Best way to control 7 pwm fans.

[Aiyoku]

My build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fg7hsY
5 140mm and 2 120mm.

What I'm looking to do is control the fans in 4 separate settings for front/bottom/back/top. Having 2 140mm intake in the front, 2 120mm intake on the bottom (push/pull for gpu), 1 140mm exhaust on the back, and 2 140mm exhaust on the top (cpu/radiator replacing kraken fans).

Was looking at controllers like the NZXT Sentry 2 and 3. http://www.amazon.com/NZXT-5-4-Inch-Controller-Cooling-AC-SEN-3-B1/dp/B00KJGYLNM

-or-

Aerocool Touch 2100. http://www.amazon.com/Aerocool-Temperature-Controller-Audio-Touch2100/dp/B00A2BHC8A

Are either of these able to handle what I'm looking for or would a pwm splitter or fan hub like this be needed? http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-System-Cables-Black-CPF04/dp/B00VNW556I

Thank you.

 

[getochkn]

The problem with the aerocool or NZXT is that they are dumb fan controllers. Either you have to adjust the speed, which means you need to know the temps in those areas OR you ahve to use the temp probes they give you, which aren't very accurate. if you use a water block, the temp probes are totally worthless as you can't even shove them in the blades of a heatsink and at least get a temp closer to cpu temps.

the only one i know is https://store.nzxt.com/products/grid-v2

which works off actual CPU/GPU temps. I'm not sure to be honest though on how well they can be controlled separately though. In reality, how much of a need is this really depends on what you do. If the only stressful things you do are play games, then your gpu and cpu are usually stressed at the same time and max cooling equal good. If you do folding at home from your gpu or cpu rendering, then you want more control over the fans.

 

[Paperdoc]

What you actually need is relatively simple. Start with basic concepts, then we'll do details. An important point: all your fans must be of the 4-pin design, and I see you HAVE done that. In fact, you're buying high-performance Noctua industrial PPC PWM fans.

First, the Kraken CPU cooler system MUST be plugged into the mobo CPU_FAN header. It actually has four connectors on it. One goes to a SATA power output connector from the PSU to get power for the Kraken unit and its two fans. One is a cable to a mobo USB2 port so the unit can communicate with software provided with it to do the control work. One MUST plug into the mobo's 4-pin CPU_FAN header to pick up and return signals there related specifically to the CPU's cooling. (Nothing needs to be connected to the mobo's CPU_OPT header.) And the fourth cable set from the Kraken is power supply connectors for up to four 4-pin fans to mount on the radiator assembly (only 2 fans come with the Kraken system). Thus, the Kraken system uses one mobo fan header and provides power and control for both of its 140mm fans.

That leaves three other fan groups all involved in case ventilation and hence best powered from mobo SYS_FAN headers which can do their own automatic control. In each case your plan is to combine at most two fans in one group. Your mobo has four CHA_FANn headers. Each can be configured to use any of several temperature sensors built into the mobo. Each should be set to PWM Mode to use your 4-pin fans. And each such port actually can support up to two fans if you use a 4-pin fan Y-splitter. So you could use a splitter to connect both front 140 mm intake fans to one CHA_FAN header, a second splitter to connect the two 120 mm intakes on the bottom to a second CHA_FAN header, and then connect the rear exhaust fan to a third CHA_FAN header. To do this all you'd need to add to your parts buy is two 4-pin fan Y-splitters like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423160&cm_re=4-pin_fan_splitter-_-12-423-160-_-Product

Note that, of the two output connectors on each of these, one is missing its Pin #3, and that is the correct design. It prevents sending speed pulse signals from two fans to the mobo header, which would confuse the mobo's pulse counters for speed display.

Your mobo has loads of flexibility to configure fan headers and their automatic control systems. Connecting as I suggest will allow you to configure one system to control the CPU cooling (that is done mainly via the software that comes with the Kraken unit) and three separate systems to control different case ventilation fan sets. You do not need a PWM Hub, nor any third-party manual fan controller module. You even have one mobo CHA_FAN header left unused.