80mm Antec fans on a controller...

[YellowDart]

I'm running 4 of these fans inside my case...
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=N82E16835129007

I'm thinking of picking up this fan controller:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=N82E16813999504
It carries 18v / channel.

Heres my question: Does anybody know what voltage these fans run at? Also, say the fans only require 12v to run, if I crank the fan speed (knobs) all the way up (maxed out), will the fans run at a faster rpm, thus pushing more cfm though my case?

[Hookem]

Lighted fans and fan controllers are a iffy thing in my opinion...And no the fans will not run faster turned all the way up unless you provide more voltage to them...The fan controller only allows you to decrease the voltage to the fan from 12volts down...Those Antecs run at 12volts so you can decrease fan RPM and Dba...But not the other way around...:)

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by Hookem
Lighted fans and fan controllers are a iffy thing in my opinion...And no the fans will not run faster turned all the way up unless you provide more voltage to them...The fan controller only allows you to decrease the voltage to the fan from 12volts down...Those Antecs run at 12volts so you can decrease fan RPM and Dba...But not the other way around...:)

Thanks! Is there an easy/good way to mod a fan to give it a little more juice... or would that be better left untouched?

[stan03]

better left untouched unless you don't mind your fans dying ver quickly

btw i like those fan controlers :)

[archilochus]

HEY Dart:D Get the fans you need, not the ones you want.
I went to Antec. These fans pull 0.14 amps each. And like Hookem said, All the way UP is your 12volt base. Turning the knob down will only decress the voltage (ie) fan motor speed.The fans you have selected are about the same as my stock Xaser III case fans.You may want to wire your front intakes to 1 channel.Wire
your side intakes to 1 channel. Wire your rear exhaust to 1 channel.That leaves you with 1 channel left.The cotnroller will handle all 4 on one channel though.If you wire it to ZONES you can regulate your case pressure.THE FANMAN:cool:

PS:If you mess with those fans you will burn em up.:eek:

[itizme]

my controller of choice

http://www.overclockers.com/articles656/

black with blue leds

and of course you would never touch the fans, they are designed and balanced to run at full rpm at 12vdc

[YellowDart]

Kewl! Thanks for the input guys!

Looks like I won't be touching the fans! ;)

itizme: That's the same controller I'm eyeing; just bigger. I'll be picking up the 3.5" bay version. They both put out 18v/channel.

[archilochus]

Do you mean WATTS??:D THE FANMAN:cool:

[Hookem]

Buyer beware of the Vantec Nexus...I bought one when they first came out and hooked them up to Pansonic Panflo's that are rated at 38cfm/32dba...When I turned the fans down to where they made little or no noise the Nexus emited a high pitched whine...Very annoying...Returned it the next day...They may have fixed this problem...For me the solution was to 7volt the fans...Pansonic Panflo's seem to work very well when 7volted...:)

[YellowDart]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll check it out. I'm trying to get my system a little quieter... but one of the bearings in my hd just went bad (after only 4 months :rolleyes: ). So I can't even hear any of my fans, since the hd sounds like a weed-wacker!

*edit* My video card sounds like a weed-wacker... not my hd.

[stan03]

that problem got fixed ;) ummm whats wrong with your vid card?

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by stan03
that problem got fixed ;) ummm whats wrong with your vid card?

Sounds like a bad berring. It's making a pretty loud buzzing noise. Think it would hurt my card if I unplugged the fan on the hsf and ran it at stock speeds?

BTW: I do have an 80mm intake fan positioned right next to my video card.

[stan03]

yes it would, you prolly want to get a new fan or new cooler.

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by stan03
yes it would, you prolly want to get a new fan or new cooler.

hmmmm... I'll see how long I can ignore it... I was hoping to upgrade my card after Christmas anyway.

It sux, my card is oc'ed, so PNY won't replace it... *sigh* voided warranty...

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by YellowDart


hmmmm... I'll see how long I can ignore it... I was hoping to upgrade my card after Christmas anyway.

It sux, my card is oc'ed, so PNY won't replace it... *sigh* voided warranty...

-=Update=-
My card seems to have stopped making the noises. After it started, I blew the dust out of it w/ some compressed air. It's done it sporatically, but it has been pretty quiet lately.

[archilochus]

DUST,and you were complaining of high temps earlier.Shame
on you.:D Dust is micro dirt, bad on bearings and temps.
Clean rig more often to remove dust,dead bugs and hair.:D
THE FANMAN:cool:

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by archilochus
DUST,and you were complaining of high temps earlier.Shame
on you.:D Dust is micro dirt, bad on bearings and temps.
Clean rig more often to remove dust,dead bugs and hair.:D
THE FANMAN:cool:

I do!!! (sheepish grin)... I usually blow the case out every time I mess around inside my rig. (about once a month). It's been a few months since I took my video card out and blew the dust off of the hsf. That seems to have done the trick though.

Speaking of temps though. I just stress tested the hell out of my CPU just now. I'm pretty proud, it didn't get above 54C. (stock speeds still, but the damn thing just runs hot!!! esp since I live in AZ) I ran an instance of p95 CPU torture test, Photoshop 7.0 (doing repetitive Gaussain Blur (very cpu/ram intensive) @ 10"x10" 300dpi), and SpyBot Search & Destroy all at the same time. I got 100% CPU usage, but maxed my temps at 54C. I was expecting 5-6C higher than that! :D It'll drop after I order my SP-94 w/ 92mm Antec fan & fan controller!!!

<--- cant wait!!!! :D

[huneycutt]

In another fourm I read a guy has EIGHT cooling fans on his case. WHOA! I run two, one intake & exaust both 35CFM 80mm and please allow me to share my reasoning.

I figure the average mid-tower case contains around three cubic feet of air so I change the air ten times a minute in my case not including the PSU exaust fan. If your fans are 35CFM then you should be changing the air twenty times a minute and that's a heck of a lot of air and unless you have some super- duper hot rig that much air should suffice. (This assuming you have two intake - two exaust and a 35CFM fan is not that much.)

I see you live in AZ. We flew into Phoenix and drove up the Interstate to the Grand Canyon and what a beautiful state! I live in the coast in SC near Savannah, GA and like you we have very hot summers and ambient room temps always figure into our cooling. Don't know what cooler you have but right now it's 75 in here and I see 115F - 45C idle, 2500 Barton OC'd 2.0GHz using a SLK900A with 90mm quiet fan. (Love that SLK900A !) It goes without saying your case temps will rise as the ambient rises.

Please see Hookem's post where he nailed it because the fans max out at 12V and if we put, say, 18V on them the motor will burn up and all a fan controller will do is cut the voltage back to decrease the fan speed.

You can find any fan you want at a decent price at nexfan; http://www.nexfan.com/cafaalad.html
Just offering food for thought and if you have a heat problem me thinks you might look at something other than case air exchange. I use the 35CFM 25dBa because I did my time in the military and I like quiet and 20 to 25dBa is considered quiet.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/tecar.html

[voodoomelon]

Hey YellowDart,
I'm running that exact Black Nexus fan controller with 2 80mm Antec fans, 2 Sunon 80mm fans and an 80mm Tornado and it works brilliantly. It even fits behind the door of my case, which i forgot to check before i bought it:rolleyes:
Definitley recommend it, it gives of a cool blue glow too. Altough I dont see why you'd want to lower the RPM of the Antec fans, you can hardly hear them - only 30db. And I hate noise:p

[YellowDart]

Honeycutt: Thanks for the insight! I think a lot of my warm case problem is my hsf. It's a cheap "all copper" coolermaster hsf. I'm pretty much chalking its crappy performance up to poor design. When I slap that SP-94 on there, I'm hoping to see a pretty noticable difference. ;) Hopefully I'll be down around the higher 30'sC at idle, and won't break 50C loading. I'll be picking up a new 350w Fortron PSU (w/ 120mm fan right above the cpu sucking hot air off the SP-94). That will give me better airflow in my case too.

Voodoomelon: Kewl! I've heard its a good controller. I don't think my rig is too loud. Not unbearably loud anyway. If I can lower it a few dba I'll be happy.

[huneycutt]

Sounds like you're on the right track and hope the new cooler does a super job for you. You "done good" with the Fortron, I have three and nary a PSU problem, ever.

Leaving for Orlando, FL Disney & Universal vacation tomorrow so have pack and run errands. Been a long, busy, hot summer here in SC and we need a break. Yahooooo . . . ! Road trip !
OldBird

[Rutkus]

i use the silver 3.5" version (205) to control my 3 tornados. works like a charm and very attractive. if you're looking to make your antec fans go faster by giving them more juice and you don't mind the sound, get a tornado or 2, they push alot of air. I love them :)

[deathman20]

I got a Coolmaster Aerogate II fan controller and love it. Decently priced and no noise from limiting voltage. Like what it says in my sig I got a nice 92mm Tornado hooked up to it.

At 7v it was quiet loud still so I decided to do some modding to it some more. So I added some diodes from the fan to the controller. It dropped another 2 volts about and made the fan nearly silent when running on low. I could of put another diode on the line but it would drop almost enought voltage to the fan to make it stall. Starting up sometimes would cause the fan to stall and also turning the knob down really fast would cause it to stall. But with the 3 diodes I got on there right now it works great and I can control it from 5v to 10v basiclly.

[YellowDart]

Kewl! I initially was going to get the 3.5 Vantec controller in black. But now, I'm thinking of possibly getting the 5.25 version. I've got a broken 5.25 bay cover, so there's a hole in the front of my case! :eek: So I was considering getting that version to cover up that hole... Is there any difference in the 2 versions??? They sound about the same to me, just physically different sizes...

I originally wanted to try to mod my fans too. But I've abandoned that idea. I'm not that mechanically incilned. So it would be a little iffy for me to try that. I think my ambient temps are pretty good. Now, I just need to work on my CPU! (Yay SP-94!!!)

Another quick question... Would it be ok to connect an Antec 92mm fan into the 3-pin header on my motherboard to power it??? After I oc my cpu, I don't think I'll want that fan on a controller, since I don't think I'll ever turn it down to a lower speed... I also don't want to risk my system stability either by accidentally messing with the knob that the cpu fan is on...

[deathman20]

For the fan on the Mobo it depends on what amperage its pulling. Mobo's have a limit of amps per fan header somewhere in thier book. Most of the time you got to dig for that information. If not start asking around I'm sure someone will know in the motherboard section or even ask the company about it.