Hi guys,

I'm building a new system (Please bear in mind that this is my second time building a PC so apologies for any noobness in the following statement) and I need your help in regards to installing case fans and managing them.

Here's my i5 build (Parts ordered, not built yet)

CPU: i5 2500k (Won't be doing any OC / chose 2500k because of onboard HD3000)
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212+ (Stock fan will be replaced by Nexus Silent fans)
Motherboard: Asrock Z68 Pro3
Case: Fractal Define R3
Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (2x4GB) DDR3
HDD1: Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB 7200RPM (OS drive)
HDD2: Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2TB 5400RPM (Storage drive)
HDD Vibration Silencer: Nexus Doubletwin HDD Mount absorber
PSU: Seasonic X-650 80Plus Gold 650W (overkill now, but will prob need more power for 7000series GPU)
GPU: none (Plan on installing an ATI 7000 series as soon as it's released; possibly 7950)
Case Fans: Nexus Real Silent 120mm Fans (5 Pack)

--------

I need your advice on two things,

1. Nexus Real Silent 120mm fans will come in 5 units. I am thinking of using 3 for the case fans and the other 2 for the CPU fans. (2 x front intake, 1 x rear exhaust, 2 x push/pull config for the Coolermaster 212+ heatsink for the R3 case) - The question is how/where will I connect them? To make my cabling management easier, will I connect 2 x CPU fans to PSU and 3 case fans to the motherboard? Do I need a splitter? Will you give me any advice with regard to this?

2. I want my system to monitor temps and control the fan speed accordingly. I don't want the fans to run at the default 1000rpm all the time, but at the same time, I do not wish to monitor temps and adjust fan speed via a fan controller. I'd rather my system handle all of this. How will I be able to achieve this? I assume that if I connect 2 x CPU fans to the PSU, I won't be able to achieve this. Does it mean that I need to somehow find a way to connect all the fans to the Asrock Z68 motherboard? Any other solution?

Thanks for any advice in advance,

I would go with a fan controller, that way in case you need it you can crank them up or lower them to your personal liking, thinking your going with a Sandy Bridge mobo, some can control the fans via PWM, some only 1 of the 4pins, other only voltage control, etc. But there is a fan controller that recently caught my atention, SUNBEAMTECH PL-RS-6 RHEOSMART 6 FAN CONTROLLER, it has the usual knobs to contol the fans, but also it can control normal fans like if they were pwm (as long as you have a PWM signal), check the following video, Product Showcase SUNBEAMTECH Rheosmart 6 Fan Controller (PL-RS-6) and Sunbeam Twister 120 CPU Cooler & Rheosmart 6 Fan Controller Video Review

Thanks for the suggestion, Abula. However, I've decided to leave out the option of choosing a fan controller due to many reasons.
Having said that, I'd really appreciate if you or anyone else could provide any advice on how to connect/manage the fans in a way that the system monitors and controls the fans. (I have non-PWM fans btw, all 5 of them are non-PWM)

Looking at your case and cooler combination, it really looks like 5 fans is too much.

1 Exhaust fan
1 CPU fan

Your power supply has a fan, and you really don't warrant any other fans than that.

I would say you could go with 1 Exhaust fan, and use a PWM fan for the CPU heatsink, so that it's driven by realtime heat, not just a static voltage.

Alternatively, you could run all of your fans at 7v hard wired and likely not have any problems. The fact that the hardware you're running is lower end (read, not for a gamer), and there isn't much in the way of heat sources. I'd say save the money, and get two regular fans powered by Molex connectors, and wire them for 7v, and let that be your Exhaust and CPU fans.

The air pressure created by this setup will be more than enough to draw fresh air through the front of the case with no front fans installed, and it will keep the case very cool. Minimizing the amount of fans blowing is the first way to build a quiet computer, step two is making sure they're in the right places. You could just as easily put fans in the front of the case, and eliminate the exhaust fans, as air pressure would empty the case like that, but then the fans would be closest to you, and therefore a louder noise source.

I run my Q9400 with a Scythe Ninja and a 7v CPU fan. I have my exhaust fan plugged into my CPU fan PWM header, and one additional fan for my ATI HD4850 with an Accelero S1 R2, only because it still gets very warm. My current setup has no intake fan, and relies on air pressure, but has never let me down. I've had my 4850 for about a year now, and I have played an occasional game with it, without changing any fan voltages or setups.

If you went with a large cooler, say Thermalright HR-02, you could go with the same setup, and would probably see lower temps than the 212+.

I just finished building a second i7 960 system for an electrical engineer, he's got a near identical system already, and he's looking to replace another older computer. I use Scythe Ninjas on nearly everything because it's a good enough cooler to use with any computer. I use Ninja's in two of my workstations at home, and they're great, but I know they aren't the best. If you went with a tighter spaced cooler (something like the Prolimatech Megahalem), you'd need a fan blowing faster, and you would see lower temps, but at the sacrifice for extra noise.

If you were overclocking, or dealing with more heat, I'd say the situation would be very different, but you don't need more than 2 fans + PSU in that system.

Well reserach your mobo software/bios, first check if you have 4x 3pin on the mobo, if you have fewer than your 5 desired fans, you probably will need Y connectors (peronally i dont recommend to load to much one plug), then check if all those 3pin can be voltage managed by the bios/software of your mobo. I havent tested Asrock lately, but i havent seen anyone raving the fan management, my guess is it will just control the cpu fan the rest will be pure 12V plugs, again check the mobo manual and the software that will come to see what the mobo is capable. Else, bonestonne, suggestion seems like good alternatives, although i like more the fan controller + PWM.

It`s possible that your motherboard has a spare header which can throttle fan speed so you could use that to further slow down the tricool.

Unless your ambient temps are really high, I agree you don't need five fans. I'm running a similar i5 system on two and my core temps are great...low-to-mid-fifties at 100% load, with the fans running around 700 rpm. I've got a PWM Slipstream on a Gelid Tranquillo CPU cooler blowing toward the back, and another as rear exhaust. I'm using Speedfan for automatic fan control. I've tried a bunch of different configurations using just the BIOS, but I haven't yet found one that doesn't over/under react. I don't know if it's possible to do the same thing with 3-pin fan headers (my mobo has all 4-pin PWM headers.)

How well do the Nexus Doubletwin HDD Mount absorber work?

The low frequency thrumming in my FT02 case from the HDs I presume, is killing me!!