Need help with the fans in my case!!

[jtsymbo]

Greetings, I'm a newbie so bear with me. I have the Fractal Design Define R3 case (which I love) and I have some questions about fan configuration and cooling:
1) The 2 fans which came with the case are running full speed all the time. They are connected directly to the power supply. Is there a solution to back them off when the computer is idling, so it's not so noisy? Something tied to the bios maybe or sensitive to the case temperature?
2) A manual fan controller came with the case but I would prefer to have something more automatic (like a thermostat). Any thoughts about this?
3) Finally, any suggestions on an app that shows me the cpu temperature in both win 7 and mac lion so I know if I should add more fans, adjust the speed, ect?

Thanks for any help!!
Jim

 

[tom.humphrey]

1. can you not connect them to the headers on your motherboard?

2. have a look at electronic fan controllers

3. I use istat for temps in mac, you'll need a different program for windows though. Also not sure how accurate the temperature readings are in mac.

 

[Sasquatch00]

The manual fan control is great if you are going to be playing games or something that's loud anyway, otherwise you can turn it down.

My R3 tower is in another room, and I ran all the cables in to my office for PURE silence. So you can imagine how crazy I am about getting the thing silent.

First of all, as mentioned above, you need to plug your fans in to the motherboard, so the computer can control the fans appropriately. If it is not already set in your bios, there are options to alter when, for how long, and the strength of the fans. That is usually with a few choices of silent, auto, or manual. Depending on the heat levels of your CPU and GPU, using Istat, you'll be able to tell which one you'll want to switch to, or stay on. RealTemp is a great program for Windows if you need one.

Priority though, is getting those fans plugged in to the motherboard. Otherwise they will run at full speed ALL the time, like you are experiencing.

 

[jtsymbo]

Thanks all for the response!! My motherboard has two system fan headers and a power fan header. Reading through the motherboard user manual I can't figure out:
1) what is the difference between system fans and power fans. I would imagine that I should hook up my two case fans to the system fan headers. Would this be correct?
2) I found in my bios where I can control the CPU fan, but should there be something in the bios where I can control the system fans depending what the temp inside the case is or as support for the CPU fan?
3) If I opt for a third or fourth fan what is the best configuration for hooking them up?
Thanks again,
Jim

 

[yaren]

istat is a great program

 

[Sasquatch00]

Thanks all for the response!! My motherboard has two system fan headers and a power fan header. Reading through the motherboard user manual I can't figure out:
1) what is the difference between system fans and power fans. I would imagine that I should hook up my two case fans to the system fan headers. Would this be correct?
2) I found in my bios where I can control the CPU fan, but should there be something in the bios where I can control the system fans depending what the temp inside the case is or as support for the CPU fan?
3) If I opt for a third or fourth fan what is the best configuration for hooking them up?
Thanks again,
Jim

If you only have 2 fans to plug in, I'd recommend plugging them in to the System Fan plugs. That way the computer will use as necessary. My computer starts up without even using the fans initially, but after I use a few programs or start watching a movie, they do fire up.

There is no setting for specific degrees, but you can set the bios to only turn on when it needs it...that's Auto, I think, and that's what I'd recommend. You don't want your parts overheating...causing you to have to replace parts at cost instead of just dealing with a few extra decibels.

Again, my computer is in another room. Take a look at my unfortunately unanswered posts about fan placement in the Define R3. I made a pretty detailed sketch so maybe that will help you, but that's based on some serious heat emanating from my GTX 480.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=48954

Use those sound proofing pads and make sure you monitor your temps for a while. That way you will have a temperature reference. I went crazy and got a GPU cooler because my GTX 480 is CRAZY hot. I've also thought about a CPU cooler, but I don't overclock so I don't think it's necessary.

 

[UROCKlive1]

[I always worried about how hot my Macbook Pro ran, in spite of always using external cooling pads with fans. (It's running about 12 hours a day, though I always give it a few little 5 or 10 minute breaks.) Recently a friend told me about some software called smcFan Control. Now I have it on the Max Cool setting all the time and it stays considerably cooler. It is, unfortunately, loud, and I doubt it improves my speed any, but it seems to work great and I haven't had any problems with it. If I were trying to record or mix music, it would probably drive me nuts and have to go off, but mostly I'm doing graphics so I just turn the TV or stereo up a little louder and ignore it. I'd hate to cook my most precious possession. ;-)

BTW. Does anyone have an opinion about what temperature is "too hot" and what is safe. The smcFan Control keeps the core CPU just under 100 degrees F which is a lot better than before. Is that within the typical range? Thanks!

 

[emaf]

BTW. Does anyone have an opinion about what temperature is "too hot" and what is safe. The smcFan Control keeps the core CPU just under 100 degrees F which is a lot better than before. Is that within the typical range? Thanks!

You should let the computer handle fans. Macbooks run perfectly cool on its own. It does not mind if the computer heats a little, cpu can handle quite high temperatures.

100f is quite on the low side. Its about 38Celsius and usually my old core 2 duo macbook pro was somewhere between 40 and 45.

However if you are idling near 50, you maybe need to do some maintenance to those fans. Ironically, by making them run always at full speed, you are shortening the life of your laptop