Thermaltake 3.0 Fan problems

raymondnoodles

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Jan 30, 2014
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Hey everyone, I have a question and I cant find the answer. So I recently installed my thermaltake 3.0 RGB cooler. The problem that Im having is I cant change the fan speed on the little box they provide. I dont know if i have it hooked up wrong or what.. Also, I dont know if this makes a difference, but I have it plugged into SYS FAN. Do I need to hook it up to CPU fan? Thanks!


Edit: Occasionally upon booting up my PC one fan does not power up on its own. A "finger flick" gets it going tho.
 
Solution
Speedfan is a basic program that could work.

Depending on your motherboard you might have Q-fan control.

If you have an Asus Mobo you can get Ai suite which has fan xpert which is hands down one of the best apps around. Matter of fact it may work for you on a different brand board.
1. The CPU Fan should be connected to the CPU Fan header. Sys Fans should be used for case fans.

2. make sure that you have selected the proper type of fan control in the BIOS or MoBo Utility for each fan.

a) 4 pin PWM fans should be set to PWM
b) 3 pin DCV fans should be set t DC Voltage control

Most modern boards auto-sense but sometimes it doesn't,
 
you should never spin the fans by hand.

a cpu cooler should be plugged into cpu fan header. case fans into system fan headers. some headers can be temp controlled in the BIOS and some only voltage controlled.
 


If your water cooler is cooling the CPU, yes your water cooler should go there. CLC types with their own software are best avoided.

Using the MoBos provided fan control software is recommended.

 



I just hooked it up to the CPU 2 slot. I just have the one 4 pin cord from my cooler "controller box" to that. The issue that Im having is I cant select the fan speed from the cooler controller.
 


 
It should be connected it to the primary CPU header. The MoBo can not correct any issues with CLCs, the continued popularity of which escapes me. CLCs do not cool as well as air coolers and therefore bring nothing to the table ... except more noise problems as your describing. The MoBo manufacturer has provided two headers, which allows control of 2 fans,fan and pump or two pumps. In most cases, you want the 4th wire signal on whatever is connected to CPU_OPT or CPU_2 to be ignored. With two fans, this has the mobo trying to control speed by 2 different signals and would be forever chasing it's tail. So it is intended that just the first rpm signal be read and that one signal used to control the speed of both. With a fan and pump, obviously you would need to control them separately. This is what your cooler will try to do with it's controller.

So what you are left with is two different mindsets wanting to 'do their own thing". The proper procedure therefore must be to consult your vendors instruction manual as I can't guess what they had in mind here.


Do you by any chance have any experience with the thermaltake 3.0 rgb cooler?

We would never install a CLC type water cooler in any build. We only use air coolers, OLC type AIO water coolers like the Swiftech / EK models or custom loops.

 



Thank you for such a detailed answer. The issue with looking into my manual is there is two pictures. Very few words. I just want to keep my fans high enough to OC my CPU. I have them hooked into the CPU 1 slot, but I'm unable to control the fan speed with the controller. Is it possible/safe to adjust the fan speeds in the BIOs?

 
You have highlighted one of the reasons why we refuse to install CLC type coolers. You have two options:

a) Call the cooler tech support line and have them walk you thru a solution.
b) Return it (doesn't work) and get a comparably priced air cooler which will eliminate the problem , provide better temps and less noise.

BIOS control is much more limited than the utility that comes with the MoBo and it may conflict with what your controller wants to do.
 
MERGED QUESTION
Question from raymondnoodles : "Thermaltake 3.0 Fan issues?"



 
Jacknaylor I beg to differ on the CLC fact. Each one has it's advantages.
A high end air cooler (being the NH-D15) is big and bulky, but it cools on par with high end CLC. A CLC is used for any array of purposes, ranging from needing a compact cooling solution that puts the main heat dissipation point away from the CPU because it either doesn't fit to it works better in the case like that.

A CLC can of course have issues, but it cools differently than air cooling.
Either one works just as good as the other. It's actually proven in most cases that a good CLC will cool better than any air cooling solution.

They might be "annoying" to install, but when properly installed, they work.

As far as the "we" I assume you are a business of sorts, or associated with one. Closing yourself off to half the market of cooling solutions is up to you. Don't directly impose, just offer suggestions or help. If you don't really want to help him with his CLC, then let someone who does/can do it.

Sorry to be a bit blunt but I'm tired of reading posts where people shut someone down over an opinion when there's hard facts that state otherwise.


The system needs to have the primary controller hooked up to the CPU_FAN header, as this one causes boot failures if not controlling.

You need to determine which part of the system goes here, as some motherboards have AIO_PUMP headers too.

If you're having a problem with one fan starting up, that is absolutely bad hardware. You need to replace the system.
 


 
It should tell you how to connect it.

From what I see in images online it goes to the CPU_FAN header.

The cpu fan header isn't as changeable in options as the other headers but a third party app (really any fan control app) should be able to control the fan curve.
 


You can beg to differ, but the published facts do not support that position, they prove decidedly otherwise. Not as good and not even close. See 23:00 mark

To get within 3C of the Noc, the H100i has to be 12 times as loud.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKdKVxbnp8

They are not in fact smaller, they just move the "big part" to another place.

Sorry to be a bit blunt but I'm tired of reading posts where people shut someone down over an opinion when there's hard facts that state otherwise.

Providing accurate information is not shutting someone down. The user has a unit which he has tried to resolve problems without success. Various solutions were offered and it would be irresponsible to not offer an alternative which would not only eliminate the problem but, in all likelihood, improve thermal and acoustic performance. The facts are there, your misstatement of them does not change the actual published results.

We have been building PCs for 25 years, we have tested these things in house, we read the published tests on reputable sites. Out test rig includes 6 thermal sensors (4 liquid / 2 air), and 6 channel digital display (both accurate to 0.1C) and we utilize a fog machine to test air flow and infrared thermometers to detect surface temps.

The hard facts about CLCs, OLCs and air coolers are plainly evident in the above. In addition:

-The 1st rule of water cooling is that you never mix metals within a loop, all CLCs violate this rule mixing aluminum rads with cooper blocks, essentially creating a galvanic corrosion cell..
https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/

-It is a well known fact that cooling increases with increased flow up to a bout 1.00 gpm where it starts to level off. Corair's flagship H100i delivers 0.11 gpm

-Aluminum rads are not as efficient in heat transfer

-The low pump flow and reduced heat transfer combine to require extreme speed fans which produce more noise... 1950s style vacuum cleaner like noise.

https://youtu.be/cTf0Vq1j4Ec

-When corrosion inhibitors lose their effectiveness after 12-18 months, you can not add any to the system.

-No reservoir

There's nothing inherently wrong with using an all-in-one water cooling system, you can pay $150 for a Kraken X62 CLC with all of the above weaknesses ... or you can pay $150 for a Swiftech H220-X2 OLC with none of them.

But the cold (pun intended) hard facts are that CLCs do not bring anything to the table at comparable cost. Even at the Hyper 212 beats CLCs (H55) costing more than twice as much.

CPU-Coolers2.jpg


To beat the Noc, the simple fact is you are going to have to spend a lot more money and live with a lot more noise (OC AIDA 64). And that's with the very best CLCs, the more popular models are further behind.

Noctua NH-D14 ($80) - 70C @ 43 dbA
Cryorig A40 CLC ($115) - 69C @ 50 dbA

The "big secret" ... the reason that CLCs are able to stay close to air cooler performance is a simple one ... extreme speed fans. Put 1200 - 1500 rpm fans ... the same ones that air cooler vendors use ... and cooling tails off sharply.
 
You're gonna spend money on an AIO. There's options for that, as you can replace the fans.

Might be pricey but a couple of Celsius less could potentially be worth it to a stat cruncher. My cooler runs with ML series fans at no higher than 37db, so even less than the last two fans.

Yes if you want quiet without buying extra fans then duh, air coolers tend to work quieter.

My fans run at 700-900 rpm and my system stays quite cool. The fan PQ curve actually goes into effect, as too much fan speed oddly can have a detrimental effect on cooling.

Obviously clc coolers are not always as efficient as custom loop, but it still works. If it didn't work it wouldn't sell. You've brought up all the flaws of most clc coolers, but there's mitigations and really only marginal performance differences from air.

Air is not the be-all-end-all.

All in all if you get a clc, expect to spend more money for a marginal difference. If your only option is a radiator because of space, it's gonna cost you. The stock fans are obnoxious and you do need to replace them if you want quiet performance.

Clc will give better cooling at certain points than air, and air has its valid points.

Either one will do the job, just like a noctua is a high end, you still need to get a high end clc to compete.

Yea there may be weaknesses but there's warranties if there's issues.

Swiftechs stuff isn't all peachy keen and actually runs on par with the latest generations of clc. Matter of fact it's only a marginal difference over the h115 which is a newer model.





Back to the OPs post. I addressed the question in my last post.
 


Thank you! The only issue with that would be thermaltake doesn't have much/any software for me.

Do you know of any software that could do the trick?
 
Speedfan is a basic program that could work.

Depending on your motherboard you might have Q-fan control.

If you have an Asus Mobo you can get Ai suite which has fan xpert which is hands down one of the best apps around. Matter of fact it may work for you on a different brand board.
 
Solution