Log ncase + asus b550-i. Build help req from a noob - installing fans

TheMEXiCAN99

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Aug 26, 2020
16
7
Dear fellow SFF builders,

My ncase is yet to arrive but i'm planning on the following:


I plan to replace the bundled Kraken X53 fans with the NF-A12x25 fans and then side mount the radiator.
The thinner NF-A12x15 I plan to put at the bottom of the NCASE blowing upwards into the GPU. I'm considering the new 3080 nVidia GPU (if it fits!). I also wanted to add a 5th fan (not listed above - probably a 90mm fan looking at other builds) set to exhaust above the GPU at the rear of the case.

My question is how to install these 5 fans and be able to control them through the BIOS or other software?
I note that there are only 3 fan headers at the top of the board. One labelled AIO - where I will plug the Kraken in, leaving me only one cpu fan header and one chassis fan header. Is the answer 2 fan splitters? What then about the 5th rear exhaust fan.

Many many thanks for taking the time to read this and for any help you can provide.

Nik
 

Evilpickle

Cable Smoosher
Aug 9, 2019
8
6
That Asus motherboard looks like it has three plugs - CPU fan, AIO pump and system fan. Noctua fans come with a splitter. So you can run a total of 4 fans off those two motherboard fan plugs (CPU/Sys) if you want.

For my system, I'm running two Noctua fans off of the CPU fan plug via the splitter. I can then adjust fan speed based off of CPU temperature with my motherboards fan speed software. I would imagine that Asus has something similar.

For my GPU I had to remove the fans that were on the GPU card and used two Noctua 12x25 fans that are running off the fan plug on the GPU. The Noctua fans would not fit under the GPU with the stock fans on it. I will say that between that and redoing the thermal paste on my CPU my computer is running WAY cooler. The stock fans on my Gigabite RX 5700 XT card were just not cutting it.

I've been looking at the new nvidia 3080 and I'm not digging the founders edition fan setup as I like pushing the hot air out of the bottom of my case as opposed to pulling air in and blowing it into the CPU area. But I'm pretty confident that the card wont fit with two Noctua fans under it anyways. The card looks to be almost the same size as my 5700 XT. If you wait for another company to sell the 3080, you can probably remove the fans and then run the Noctuas. Going to be hard to say until they are released though.

I have photos and everything up on my build page, and happy to take more pictures or help out if you have any more questions as I have a similar setup.
 
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thelaughingman

SFF Guru
Jul 14, 2018
1,413
1,566
each fan header on the Asus board is rated for 1A -> 12W total power. IIRC Noctua A12x15 and A12x25 are less than 3W power so you can safely power upto 4 fans from the same headers, just need to buy splitter cables.

for example I have the X570i Strix which has the same header count and assignments, I'm running 3 fans off the CPU header without any issues, everything is controlled via Q-fan in bios
 
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TheMEXiCAN99

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Aug 26, 2020
16
7
@thelaughingman. Thank you so much for helping me. I was planning on replying to my own thread with the hope of helping somebody else who had the same question as me. Something that I didn't realise was that the Noctua fans come with fan splitters included so I didn't have to buy them specifically/separately.

My current plan is:
AIO PUMP and rear exhaust fan plugged into the AIO header using a splitter
The AIO fans which will be mounted onto the AIO radiator (2 x noctuas) into a separate fan header using a splitter.
2 x slim noctua fans in the bottom of the case connected via a splitter into the 3rd header. These will be both set to pull air into the case and up towards the 3080. Fingers crossed I manage to get hold of one.. in a few hrs!

If anybody thinks what I propose is a bad idea, please let me know!

Thanks,
Nik
 
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