Fan/pump controller question

[Stubby5000]

I'm new to watercooling and I'm trying to tackle a pretty ambitious first build which involves putting the radiator/fan unit into a desk drawer, then having the computer in the drawer below. I will have a two 280mm rads in a dedicated loop for both CPU and GPU. I'm trying to figure out how to control the fans. Ideally I could find a controller that would allow individual control of each loop's fans/pump, with the option for manual and "auto" (i.e., governed by PWM rules in the bios) operation. Does something like that exist? Also, how will I control the pump speed? Is it also controlled with a 4-pin PWM? Are there controllers/hubs that can separate out fan speed and pump speed on the same circuit? Also, can someone explain what this is?

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-cable-pwm-fan-adapter-for-gpu-50cm

Conceptually I understand it, but where does it plug in?

Thanks for the help. As I said, I'm new to this and trying to learn... ;-)

 

[trents]

Can't figure the EK fan adapter out either. The plug on the one end doesn't look like it would fit in any standard connectors I know. I can't imagine being able to control pumps both with PWM and manually. Manual controls are generally analogue devices.

 

[Stubby5000]

So how do most people control their pumps? Do they hook in to PWM somehow? Or do people use a manual switch? Also, don't the pumps need to be running for a few seconds before the rest of the computer powers on? If so, how is this accomplished?

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Anyone else have any thoughts on that adapter? Is it common to use separate fan speeds for GPU and CPU, or do most people just have everything go the same speed?

 

[trents]

A lot of lower end pumps are constant speed with three pin connectors that work off of any motherboard header but most folks will connect them to the CPU fan header. Some boards have a dedicated water pump header but I'm not sure it does anything different than a PWM fan header. Better pumps are typically PWM controlled but there is no reason you could not control pump speed manually with an analog rheostat device as long as you remember not to turn the power down so much that the pump stalls out.

This is handy tool for having pwm control over multiple devices that you don't have enough motherboard pwm headers for: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...TO74DJCaRmfDD13RPinn8aAqmG8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds However, all devices connected to it will get the same pwm signal. You don't have pwm control over each device connected to it. It has the advantage also of being powered by the PSU via a SATA power lead so that you transcend the power draw limitation of motherboard headers which usually are rated for a max of one amp.