120mm Fan Testing on an MCR120 Radiator Round 6

[Martinm210]

FYI, was perusing fan controllers and noticed Sunbeam is planning a new one that plugs into the motherboard. It sounds like it would work like their old rheostats, but use the PWM signal to adjust??

Not sure, but it looks interesting. Are these available anywhere yet?

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/Rheosmart/6.html





I'm still not sure I'd like to control a water cooling setup via processor limits, but it might work and this would be a fairly simple way to make ordinary fans programmable.

I've had one of the older 4 channel sunbeams running for over 2 years straight now, so I've got some comfort with their controllers and liked the 0-12V range the old one provides.

[jalyst]

FYI, was perusing fan controllers and noticed Sunbeam is planning a new one that plugs into the motherboard. It sounds like it would work like their old rheostats, but use the PWM signal to adjust??

Not sure, but it looks interesting. Are these available anywhere yet?

<SNIP>

I'm still not sure I'd like to control a water cooling setup via processor limits, but it might work and this would be a fairly simple way to make ordinary fans programmable.

I've had one of the older 4 channel sunbeams running for over 2 years straight now, so I've got some comfort with their controllers and liked the 0-12V range the old one provides.

Thanks for pointing this out Martin,
Sounds close to what I was describing a few posts back as 'fan control nirvana'!
It would be perfect but for the flaws already pointed out, and the fact that it must sit in a bay.
I don't really need the manual control

I hope mCubed makes a T-balancer similar to it, but without the need to mount in a bay etc.
Why isn't there something out there that suits my desires goddamit!?

[zalbard]

FYI, was perusing fan controllers and noticed Sunbeam is planning a new one that plugs into the motherboard. It sounds like it would work like their old rheostats, but use the PWM signal to adjust?

Damn, it looks really good. PWM signal ensures no extra noise when undervolted, and it's fully hardware-controllable.
Just hope it's not overpriced and I might pick one up!

[fgw]

might come up with something interesting. design and prototypes of parts of the circuit are already up and running. just need to put all of this together.

as it will be microcontroller (PIC) based there is almost no limit. a few ideas i have in mind:

• connected to the system via usb and controlled by software
• fans could be controlled via voltage regulation or PWM, though my testing shows using PWM on 3-pin fans has some limitations. so i recommend using PWM only for real PWM (4-pin) fans
• fanspeed control either manual, related to any temperature readable by software or even controlled by motherboard fan headers
• regulation of fanspeed to target defined rpm, voltage or percentage if max speed
• able communicate with rivatuner hardwaremonitoring
• each channel will be capable of handling about 1.5A max in standard config and about 3A in high power config. keep in mind, even 1.5A are a total overkill as the most demanding deltas tested by martin will require not more than 0.8A!
• open for any ideas coming from the comunity
• no fancy look. will be some sort of a black box to be mounted elsewhere in the case AND will require a limited amount of airflow if high power fans are used

this is just a quick info with a few of the feature i plan to pack into it. will open a new thread when i have more to say ...

folks, give me another couple of weeks. was on travel the last few weeks so my project got delayed.

[Martinm210]

might come up with something interesting. design and prototypes of parts of the circuit are already up and running. just need to put all of this together.

as it will be microcontroller (PIC) based there is almost no limit. a few ideas i have in mind:

• connected to the system via usb and controlled by software
• fans could be controlled via voltage regulation or PWM, though my testing shows using PWM on 3-pin fans has some limitations. so i recommend using PWM only for real PWM (4-pin) fans
• fanspeed control either manual, related to any temperature readable by software or even controlled by motherboard fan headers
• regulation of fanspeed to target defined rpm, voltage or percentage if max speed
• able communicate with rivatuner hardwaremonitoring
• each channel will be capable of handling about 1.5A max in standard config and about 3A in high power config. keep in mind, even 1.5A are a total overkill as the most demanding deltas tested by martin will require not more than 0.8A!
• open for any ideas coming from the comunity
• no fancy look. will be some sort of a black box to be mounted elsewhere in the case AND will require a limited amount of airflow if high power fans are used

this is just a quick info with a few of the feature i plan to pack into it. will open a new thread when i have more to say ...

folks, give me another couple of weeks. was on travel the last few weeks so my project got delayed.

Nice!
I look forward to it

Here are my 2C on my own personal ideal fan controller. I would like a controller for 3 pin fans (complete compatibility with all fans) in the form of voltage regulation (superior for noise), that is controllable via temperature monitoring of water temperature. Ideally, it would be nice to have the ability to set both a lower and upper fan voltage and temperature. If someone wanted to go a step further, it would be nice if there was an LCD indicating current temperature and what the lower and upper ramp up limits were. I would also prefer this to all operate analog (not dependent on PC software).

Unfortunately the PWM sunbeam controller will only work for CPU temp, which may work ok, but I think for optimal smooth ramping up and down, it would be better(Less annoying sudden change in fan speed) to ramp up/down via water temperature.

[the finisher]

Sounds ideal to me, and simple really, sometimes thats best