RGB controls, cooling tips for fans, and PWM-related queries
RGB controls, cooling tips for fans, and PWM-related queries
Hey there, friends. I'm just getting started with RGB lighting and fans – nothing like it in over 20 years of building. My last project was from 2012, and I've never added extra fans before. I'm using the Phanteks Eclipse P500A-DRGB case, which comes with three 140mm RGB fans by default. I’m planning to keep them at the front as intake vents. I also bought four SK DRGB PWN 120mm fans for backup (you can find them here: http://www.phanteks.com/PH-F120SK-DRGB.html).
My idea was to place one 120mm fan at the back as exhaust and three 120mm fans at the top – two as intake and one as exhaust. From what I’ve learned, this should help pull hot air out, improving airflow. I’m thinking of having three 140mm fans front and two 120mm fans at the rear.
I’m hoping this setup will work well for my workstation, which is a high-end workstation running a Radeon 550 2MB GPU. I’ll be using it for Astronomy image processing with PixInsight – it needs full CPU cores, memory, and NVME PCIe storage cache. I’m not overclocking the CPU or using Infinity Fabric. My RAM will be Corsair LPX at 3600mhz (two 32GB sticks). Eventually, I’ll bump it up to 128GB.
I’m new to fan planning and cooling design, so I’m trying to make sense of this. Here are my first thoughts:
1. I can use the system fan/water pump headers for system fans only if needed.
2. Should I connect one fan per header or link them in a chain? What’s the limit on how many per header?
3. Are all my fans 12V? Do I need to worry about voltage mismatches?
4. Am I missing a fan number for the third header, or can I use daisy chaining?
5. Will I need extra parts to link fans together, or does the board support it out of the box?
6. For the CPU, should I use both 12V power headers or just one? Older boards usually had just one.
7. Regarding RGB, I’m confused about addressable vs non-addressable. Do I need a separate 5V header for the fans?
8. The manual says there are two RGB addressable headers – can I use them for the fans?
9. I’m worried about power limits and overheating. How do I avoid damaging the fans or board?
I’m eager to hear your thoughts and any advice you might have!