Need the right front bay devices, help?

[signmeuptoo]

Hey guys, still relatively new 'round here!

I just got a brand new, gorgeous Coolermaster Stacker STC T01 UWK super toward computer case.

Well, I plan on installing a lot of fans (I have my reasons, believe me): I hope to get the crossflow barrel fan, a second 4in3 hard drive module with fan (meaning 2 front 120 mm HD fans), there is the 120 mm rear CPU area fan, the ceiling 80 mm exhaust blowhole fan, the bottom 2 80 mm fan apertures (where the second optional slave supply goes, which I plan on using for a slave supply). I also hope to buy their optional side Window and I want to mod the window to house either 2 250mm fans, or 4 120mm fans.

Naturally, with so many fans, I need them to run slow so I don't go deaf!

But why the hell so many? I live in a place with NO AC, and it is in the South Central USA where it reaches in excess of 100 degrees in my room several days a year. It may be a while before I can get AC, because the room needs to be wired for it and it isn't my home. In fact, the wiring here suxors, sadly. Perhaps I could get an AC unit small enough that it could run on the same circuit as the computer, but I don't know...

So anyways, I need to get 2 devices of front 5.25" bay fan/temp/readout/light controllers. I have some criteria:

I need to control about 7, or maybe 9 or 10 fans total. This means one of the 2 devices will have to be one of the few units out there that will control more than 4 fans. Or I need the devices to be touch enough for a large load so that I could gang two fans on some of the controls.

I'd like to monitor a lot of temps, and I am interested in any units that can handle lots of temperature sensors. I am fine with it having an LCD screen and buttons where I have to cycle through the various temps, where I can't see them all at once. I want a temp sensor for 2 video cards, the CPU, the 2 supplies, 4 zones of the case, and up to 8 HD if even possible. I might even want to monitor some of the motherboard parts, too.

I'd love it if both of them, or one of them could also control lights, say about 4 different lighting units potentially. Over time I would like to have 2 CCFLs and 2 LED/LASER/whatever lights.

Devices that also have other features, such as system information or eSATA are very desirable to me as well.

I would like them to be black or paintable/stainable to black to match my case.

Could you guys give me some suggestions?

 

[vtx_]

If it really gets that hot in the room odds are you are going to have to run the fans at near full speed anyway. There are 120mm fan choices that are pretty much silent at full speed which you may be better off with.

What you could do is control the 80mm fan (since they are usually louder) and get a couple of higher CFM 120mm fans that you can crank up during gaming (probably put them on the side panel over the cpu and vid card) and control them with something like This. It also has temperature probes which will be helpful in a room that hot.

The rest of the fans could operate almost silently without any type of control.

 

[signmeuptoo]

I've seen that Windmill product online in the past, it sure looks like a good option.

There was also another one I found a while back that I have lost the weblink to (lost my bookmarks of it). The controller would do 4 heavy fans but could also accomodate a TON of thermalsensor though a daisy chain setup, IIRC. I sure wish I could find that product again, because I think that and this windmill would maybe do the trick.

Thing is we heat the house with wood in the cold months so it can be relatively cool in my room in the winter. This means I'd want to slow down all the fans since I could.

Thanks for the input. Any idea about how failure prone that product might be? I had a fan controller that died on me a while back.

 

[vtx_]

If you want to control all the fans it seems like you will need at least two of these, which will probably generate a tough time for cable management in your case. It is definitely doable, but with fans such as These you really won't even hear them over hard drives and video card fans. They are a bit pricey so maybe get a few of them for the front intake and rear exhaust.

I would control the 3 80mm fans because they tend to be louder than 120mm fans. Since silent 80mm fans barely move any air I would get some that are around 35-40 dBA and control them on a fan controller. Something like these would work well