Will these fans work with this fan controller?

[CHAOSAHEAD]

I'm saving up right now to buy some fans along with other parts and I just want to make sure they work. Here are the fans:
Corsair Air Series AF140 (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-fan-co9050009ww)
Corsair Air Series AF120 (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-fan-co9050002ww)
The fan controller:
NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-fan-controller-senmix2)
Also, can this fan fit 2 of the AF140's and 4 AF120's?

 

[Paperdoc]

No.

The Corsair fans are 3-pin design, meaning they work using Voltage Control Mode. That is, the voltage fed to them must be changed by the controller to change their speed.

The Fan Controller you specified says it uses 4-pin connectors. That normally means it is designed to work with 4-pin fans, also called PWM Mode fans. For these fans the controller supplies a constant 12 VDC to the fan, and also a fourth signal called PWM that is used inside the fan by a chip to control speed. This type of controller relies totally on the PWM signal to change fan speed, but a 3-pin fan cannot use that. So a 3-pin fan connected to a 4-pin port always runs only at full speed.

Find a controller designed for 3-pin fans, OR (maybe better) choose other fans designed for 4-pin (PWM Mode) use.

 

[CHAOSAHEAD]

No.

The Corsair fans are 3-pin design, meaning they work using Voltage Control Mode. That is, the voltage fed to them must be changed by the controller to change their speed.

The Fan Controller you specified says it uses 4-pin connectors. That normally means it is designed to work with 4-pin fans, also called PWM Mode fans. For these fans the controller supplies a constant 12 VDC to the fan, and also a fourth signal called PWM that is used inside the fan by a chip to control speed. This type of controller relies totally on the PWM signal to change fan speed, but a 3-pin fan cannot use that. So a 3-pin fan connected to a 4-pin port always runs only at full speed.

Find a controller designed for 3-pin fans, OR (maybe better) choose other fans designed for 4-pin (PWM Mode) use.

Do you know of a good fan controller for 3-pin fans, or any good 4-pin fans to use on the NZXT? Which of the two options do you recommend?

 

[Paperdoc]

Ooops! I REVISE my advice!

On closer inspection I see that the six output connectors of the NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller have only 2 pins (Pin #'s 1 and 2) and two wires going to each. Moreover, the specs claim that it has "PWM sized connectors", and not that it works only with PWM-design fans. What this means is that the controller does only Voltage Control Mode (that is, suitable ideally for 3-pin fans) and does NOT require the use of 4-pin fans. Because of its output connectors it will allow you to use 4-pin fans and they will be controlled - they just are not NECESSARY for using this controller.

So, go ahead and use this controller with your 3-pin fans. It will work just as expected.

Be aware of a few things about this and other fan controllers:
1. This unit has no way to read the speed signals coming from each fan; nor can it forward those signals to the mobo's fan ports for reading. Thus you will never know what speeds your fans are running. That is not a big deal, though. Fan speed is not critical - the temperatures of certain components is more important.

2. A controller like this cannot do any automatic control of temperatures by manipulating speeds. It has no way to know any temperatures, and no system for automatic control. YOU are the only one who can decide what speeds to run your fans, and when to change them.

3. I highly recommend that you connect the cooling system for your CPU to the mobo's CPU_FAN port and let that mobo do its default automatic control of CPU cooling. That system constantly adjusts CPU cooling fans to maintain target internal CPU temperature as workload changes, PLUS it does a couple of other jobs to protect your CPU from rapid and dangerous overheating in the event of unexpected things like a fan suddenly stopping. Use your fan controller for the case ventilation fans.