Question about controlling fans

[Webberson]

I have been a long time watcher or lurker, but this is my first post. Since I am going to build my own system, I may have many questions. This is one of the most informative sites, so hope nobody minds all the questions.

I am trying to decide if I should control the fans in my case, and if so, how do I do that. I think the best way would be to spend extra time and tune all the fans so the case is working to maximum efficiency. I'm not sure what tools are needed for this. Another idea I had was to get a fan controller. If I do that, there is the added wires cluttering up my case. I have narrowed my cases down to either the Coolermaster ATCS 840 or the Corsair 800D (if I can afford it, this is my first choice). I will be putting in an i7 920 with an x58 m/b, probably an Asus P6T type.

Here are my questions:
1) What is the best way to adjust or tune all the case fans (including the CPU fan)?
2) Is a bay-type fan controller a good option?
3) Are most M/B fan headers PWM and is it a good idea to get PWM fans and then use Speedfan to control them?

 

[krnlg]

Do you want to have your fans change speed automatically depending on the temperature of various components?

 

[EndersShadow]

I use a fan controller to control all the fans in my ATCS (baring the 240's and the CPU fan). You do have the ability (depending upon your motherboard) to set fans speed within the BIOS. My motherboard has 4 fan headers (including CPU) and I can set them to either a specific percent of their max rpm, or to keep the case at a specific temperature. I dont think having to run extra cords are that much of a deal and I would rather not count on a piece of software to run my fans properly as if it stopped working I might not notice and there goes my expensive hardware, but that is just my opinion.

You can buy either manual fan controllers or ones that auto adjust the fans based on your case temps (requires a temp probe for each fan). I personally purchased the NZXT Sentry LX which auto adjusts my fans for me and I LOVE IT!

Here are my thoughts:
1) What is the best way to adjust or tune all the case fans (including the CPU fan)?

Personally I would say a combination of a fan controller and the motherboard BIOS. Also note: You can use a fan controller on the 240mm fans in the ATCS 840. I had all three connected to my controller at one point and it worked perfectly​

2) Is a bay-type fan controller a good option?

Yes​

3) Are most M/B fan headers PWM and is it a good idea to get PWM fans and then use Speedfan to control them?

Other than my CPU fan all my other fans are 3pin Noctua.​

Here is a link to my full build. If I had to do it all over now with the Corsair case out there, that would def be my choice and I might even sell a kidney on Ebay to get it.

 

[Hypernova]

Here are my questions:
1) What is the best way to adjust or tune all the case fans (including the CPU fan)?
2) Is a bay-type fan controller a good option?
3) Are most M/B fan headers PWM and is it a good idea to get PWM fans and then use Speedfan to control them?

Start from 3:
3) Most M/B CPU headers use PWM signal control. Hence only 4 pin fans can be controlled on that header. The other headers user PWM voltage control and most 3 pin fans will do just fine.

2) If your M/B have sufficient headers for all your fans you may can control most of them through speedFan in windows. Some M/B's fan controller however are not accessible to SF, leaving you with bay controllers.

3) Bay controllers like Kaze Master offers extra features like additional temp probes beyond just more headers. Some thing like Kaze Servers also offer custom temp based auto control. But in general try the M/B headers first before you fork over the cash.