Quiet case fans

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

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c3125878
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Quiet case fans

Post by c3125878 » Sun May 29, 2016 1:38 pm

Hi, I am new to quiet pc´s. Recently I changed my old loud coolermaster realpower 520 PSU for a really silent Be quiet dark power 11 550.
The PSU was the loudest component by far under load. After that I went tweaking my cpu and gpu fan settings.
This only leaves my case fans from my lancool dragonlord k62 which are not silent (certainly at full rpm which is 1000)

dragonlord k62 fans that came with it
System Fan (Front) 140mm Blue LED Fan x 1
System Fan (Top) 140mm Blue LED Fan x 2
System Fan (Rear) 120mm Fan x 1
And I added another intake fan from scythe (slipstream 800rpm) where normally a DVD drive would be.

I hooked all case fans (except the scythe) onto the psu which regulates the rpm. (really nice feature I think)
So the case fans are also a lot more silent now. But the problem is that 2 out of 3 blue 140mm fans frequently start making a sort of clicking noise at a certain rpm.
So I was thinking about replacing those and maybe also the 120mm one? (This one makes no weird noise but maybe alot of improvement can be made because it is smaller size? Im not sure of this)

What I have seen on the internet is that noctua is loved by many people but I don´t want brown color fans :P
This is what I have found for optional quiet fans:

Be quiet! Pure Wings 2 120mm
Be Quiet! Pure Wings 2 140mm
NF-P14s redux-900
The bequiet! Silent Wings 2 140
Fractal Design Dynamic GP-140mm Black en White
Phanteks PH-F140HP


What do you guys think of this? And what would you pick?

edh
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by edh » Sun May 29, 2016 10:39 pm

What components do you have in the system?

Abula
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Sun May 29, 2016 10:53 pm

What motherboard you have and how do you plan to control the fans?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun May 29, 2016 11:02 pm

c3125878 wrote:What do you guys think of this?

You missed to state your setup description to let us think anything really meaningful: anyway, broadly speaking top fans are usually worthless, but who knows (in your case).

c3125878 wrote:And what would you pick?

Among the ones available to you, the Redux looks like the best candidate, probably.

c3125878
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c3125878 » Mon May 30, 2016 6:26 am

Here is my complete system

CPU I5 2500k (socket 1156) (4.5ghz) (Mugen 2 revb cooler with 2 fans)
MOBO MSI p67 gd-65 B-3
RAM 4x DDR3 kingston 2GB
GPU Radeon r9 280x (Sapphire)
SSD Crucual realssd 128gb
HDD Western Digital 1TB
PSU Be Quiet Dark power 11 550w
OS Win 7 x64

Currently my max temps (when gaming for hours)
70C for cpu
and 80C for GPU

I plan to connect all the (case) fans to the PSU (except one due to only 4 connectors on psu) which regulates the RPM according to heat or power consumption (not sure) But its nice that the case fans are more quiet in idle state. Another option is my scythe kaze master flat II but the rpm is only manual adjustable. This would result in either higher rpm in idle for better cooling, or lower rpm under load for a more quiet system.
Last edited by c3125878 on Mon May 30, 2016 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

Abula
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Mon May 30, 2016 9:00 am

c3125878 wrote:I plan to connect all the fans to the PSU (except one due to only 4 connectors on psu) which regulates the RPM according to heat or power consumption (not sure) But its nice that the case fans are more quiet in idle state. Another option is my scythe kaze master flat II but the rpm is only manual.
I dont like the idea of PSU deciding the RPMs, given that it can be done based on the load the PSU is recieving, it wont be based on the CPU temp.

Reading BeQuiet spec site,
Up to four case fans can be connected to, and regulated by the PSU, thus reducing overall system noise even further
Not knowing how low the PSU undervolts the fan headers, i would go with Fans that have a very wide range of operations, thus i would recommend you go, as Lucas suggested, with the Redux line.

For 140mm: Noctua NF-P14s redux-900
For 120mm: Noctua NF-S12B redux-700

I leave you a couple of graphs for you to see the range of operation,

Image

Image

That said, i would strongly suggest to check how MSI P68 manages fan control on the bios, i know how it did MSI Z87/Z77, but i didnt had any MSI prior so i cant say for sure, if its anything close to what the Z77 build i did, the CPU_FAN is a PWM fan header, and here is a screenshot i still had of the bios.

Image

If you have the CPU smart Fan target and the CPU min.Fan Speed, then its the same as my Z77 build. This two allow the control of PWM fans, practically its the minimum settings you need to create a ramping profile. The target temp is the place where your fan will increase the rpms, below that temperature the fan will behave as you placed on the CPU min, for example on screenshot you see the fan is setup to be at 25% (425rpms) until the 55C temperature is reached, where the PWM % will start varying according to the temperature. Check it see if you can do this on your bios, i would prefer this over the PSU way, and i would recommend different fans for this style, and a PWM fan splitter.

c3125878
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c3125878 » Mon May 30, 2016 2:09 pm

Thank you for you post. Our BIOS look alike. I now have the same settings for smart fan target and cpu min fan speed. (They were close already)

Does the auto function on the motherboard system fan control regulate the case fans the same way as the CPU fan? So they will spin at the same RPM if its the same fan?
Which fans would you recommend if I were to connect them to the motherboard? And should I maybe ditch the scythe slipstream thats loose in my pc where normally the dvd drive is, when I have 4 new case fans?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon May 30, 2016 11:05 pm

c3125878 wrote:Currently my max temps (when gaming for hours)
70C for cpu
and 80C for GPU
At first glance, given the load, your CPU temps might seem a bit high for a Sandy Bridge with a good two fans cooler and three large case fans nearby it (though we know neither any fan speed, nor case fans blowing directions).
What does it happen if you just stop the two top fans? OTOH what about stopping the rear one?

Abula
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Tue May 31, 2016 5:02 am

c3125878 wrote:Thank you for you post. Our BIOS look alike. I now have the same settings for smart fan target and cpu min fan speed. (They were close already)
Thats great, to be sure, increase the "CPU Min.Fan Speed" from 25% to 50% and see if the CPU FAN SPEED changes, if it does then its confirmed you can control PWM fans, after you test it place it where you like it, this is just to be sure.
c3125878 wrote:Does the auto function on the motherboard system fan control regulate the case fans the same way as the CPU fan?
I never really tried the other headers on the Z77, my guess is it should be similar to my Z87, that its voltage controlled headers, but it cant drop as low, in my Z87 you have 50-100% on 10% increments, its practically undervolting.
c3125878 wrote:So they will spin at the same RPM if its the same fan?
This will depend on each fan and header into how they behave.
c3125878 wrote:And should I maybe ditch the scythe slipstream thats loose in my pc where normally the dvd drive is, when I have 4 new case fans?
This is something you have to test for yourself, all setups are different weather you benefit from this extra fan only you can decide based on what you gain. More fans most of the time is more noise, we try to drop them to inaudible levels, but still more is more, again its up to you to test if that fan give you a significant advantage to keep or take out. Check the following links so you get an idea into what and how to test, past 2 fans there is little benefit, again dont take this as a rule, its best to test with your own hardware and settings. Personally i like 3 fans (2 in and 1 out) to create a positve preasure to avoid air sucking out on places that i dont have fan filter thus avoiding extreme dust buildups inside the case.

Case Fans - How many should you have?
The Big Air Cooling Investigation
c3125878 wrote:Which fans would you recommend if I were to connect them to the motherboard?
If you were to go fully PWM, asi did on the Z77 build, you need fans that operate at a similar rate, as you will only use one header, you need a PWM fan splitter, here a couple of options, Swiftech 8W-PWM-SPL-ST 8 Way PWM Splitter-Sata and/or Cryotech PWM Splitter Molex, both are safe to use, as you are not overloading the header, the power is supplied via molex/sata, the mobo only supplies the PWM singal to control all the fans.

The fans that im recommending drop extremely low on PWM control and have similar operational starting points, the curve is similar also, the differences below 30%, but not a big deal, both will net very similar rpms from 25% up.

For 120mm: Noctua NF-S12B redux-1200 PWM
For 140mm: Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM

Image

On the PWM splitters, there is a connector clearly labeled as the one that reports the RPMs, use the NF-P14S on that connector, as if you see the tables up, the NF-S12B have a green color there, sometimes this means they will go to 0% into the reporting the rpms, its not an issue at all dont worry, but the NF-P14S has doesn't have this, so it will report always, all fans will behave the same, just a matter for you to see the rpms on windows or monitoring.

One last comment, yes there are quieter fan, and you can setup PCs to inaudible levels, but there is no magical fans that will net you outstanding cooling and not create noise, overclocking most of the time will create more heat, and thus you need more rpms to keep your setup under control, this continues to be true even with better fans. Most of us here sacrifice speed to avoid heat, and thus ending with a quieter setup. Things that you should also consider is that while AMD 280 is not that hot running card, its not cool running, upgrading the cooler might help a lot, also check if you do need 4.5ghz in your gaming, if it really nets you better performance, less voltage will net you less heat and quieter setup. What im trying to say is dont expect miracles out of chaining fans, its best to analyze whats producing the noise and then react accordingly to solve each issue at one time.

c3125878
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c3125878 » Tue May 31, 2016 10:21 am

quest_for_silence wrote: At first glance, given the load, your CPU temps might seem a bit high for a Sandy Bridge with a good two fans cooler and three large case fans nearby it
I have opened my pc alot of times lately and I might have wobbled the cpu cooler a few times to reach certain parts or cables. When I will change the case fans I will try to re-mount the cpu cooler. (I already have to take almost the whole pc apart to remove the HDD tray to change the intake fan) btw do you think a scythe fuma with 3 fans would be a upgrade for cooling or noise? (I have this laying around)

c3125878
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c3125878 » Tue May 31, 2016 5:05 pm

Abula wrote:Thats great, to be sure, increase the "CPU Min.Fan Speed" from 25% to 50% and see if the CPU FAN SPEED changes, if it does then its confirmed you can control PWM fans, after you test it place it where you like it, this is just to be sure.
Yes this works
Abula wrote:Personally i like 3 fans (2 in and 1 out) to create a positve preasure to avoid air sucking out on places that i dont have fan filter thus avoiding extreme dust buildups inside the case.
Interesting. So if I would like to achieve positive pressure I only need 2 140mm and 1 120mm fans. and leave the top open for heat to rise by itself. I like the idea of less dust build up but would this have alot effect on cooling? And for my case the second intake fan would be loose inside the case in the DVD drive area. Im a bit worried about vibrations, but maybe there is a fix for that.
Abula wrote:If you were to go fully PWM, asi did on the Z77 build, you need fans that operate at a similar rate, as you will only use one header, you need a PWM fan splitter, here a couple of options, Swiftech 8W-PWM-SPL-ST 8 Way PWM Splitter-Sata and/or Cryotech PWM Splitter Molex, both are safe to use, as you are not overloading the header, the power is supplied via molex/sata, the mobo only supplies the PWM singal to control all the fans.
This will also do the job right?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-Sl ... 73e49f3152

Abula wrote:One last comment, yes there are quieter fan, and you can setup PCs to inaudible levels, but there is no magical fans that will net you outstanding cooling and not create noise, overclocking most of the time will create more heat, and thus you need more rpms to keep your setup under control, this continues to be true even with better fans.

I am fully aware of this. And I know OCing and silence contradict each other. My idea is to make my pc as fast as possible and in second place make it as silent as it can be. The new psu is already an amazing difference, but I think there is room for a little more improvement, and you seem to know a thing or two about quiet pc´s.
Abula wrote:Things that you should also consider is that while AMD 280 is not that hot running card, its not cool running, upgrading the cooler might help a lot
I know its not the best card. It gets pretty hot (also have it OC btw :p) And has some noticeable coil whine. But the card is not that bad either I think. It gets the job done in games and the fan stays mostly between 10-30% speed (and instead of the case fans don´t make annoying rattling sounds) For me rattling, clicking or coil whine noises are way more annoying than the sound of just air flowing.
For my next GPU I will certainly look for something that stops the fans in idle, is more power efficient and has little to no coil whine. But this will probably be in 1 or 2 years. Maybe in that time I will also get a new CPU motherboard and RAM.

btw is that software from asus needed to set the fan curve? or is it only for asus boards and is my bios/uefi already configured as I will connect everything to 1 header? (Sorry for so many questions :p)

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue May 31, 2016 10:38 pm

c3125878 wrote:btw do you think a scythe fuma with 3 fans would be a upgrade for cooling or noise? (I have this laying around)

I think you should try to block your case fans and do some tests time by time: some of them might be unnecessary or counterproductive.

c3125878
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c3125878 » Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:42 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:I think you should try to block your case fans and do some tests time by time: some of them might be unnecessary or counterproductive.
Currently I unplugged the 2 top 140mm fans (they rattle the most anyway). To achieve positive pressure. cpu max temp increased by 2c to 72c. So my guess is that they are not really needed. (I noticed my temp increased around 5c or 6c on the temperature sensor I placed near to the 120mm exit fan)

Abula
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:15 pm

c3125878 wrote:This will also do the job right?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-Sl ... 73e49f3152
I havent tried that one, but seems it will work, again its just a guess as i dont own it.
Im a bit worried about vibrations, but maybe there is a fix for that.
I dont know what case you own, but you could try either suspending it on rubber screws or some do it zip ties, etc. This is more a thing to play around and see.
I like the idea of less dust build up but would this have alot effect on cooling?
From a vague recall, i think postive has slightly higher temps, but to me its worth it to avoid the massive dust buildup when air comes in through unfiltered holes. That said, filters also increase temp because you are restricting the airflow, but again i prefer to have a cleaner setup. This is more a personal preference than whats better or ideal. For example my current setup has a massive postive preassure on the FT05, but there PC cases that are pure negative pressure, neither is better than the other, there are advantages and disadvantages to each, but test it on your own setup, see how it works out.
btw is that software from asus needed to set the fan curve?
The pictures shown its because its easier to show someone the behavior of the fan, but yes thats Asus FanXpert software. Other motherboards bios/software will be able to control the fans, i use Asus motherboards more for testing, but all my main PCs atm are MSI, and soon AsRock, i dislike software fan control for running on my main pcs, but its very useful to test fans. On your setup there is no multiple breakpoints as you see in the software, its more a single one, the %PWM and temp on the bios is the breakpoint where it will ramp up, how much idk, its the way the bios is designed, older mobos dont have the amount of control that newer have, still i think you can find a good way to have a single breakpoint do a good job managing PWM fans, you do have to play around with it once you connect the fans, try different settings and see what works better for you.
is my bios/uefi already configured as I will connect everything to 1 header? (Sorry for so many questions :p)
From what i can tell, yes, remember i dont own or have tested your MSI P68, but seems very similar to MSI Z77 i build a couple of years ago. You do need the PWM splitter to able to run all fans from the same header on the motherboard, the one you linked seems similar to the ones i linked, so i would assume it will work, but again i dont own it to say for sure.

Remember here is more for you to test, all setups are different, and we all have different goals to achieve, so how many fans, what rpms, and how will all work out are things that will open to you once you test them, personally i enjoy a lot this stage, even more than using my pcs, but thats because its more a hobby to me. I think you are in the right track, and you have very good ideas into how to make your pc a quiet oc setup, but only you can tell what will you sacrifice for the performance you want to achieve.

If you have other questions or once testing if you have any issues, ill be around.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:00 pm

c3125878 wrote:(I noticed my temp increased around 5c or 6c on the temperature sensor I placed near to the 120mm exit fan)

That latter temp rise is likely due to the airflow shortcut you probably had (I think the two top fans pushed some fresh air directly into the rear exhaust).

Last but not least, I guess you can try your Fuma (from the review I saw it should be definitely better than the Mugen 2), but personally I don't expect a decisive advantage by using it.

c4610939
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:22 am

Hi im the TS but I lost my account info so I made a new account.

Today my PWM splitter and fans arrived. I installed everything but to my surprise the 3 new noctua fans don´t spin at all when connected to the PWM splitter.
I have now connected 1 intake fan to my motherboard (3pin header) which now spins, so it´s not broken. But I don´t know how to get them to work on the PWM splitter.
Any ideas? Im a but confused.

c4610939
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:09 am

I also mounted the scythe fuma, but I reach 80C after 1 min of prime 95 with fans blasting at full speed :shock:

Abula
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:34 pm

c4610939 wrote:Today my PWM splitter and fans arrived. I installed everything but to my surprise the 3 new noctua fans don´t spin at all when connected to the PWM splitter.
I have now connected 1 intake fan to my motherboard (3pin header) which now spins, so it´s not broken. But I don´t know how to get them to work on the PWM splitter.
Any ideas? Im a but confused.
First some questions,

1) What fans did you end up buying? Model/brand?
2) What PWM splitter did you buy? model/brand? or a link might be helpful to see.
3) What Motherboard header did you connected the PWM splitter? CPU_FAN1 or CPU_FAN2 or SYS_FAN1 or SYS_FAN2?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:05 pm

c4610939 wrote:I also mounted the scythe fuma, but I reach 80C after 1 min of prime 95 with fans blasting at full speed :shock:
Hmmm... how much high it was with the Mugen 2? How much high the ambient temp is? How much is the vcore? Can you post a photo of the TIM footprint? Which TIM did you use?

c4610939
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:16 pm

quest_for_silence wrote: Hmmm... how much high it was with the Mugen 2? How much high the ambient temp is? How much is the vcore? Can you post a photo of the TIM footprint? Which TIM did you use?
Idle temp from a cold boot is around 40C. Ambient temp is around 27C and I have now tested it with gaming. It reaches 71 75 74 71 for the individual cores after 2 or 3 hours gaming. This is not much higher than with the mugen. I´m not sure if it is currently more silent tho. But a real comparison cannot be made because I have not connected the second intake fan (currently have 1 intake and 1 outtake) And those fans are not PWM but set on 50% in the bios with a low noise adapter. (now changed to auto with low noise adapter)

Vcore is 1.320 and thermal paste is the tube that comes with the scythe fuma. (it only says scythe thermal grease) I also have some cooler master high performance. And artic silver 2 I believe. (would they be any better?)

And about the fuma cooler im not even 100% sure I mounted the thing the right way. I tried to mount several times but every time I follow the instructions it was still kinda loose. I then tried with 3 parts turned around and eventually I got it to fit tight. Not sure if im stupid or the manual sucks.

So considering my ambient temp, vcore, and setup are these temps considered normal? (If useful I can disable oc and give prime95 or gaming temps) if I run prime 95 now my pc is almost about to lift off but still reaches 75 to 80C in a few minutes.
Last edited by c4610939 on Wed Jun 22, 2016 5:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.

c4610939
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:46 pm

Abula wrote:
1) What fans did you end up buying? Model/brand?
1x NF-S12B redux-1200 PWM 2x NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM
Abula wrote: 2) What PWM splitter did you buy? model/brand? or a link might be helpful to see.
Splitter used:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-Sl ... 73e49f3152

(scythe fuma fans do work on it so it seems its not broken) and the molex connector is connected
Abula wrote: 3) What Motherboard header did you connected the PWM splitter? CPU_FAN1 or CPU_FAN2 or SYS_FAN1 or SYS_FAN2?
I only have 1 PWM header which is the CPU header, I attached the splitter to it and then attached the 3 fuma fans to the splitter.

Abula
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Wed Jun 22, 2016 6:57 pm

@c4610939 Thanks for answering the questions, lets see if we can make it work,
Splitter used:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-Sl ... 73e49f3152
I never used this splitter, but seems it has the same principle of the ones that i have used.
scythe fuma fans do work on it so it seems its not broken and the molex connector is connected
Im not familiar with the Scythe Kuma, but seems it comes with Scythe Slipstream, from what i can tell on online reviews, seems to have a range of 400-1600, so it might be the high version, sadly i dont own one nor i know its limitations only the LM, but lets go by the SPCR Scythe Kotetsu CPU Cooler: A Compact King, from there you can see how the fan behaves on PWM,

Image
1x NF-S12B redux-1200 PWM 2x NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM
I do have this on hand, here are their working range for each,

Image

From the Scythe slipstream you can grab that it works no matter what PWM (green numbers), and on noctua the NF-S12B PWM is almost the same, but the NF-P14R PWM does stop (red), so all fans should work on 25% PWM, so enter the bios, go to the monitor and search for the fan settings, look for the following

CPU SMART FAN TARGET -----> enter 55C (later on try 50C or 60C see what plays better for your setup)
CPU MIN.FAN SPEED ----------> enter 50% (later on try 37.5% and 25%, see what works better for your setup, but try 50% first as we know according to the graph that all fans should spin).

Exit the bios and save the settings and boot to windows, check your fans if all are spinning.

Now on the Splitter, try different connection, always use the CPU_FAN header as its your only PWM header, but on the splitter, test the noctuas on the RPM header and also test the Scythe on other headers, this is simply to see if all headers work, and if in fact its pwm. One thing that will reveal by this is if you really getting power from the molex, as you say the Scythe work but the noctua dont, maybe the Splitter isnt supplying the power, by changing spots you will see if one is defective or even if the power is being supplied to all headers, remember, from what i can tell on the picture, the splitter requires you to connect the molex cable to middle header, this is the way its power to all headers.

If you couldn't make the noctuas work with the splitter still, connect the scythe fans to another header (not the CPU_FAN), and this time connect one of the noctuas to the CPU_FAN, this is just to simply see if the fans work, test 50% PWM, if it does work, test the other noctuas, and if all work then its the splitters fault.

Good luck with the testing,

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:27 pm

c4610939 wrote:
quest_for_silence wrote: Hmmm... how much high it was with the Mugen 2? How much high the ambient temp is? How much is the vcore? Can you post a photo of the TIM footprint? Which TIM did you use?
Idle temp from a cold boot is around 40C. Ambient temp is around 27C and I have now tested it with gaming. It reaches 71 75 74 71 for the individual cores after 2 or 3 hours gaming. This is not much higher than with the mugen. I´m not sure if it is currently more silent tho. But a real comparison cannot be made because I have not connected the second intake fan (currently have 1 intake and 1 outtake) And those fans are not PWM but set on 50% in the bios with a low noise adapter. (now changed to auto with low noise adapter)

Please don't take offense by my words, but seemingly your testing procedure is somehow lacking and messy: it's not easy to assess any meaningful comparison that way.

We may argue there's something wrong with the new cooler just if we can compare Mugen and Fuma within the same boundary conditions (and possibly OUT of the enclosure).

c4610939 wrote:Vcore is 1.320

Is it the min vcore for stable overclock?

c4610939 wrote:thermal paste is the tube that comes with the scythe fuma. (it only says scythe thermal grease) I also have some cooler master high performance. And artic silver 2 I believe. (would they be any better?)

You might try (so you can check the TIM spreading) but I don't think so: to gain at least 2-3°C, you should use some high performance TIM, something like Prolimatech PK3 or Thermalright Chill Factor III for instance, but I'm expecting that even a more modest Arctic Cooling MX4 should also gain some 1-2°C over the stock Scythe/CM/AS5.

c4610939 wrote:And about the fuma cooler im not even 100% sure I mounted the thing the right way. I tried to mount several times but every time I follow the instructions it was still kinda loose. I then tried with 3 parts turned around and eventually I got it to fit tight. Not sure if im stupid or the manual sucks.

Post a pic of the TIM footprint.

c4610939 wrote:So considering my ambient temp, vcore, and setup are these temps considered normal? (If useful I can disable oc and give prime95 or gaming temps) if I run prime 95 now my pc is almost about to lift off but still reaches 75 to 80C in a few minutes.
Broadly speaking an about 80°C max core with Prime means an about 53°C delta over ambient: AFAIK it's the temperature rise you may see on a similarly clocked Core i7 4790K and the two stock fans, so your temp could seem a tad too much high (the 4790k is expected as hotter than your 2500k), though I suspect your Lancool enclosure may affect it noticeably.

c4610939 wrote:I only have 1 PWM header which is the CPU header, I attached the splitter to it and then attached the 3 fuma fans to the splitter.
The Fuma comes with only two fans: are you using the stock ones? Post a pic of the label, in case.

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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:26 am

Abula wrote:and this time connect one of the noctuas to the CPU_FAN, this is just to simply see if the fans work, test 50% PWM, if it does work, test the other noctuas, and if all work then its the splitters fault.
Good luck with the testing,
I tested all headers of the splitter with all fans and I come to the conclusion that only 3 out of 8 headers work. I contacted the supplier for a replacement or refund. (it was just coincidence that I connected 3 slipstream to the working headers and all the noctua to the non working headers)
Last edited by c4610939 on Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:36 am

quest_for_silence wrote: Please don't take offense by my words, but seemingly your testing procedure is somehow lacking and messy: it's not easy to assess any meaningful comparison that way.
Yeah I know, I keep changing too much for reliable test results. (changed fans or changed the number of fans) What would be a good method to test cpu temp currently? 10 minutes of prime 95?
quest_for_silence wrote: Is it the min vcore for stable overclock?
Yes this is the minimum I need to run stable @ 4.5ghz
quest_for_silence wrote: You might try (so you can check the TIM spreading) but I don't think so: to gain at least 2-3°C, you should use some high performance TIM, something like Prolimatech PK3 or Thermalright Chill Factor III for instance, but I'm expecting that even a more modest Arctic Cooling MX4 should also gain some 1-2°C over the stock Scythe/CM/AS5. Broadly speaking an about 80°C max core with Prime means an about 53°C delta over ambient: AFAIK it's the temperature rise you may see on a similarly clocked Core i7 4790K and the two stock fans, so your temp could seem a tad too much high (the 4790k is expected as hotter than your 2500k), though I suspect your Lancool enclosure may affect it noticeably.
Oke so if I would re-mount the cooler I should take a picture of the remaining thermal paste on CPU and/or cpu cooler.

quest_for_silence wrote: The Fuma comes with only two fans: are you using the stock ones? Post a pic of the label, in case.
Yes I used the 2 fans that came with the fuma and added the mugen 2 fan which I had left (mugen 2 fan = SY1225SL12LM-P. Fuma fans = SY1225SL12M-CJP)

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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:17 am

c4610939 wrote:Yeah I know, I keep changing too much for reliable test results. (changed fans or changed the number of fans) What would be a good method to test cpu temp currently? 10 minutes of prime 95?

It's not a matter of which test, you may use a CPU-centric tool like Prime95, or IBT/Linx, or OCCT, or a GPU-centric stressing tool like 3D Mark or Heaven/Valley or Catzilla.

It's more important to rule out external contributions, mainly the Lancool's one.

In order to assess whether the coolers work correctly and how quiet they may work, at first you should run thermal tests OUT of the case with the same stressing tool, for the same amount of time, with similar ambient temp and then report any relevant temperature (core temps, CPU temp, VRM temp, mobo temp) and fan speeds, for both the Mugen 2 and Fuma, both with the same TIM spread in a similar, repeatable manner.
When you have all those data you may decide which one works better (cooler or quieter) and IF there is any thermal problem with your setup.

If there were not any issue, then you could mount the mobo inside the case to repeat the very same test: that way you will know IF there is any thermal or noise issue in this second scenario, and (to come back to your original question) if you may need either quieter case fans or, on the contrary, more performing (louder) ones in order to achieve the lower overall noise footprint (or eventually if you may need a different case, rather than different case fans).

c4610939 wrote:Yes this is the minimum I need to run stable @ 4.5ghz

Seemingly your CPU isn't a lucky one, as the required vcore is in the upper range of possibilities (I saw 2500K specimens running @ 4.5GHz from 1.18v up to 1.39v vcore), so it likely runs hotter than average: if I were you, maybe I'd just check if at 4.4GHz it may run with a substantially lower vcore (I mean something around 1.22v-1.26v).

c4610939 wrote:Yes I used the 2 fans that came with the fuma and added the mugen 2 fan which I had left (mugen 2 fan = SY1225SL12LM-P. Fuma fans = SY1225SL12M-CJP)

IMVHO that third fan is perfectly pointless, being a pull one it likely adds some noise without actually lowering the temps.

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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by c4610939 » Sun Jul 10, 2016 8:08 pm

I connected a cable splitter to the PWM splitter so now all fans are working as they should, only downside is that I cannot read the RMP.
quest_for_silence wrote:Seemingly your CPU isn't a lucky one, as the required vcore is in the upper range of possibilities (I saw 2500K specimens running @ 4.5GHz from 1.18v up to 1.39v vcore), so it likely runs hotter than average: if I were you, maybe I'd just check if at 4.4GHz it may run with a substantially lower vcore (I mean something around 1.22v-1.26v).
voltage needed for 4.4 ghz is 1.260. Problem is that these voltages are constant (even in idle) currently I'm trying voltages on auto (4.4 ghz). It seems stable with all other power saving functions on.
quest_for_silence wrote:IMVHO that third fan is perfectly pointless, being a pull one it likely adds some noise without actually lowering the temps.
I re-installed the mugen 2 and it is more quiet than the fuma. (again no real test results as Im too lazy for testing all possible possibilities :p but for now im satisfied with the results)

Thank you guys so much for all the great advice.

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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by Abula » Sun Jul 10, 2016 8:35 pm

c4610939 wrote:I connected a cable splitter to the PWM splitter so now all fans are working as they should, only downside is that I cannot read the RMP.
Yes thats the loss, but what i try to do is have the same fans on the PWM splitter, you can assume its very close enough rpms.
voltage needed for 4.4 ghz is 1.260. Problem is that these voltages are constant (even in idle) currently I'm trying voltages on auto (4.4 ghz). It seems stable with all other power saving functions on.
I no longer have a chance to check with my friends z77 build, but check if you have adaptive voltage, it should change with clocks i believe, i no longer oc much anymore, but MSI had this in the past, just not sure if it was on ivy bridge.
Thank you guys so much for all the great advice.
Np, glad it work out for you.

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Re: Quiet case fans

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun Jul 10, 2016 9:37 pm

c4610939 wrote:Problem is that these voltages are constant (even in idle) currently I'm trying voltages on auto (4.4 ghz).

IIRC it's a limitation of all the MSI 1155 boards (fixed vcore, no offset): those boards are stable but not that OC-friendly.
Eventually you might stay with Auto setting whether the vcore on load were conveniently low: you might also try allowing some more vdroop, but YMMV.

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