Fan Controller for Overclocking
saltydog806
Bowie MD
Me again. I've got a case now (an old server case for free ).Now I'm looking at cooling it and putting some of the things I need on my Xmas list.I don't have the $$ or desire to liquid cool at this time, however I do want to overclock. First, do I need a Fan Controller and if I don't do I want one anyway? If I get one for xmas what brand, model do you recomend and what features are important? My case is steel, 17 1/2"D x 26"H x 8 1/2 " W. The top of the psu is 6" down from the top of the case with a fan above it mounted on the back of the case. I have plenty of room to install 1 intake fan in the front, two more exhaust (?) in the rear and an exhaust in the top. I understand I may want to install some type of cooling for the Northbridge and Southbridge (?) as well as cpu and graphics (?).Any recomendations on make , model and size of fans as well as configuration would be appreciated. If possible I would like quiet fans. Do I need filters for the fans? Any heatsink recomendations would be great. That's all for now.
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Comments
Why do you feel you need a fan controller? You can get fans that have either a manual switch (Zalman or Antec) or get some that have a thermal resistor built in and will adjust based on temperature.
For northbridge cooling, as long as it's not an nVidia 680i, you should be good with passive cooling, Zalman makes a nice big cooler that has a ton of surface area and is easily installed. For a lot of boards, even taking off the stock heatsink, cleaning the cheap thermal grease and replacing it with something like Arctic Silver can help, a lot more than you'd expect seeing as there's usually enough grease to cover 4 or 5 heatsinks.\
What size are the existing fan holes in the case? If they're only 80mm holes, you could also look at getting a 120mm hole saw so you can swap out the small louder fans for 120's that flow more air at a lower RPM and in turn run quieter.
To answer your questions (sorry for an incomplete post).I will be running an intel 775 cpu. The current fan hole setup is for 80mms, however I may be able to put a 120 on the front for intake a 120 above the psu and a 120 in the top of the case.That would leave holes for two more 80mms in the back of the case.
My Zalman 9700NT (system No. 4) is annoying at full blast. I run it between 70 and 80% rotational speed. I control it through SpeedFan.