beautypg.com

Adjustable fan speed, Electrical installation diagrams – Swiftech H20 X20 EDGE SERIES User Manual

Page 13

background image

Copyright Swiftech 2010

– All rights reserved – Last revision date: 8-17-10 - Information subject to change without notice – URL:

http://www.swiftech.com

Rouchon Industries, Inc., dba Swiftech

– 151 West Victoria Street, Long Beach, CA 90805 – Tel. 310-763-0336 – Fax 310-763-7095 - E Mail: [email protected]

13 of 16

Just like a CPU fan, your pump speed can be regulated by the motherboard. For this to happen, it must be connected to preferably the
CPU_Fan header (4 pins), or any other PWM (which are always 4 pin) connector of the motherboard. You will then need to access the
system BIOS to setup your preferred mode of operations. If the pump 4-pin connector is not attached to a PWM capable header, or
not connected at all, the pump speed will default to its maximum. While not connecting the 4-pin does not affect the reliability of the
pump, we strongly recommend that you do so for the overall safety of your system. In effect, should the pump fail while being
connected, most motherboards will typically alert you of a fan failure and perform an automatic shutdown (providing that you setup the
BIOS to do so).

At maximum speed (4500 rpm) the pump provides the maximum flow, thus performance to the system. Conversely, users sensitive to
noise may slow the pump down so that it will perform almost silently (in the 1500 rpm range). It should be noted that flow rate has a
relatively low impact on system thermal performance compared for example to fan speed. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to
accurately predict what the thermal performance impact of varying the pump speed in your particular system will be; however,
measuring this impact by yourself is simple enough by setting up the pump to a given speed, record the processor temperature at full
load, then tune the pump down to a lower speed and compare the results. Whenever you are temperature testing, always remember to
also record the ambient temperature, as this is your absolute baseline.

The following graph reports the pump speed response to % adjustments in the BIOS:


B. Adjustable Fan speed

In order to satisfy the widest range of users, your kit is shipped with high speed fans (82 CFM). At maximum speed the audible noise
generated by these fans is also considered as relatively high. Fan speed can then be adjusted by several methods:

-

With the provided adapters:

o

The 12 to 7v adapters reduce the fan speed by approximately 40%; audible noise at this level is generally perceived as
moderate to low.

o

The 12 to 5v adapters reduce the fan speed by approximately 60%; audible noise at this level is generally considered
as low.

-

Thru the bios: most high-end motherboards include some built-in adjustments to fan speed, generally in % increments of the
maximum speed. If you are using the BIOS to adjust your fan speed, do not use the provided adapters.

-

With after-market fan controllers (not included).


Thermal performance of your system is considerably affected by the amount of air cooling the radiator. As such, slowing the fan down
to reduce audible noise always has a significant impact on the temperature of the devices being cooled. Finding the perfect
compromise of audible noise vs. cooling performance will depend on your system components, the amount of overclock and voltage
applied to the CPU, quality of the air flow in your system, and ambient room temperature. Many users ask us what is normal or
acceptable for their system, and the only true measure of acceptability is that the system should be 100% stable under all operating
conditions, at a processor speed and audible noise levels that are suitable to your personal preference.

C. Electrical Installation diagrams