got sounds like complete overkill. Modern parts will shut themselves down or underclock before heat damages the parts and seeing high temps only can become a problem in the long term.

Based off my research for this particular case, the amount of fans (and their layout) is standard in this case. However, I have seen multiple videos and heard from different owners of the exact same case saying that temps rise exceptionally high if you don't set your fan curves correctly, which is why I'm asking this question to begin with. 

 

Any advice? 

[Pikatchu]

2 hours ago, WatchNLearn said:

I see that I can change/create a custom fan curve based on the cpu and gpu temperature but they are different curves and it seems like you can only pick one or the other for each set of fans. 

With this being said, wouldn't I be contradicting the fans if I set certain ones to kick up if the gpu reaches to high of a temp and vice versa?

Example 1: CPU temp would be fine at the moment but gpu would be getting hotter, so the fans would kick up to cool off the gpu even though the cpu doesnt need it. 

Example 2: All fans would have a custom curve for the cpu and they would kick in whenever the cpu gets to a certain temp, which would ignore how hot the gpu would be getting resulting in higher temps for the gpu before the fans realise they need to do something. 

Not sure if your motherboard have the function to mix temperature readouts to get average or min-max, you can use a 3rd party software to achieve this though.

I am currently using this one (A video from Jayz2Cents): https://youtu.be/uDPKVKBMQU8

2 hours ago, WatchNLearn said:

If this is the case, which set of fans would need to have their curve rely on the temps of the cpu or gpu? If its a matter of picking one or the other, wouldn't it be wise to create the curve for the gpu since the gpu tends to heat up faster than the cpu does thus keeping the cpu cool at the same time?

Idk if I'm just not understanding that correctly or if I'm just not understanding LC3 correctly.

Exhaust fan will usually run at higher speeds more often than intakes, if your intake fan count is more than exhaust. Therefore imo, exhaust fan should ramp up with which ever component is the hottest, to avoid the other component soaking its heat. As for intake, since you are using the o11 dynamic, I presume bottom intake take GPU temp and side intake take CPU temp.

 

 

 

[WatchNLearn]

4 hours ago, Pikatchu said:

Not sure if your motherboard have the function to mix temperature readouts to get average or min-max, you can use a 3rd party software to achieve this though.

I am currently using this one (A video from Jayz2Cents): https://youtu.be/uDPKVKBMQU8

Went ahead and bit the bullet and re-routed all the fans into separate headers in my motherboard. Funny how I ended up doing that and then discovered from that video that says that program will not run reliably if you don't have your fans plugged into your motherboard. Such a shame that LConnect 3 has to be so inconsistent. 

 

4 hours ago, Pikatchu said:

Exhaust fan will usually run at higher speeds more often than intakes, if your intake fan count is more than exhaust. Therefore imo, exhaust fan should ramp up with which ever component is the hottest, to avoid the other component soaking its heat. As for intake, since you are using the o11 dynamic, I presume bottom intake take GPU temp and side intake take CPU temp.

 

After watching that video of the program, he goes over a "mix" fan curve that takes both custom curves into account. Does this make it not matter which fans end up ramping up based off cpu or gpu temps? Can we just set a curve that if either of them reaches a certain temp, the fans kick on by the desired amount? Or do we still have to customize each specific fan curve (bottom, side, top, back, etc?)

 

[Pikatchu]

19 hours ago, WatchNLearn said:

Does this make it not matter which fans end up ramping up based off cpu or gpu temps? Can we just set a curve that if either of them reaches a certain temp, the fans kick on by the desired amount? Or do we still have to customize each specific fan curve (bottom, side, top, back, etc?)

 

To use mix fan curve, you will need a curve for CPU and GPU. Then, the mix will monitor those two curve. For example, CPU curve calls for 60% fan speed while GPU calls for 70%. Mix curve with avg will set fans to 65%, with max will set fan to 70%, with min will set fan to 60%.

 

Each curve you set above is a profile, you can simply apply the profile to the desired fans.

[WatchNLearn]

3 minutes ago, Pikatchu said:

To use mix fan curve, you will need a curve for CPU and GPU. Then, the mix will monitor those two curve. For example, CPU curve calls for 60% fan speed while GPU calls for 70%. Mix curve with avg will set fans to 65%, with max will set fan to 70%, with min will set fan to 60%.

 

Each curve you set above is a profile, you can simply apply the profile to the desired fans.

So based off your previous comment on the which curve needs to be on which fan, after creating the three graphs, I should set the CPU curve on the side intake fans. GPU curve on the bottom intake fans. And the single exhaust fan as well as the 3 radiator fans up top to be set on the mixed fan curve. Is this correct?

[Pikatchu]

25 minutes ago, WatchNLearn said:

So based off your previous comment on the which curve needs to be on which fan, after creating the three graphs, I should set the CPU curve on the side intake fans. GPU curve on the bottom intake fans. And the single exhaust fan as well as the 3 radiator fans up top to be set on the mixed fan curve. Is this correct?

Exhaust should ramp up more often as you have more intake fans. So for the exhaust fans, I would set the profile that provide the highest cooling. Whether this be CPU/GPU curve or mix curve. (The one that will probably kept running at a higher rpm)

 

As for the intakes, I will do bottom fan mix curve, and side fan either on flat curve or mix curve.

 

For my own current setup, with 4 intake and 3 exhaust fans on a Lancool 2 mesh case, my exhaust fans run on average 15% more speed than intake. With positive pressure fan setup,  you will usually run into a problem with not able to get hot air out fast enough. 

 

I will post my current Fan curve setups when I get the chance.

[WatchNLearn]

46 minutes ago, Pikatchu said:

Exhaust should ramp up more often as you have more intake fans. So for the exhaust fans, I would set the profile that provide the highest cooling. Whether this be CPU/GPU curve or mix curve. (The one that will probably kept running at a higher rpm)

 

As for the intakes, I will do bottom fan mix curve, and side fan either on flat curve or mix curve.

 

For my own current setup, with 4 intake and 3 exhaust fans on a Lancool 2 mesh case, my exhaust fans run on average 15% more speed than intake. With positive pressure fan setup,  you will usually run into a problem with not able to get hot air out fast enough. 

Are you using the regular mix fan curve or did you add a custom sensor and then proceeded to make a mixed fan curve based off that sensor?

[Pikatchu]

16 hours ago, WatchNLearn said:

Are you using the regular mix fan curve or did you add a custom sensor and then proceeded to make a mixed fan curve based off that sensor?

No custom sensors. I will suggest you to just play around with the software, and fan curves until you get what you like.