92mm Tornado Controlling

[Korpse]

hi,
im pondering if i should buy a 92mm tornado cos i wanna try and get lots outta my 3400NC. onyl problem i have is ppl say it is really really loud.

can i connect a tornado onto my mobo (safely) so i can use Smartguardian to control it or my lian li fan controller :D but if its 4pin how can i control it other than with a fan controller?

cheers

[D_o_S]

Does it end with a molex or a 3 pin connector? There should be a 3 pin connector (at least an adaptor from the molex). Then, I guess it is safe to plug it into the mobo, but I'm not sure...

[echow87]

no! do not connect fans to the mb...especially not a tornado, connect directly to the psu instead, its safer that way

[cetoole]

A tornado can and will burn out the mobo traces, never try and run it off the mobo. You can also do the 5v and 7v mods to it, but those arn't adjustable.

[echow87]

i think there are some fan controllers that work...i seen some with 18w channel which should be enough

[cetoole]

Sunbeam Rheobus works, 20 watts per channel, but you need an adapter from 4 pin to 3 pin to use it.

[conrad.maranan]

onyl problem i have is ppl say it is really really loud.
Really really loud is an understatement. At full blast, just imagine a couple of Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners. :D

[Korpse]

maybe its not for me then as my house is made from cardboard

[GazC]

I had the same problem as you in that I have a Tornado and wanted to adjust it so as not to be anti-social when not benching.

I bought a cheap single dial control fanbus from Maplin which was designed to handle four fans. I then modified four cables, so that the fan headers of the fan bus were connected to the Tornado in parallel so that it shared the load of the current draw.

It isn't the most efficient fanbus I've used, it has taken 500rpm off the maximum speed of the fan, but it is nice and controllable now and as I type I can even hear myself think ;)

The only trade off is that my Tornados speed reading goes a little freaky at anywhere between full speed and minumum speed, so I had to disconnect the speed wire from the mobo and put one of my graphics card cooling fans in the CPU fan header to keep the hardware monitor happy.

[stealthbomber]

Man just swap the damn 12v and 5v fan wires over to decrease the speed, and noise...

[D_o_S]

A tornado can and will burn out the mobo traces, never try and run it off the mobo. You can also do the 5v and 7v mods to it, but those arn't adjustable.

Well, at least I learned something new today...

[craig588]

The mobo headers are rated for a maximum of 4 watts, but you shouldn't even put .5 watt fans on them because you are stealing the 12V rail from the CPU. Just cut the 3 pin connector off of any fan that has one and solder on a 4 pin one. You can buy packs of 10 fan tails (a male and female molex with 2 tinned wires spliced into the ground and 12V lines) for like 5$.

[tekXT]

Dude the Tornado is unbearable, Id rather kill myself than listen to that loud P.O.S.

and trust me I'd know I had it in my AMD system for a while

[craig588]

They aren't bad, I use one for cooling my x800 and get 40C load temps with 1.65V.

[stealthbomber]

@12v, full speed they are unbearable to me, @7v it still does my head in, @5v it's not bad...

[Snowman89]

im running 4v with it :p then i think its starting to be silent

[DocGolem]

I heard all the horror stories of the tornadoes eating people's pets before I bought one. Turns out I've had her going full blast (12v) for almost a year and I sleep daily in the same room as it. Sometimes even with the case off.

I'd say it's a little big quiter than a hair drier. It definately moves air though! If you're worried about the noise, get any Vantec Nexus fan controllers. They have 18w on each channel so you can turn that fan down if it's unbearable.

[idleuser]

LOL the vantec tornado is louder than a hair dryer! I can hear it even when i'm vacuming my room that's why i went with a h20 setup. to answer your question do not I repeat do not plug in the mobo it will simply draw too much power. Get a fan controller they only cost about 10 dollar shipped and it's well worth the money.