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FD Define R4 fan controller question.
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:07 am
by Vogias
Hey people!
Does anyone know if I'll be able to connect 6 fans to the integrated fan controller of Fractal Design Define R4?
In the specs it says that it supports up to 3 fans but there is nowhere any reference for the watts it provides and I'm assuming that they say 3 fans because they offer 3 connecting cables.
I'm not interested in buying a fan controller. I will fit some noctua fans with Y cables, probably NF-A14, and if I'm not mistaken, they are pretty low on wattage.
I couldn't find an answer anywhere and I'd really like to know before buying the case.
Re: FD Define R4 fan controller question.
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:02 pm
by mkk
Their support is generally very helpful so they might be able to give you a figure for what the controller can handle. I would feel safe to connect two fans per header as long as neither of the fans draw a lot of power. For instance two fans of the same type that comes with the case, or equivalent aren't too demanding.
Other thoughts, do you really need all fans to be manually controlled? One or two might be able to be regulated by the motherboard, or perhaps some of them might be fine to simply run at a constant 5V through a cheap fan connnector or resistor. With so many fans in the setup there shouldn't be much need for any of them to ever run at 12V except maybe the CPU cooler if overclocking a lot.
Re: FD Define R4 fan controller question.
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:57 am
by Vogias
I am a kind of a control freak to be honest... I want to be able to control everything should the need comes. But you are correct, these are too many fans and it will be a really cool case with little effort. I am thinking of overclocking though and I'm trying to figure out a good airflow scheme to allow more air to come in and out with the least noise possible. I'll contact them with the said question and post the answer.
Re: FD Define R4 fan controller question.
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:53 am
by Vogias
It took a while but I finally got their answer.
"The fan controller is only meant for three fans and it will most likely break if you connect more than three fans to it."
Is it possible to really "break"?
Re: FD Define R4 fan controller question.
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:11 am
by CA_Steve
It's probably a variable resistor with a wattage rating. More fans = more load = more current through the resistor and may exceed the wattage rating -> heat-> melting -> burning of insulator...
Re: FD Define R4 fan controller question.
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:11 am
by Vogias
From what I got... it will probably break! Thanks for the info yet again!