Fan Controller or No Fan Controller

tippex · Post by **tippex** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:05 am

Hi All,

Thanks for your useful responses to my last question, I've just got a quick Q about fan controllers, what are people's feelings on them, there seem to be a lot on the market but I'm not sure which one (if any) I should choose.

My thinking is as most of the time I'll be working on the PC I can have the fans on low and then increase their power as needed (automated if possible) but I'm not sure which fans/controllers offer that and would apprechiate any tips.

Thanks.

Tim

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:06 am

tippex wrote:Hi All,

Thanks for your useful responses to my last question, I've just got a quick Q about fan controllers, what are people's feelings on them, there seem to be a lot on the market but I'm not sure which one (if any) I should choose.

My thinking is as most of the time I'll be working on the PC I can have the fans on low and then increase their power as needed (automated if possible) but I'm not sure which fans/controllers offer that and would apprechiate any tips.

Thanks.

Tim

Take a look at the NoiseMagic NMT-3. If you put one of these on a Nexus case fan, you won't have to think about fan speed ever again. It runs the fan at 5V below 28C (silent), and ramps up as necessary if the temperature rises.

Trunks · Post by **Trunks** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:45 am

It depends on what you are looking for. I like fan controllers as gadgets.
I like motherboards with good onboard fan controllers better. I like to know that the fans are changing based on the temp of my CPU or system not the temperature of the fan at some hardware level.

The exception is if you are going to use many fans to cool something like a hard drives that might not have good motherboard controlled support.
Also some people have noticed that PWM fan controllers can make fans “louder” than potentiometer based solutions.

The real cool thing some fan controllers do is let you over volt fans. I don’t think this is a recommended practice, but it is fun / nice for really hot days.

tippex · Post by **tippex** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:59 am

Interesting, I like the idea of the NoiseMagic NMT-3 thats the sort of thing I want, basically because of overheating problems in my current PC I'm a little paranoid

I was looking at the CoolerMaster Aerogate 3 -looks the business but can it manage the fans automatically?

Another Q, what's the "perfect" temp for a case to be running at? 28F (I'm guessing that wasn't C!!)?

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:06 pm

The perfect case temperature is any temperature that doesn't have a negative influence on the stability of the system. I suppose "28F" was a typo, it's an excessive case temperature.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:36 pm

as long as stability doesnt become an issue, and your temps are below the manufactur thermal threshold for each specific product in the case then your fine.

28c isnt necisarily excessive. if your ambient temp is 28c then it would be damn good.

dddibley · Post by **dddibley** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:23 pm

Unless you need temp monitoring, a simple 5/7/12v switch will work fine.. and it's a lot cheaper. Check this out.

Get 12V, 7V or 5V for your Fans

ddd

disphenoidal · Post by **disphenoidal** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:12 pm

Enermax and Arctic Cooling, among others, make temperature controlled fans. http://www.cpemma.co.uk/ has a lot of fan controller plans too, someday I intend to build the temperature controlled PWM controller. Got the parts but not the time. I prefer something temperature controlled too, I don't like extra stuff on my front panel, and I would spend way too much time twiddling with the pots.

Fan Controller or No Fan Controller

Fan Controller or No Fan Controller

Re: Fan Controller or No Fan Controller