Question Building my first pc and running into issues

[Slycerik]

So, the build in question is as follows:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($345.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT 65.57 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate IronWolf Pro 4 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive ($134.06 @ MemoryC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB Video Card ($759.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair iCUE 5000X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000e (2023) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE AF120 RGB ELITE 65.57 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE AF120 RGB SLIM 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan ($27.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2415.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-25 13:51 EST-0500

I am mainly having issues with figuring out how I’m supposed to connect all of my fans to Corsair’s iCUE software through the included Commander Core that comes with the H150i cooler. I would ideally like to use all of the fan slots if that isn’t going to be overkill and I do plan on overlocking this build. My main concern is having access over the fan speed controls and then partially the rgb as well although rgb is not as important. My other question is how I should place my fans to promote the best airflow? As in terms of which fans should be intake and which should be exhaust? There are 3 slots on front, 3 slots on top, 3 on the side opposite of the glass access to the parts, and 1 on the rear. The radiator will take 3 slots itself, so where should I place the radiator also to have the best possible cpu cooling? In addition, I know the list shows that one of the fans is a slim model, but I found the same Elite model as the 3 pack as a single fan but I still wanted to fill the “slot” so that it’s mostly accurate of the build.

 

[D10S]

how much space have you got behind the front panel with stock fans installed ? If you can fit the rad and use push/pull that'd be best for the 13700k with oc, cause all new cpus get really hot. you'll need 77mm at least though (25+27+25)

 

[Why_Me]

So, the build in question is as follows:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($345.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT 65.57 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate IronWolf Pro 4 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive ($134.06 @ MemoryC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB Video Card ($759.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair iCUE 5000X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000e (2023) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE AF120 RGB ELITE 65.57 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE AF120 RGB SLIM 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan ($27.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2415.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-25 13:51 EST-0500

I am mainly having issues with figuring out how I’m supposed to connect all of my fans to Corsair’s iCUE software through the included Commander Core that comes with the H150i cooler. I would ideally like to use all of the fan slots if that isn’t going to be overkill and I do plan on overlocking this build. My main concern is having access over the fan speed controls and then partially the rgb as well although rgb is not as important. My other question is how I should place my fans to promote the best airflow? As in terms of which fans should be intake and which should be exhaust? There are 3 slots on front, 3 slots on top, 3 on the side opposite of the glass access to the parts, and 1 on the rear. The radiator will take 3 slots itself, so where should I place the radiator also to have the best possible cpu cooling? In addition, I know the list shows that one of the fans is a slim model, but I found the same Elite model as the 3 pack as a single fan but I still wanted to fill the “slot” so that it’s mostly accurate of the build.

You want 2x32GB not 4x16GB so you don't stress the controller. What will be the primary uses of your PC and if one of those uses includes gaming what is your resolution?

 

[D10S]

You want 2x32GB not 4x16GB so you don't stress the controller. What will be the primary uses of your PC and if one of those uses includes gaming what is your resolution?

correct. 4 of these sticks did not pass compatibility check on that mobo. and I don't think that's because of the board per se, but the quality of memory used. they seem to be lower samsung bin, not b-die. some b-die corsairs (1Rx8) can pass with 4x16g it seems, but not the lower samsung 1Rx8 bin.

 

[D10S]

this kit will be fine according to qvl list appartently

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-64gb/p/N82E16820236934

I think he wants 4x16 for the looks.

 

[Slycerik]

how much space have you got behind the front panel with stock fans installed ? If you can fit the rad and use push/pull that'd be best for the 13700k with oc, cause all new cpus get really hot. you'll need 77mm at least though (25+27+25)

https://imgur.com/a/TE2ah65

I’m not sure what you mean by the behind the front panel. If you’re meaning on the side where fans can go next to the front panel, there is only about 2 inches of clearance at maximum, did not actually measure, but I don’t believe that location would work for the radiator due to the fans on the front and the gpu intersecting in the area where the radiator could go. Included are pictures of the area. I also just found out that included in the case, was a 6x pwm repeater with 3 slots being used so I can at least sync all radiator fans into one spot on the Core Commander.

 

[Slycerik]

You want 2x32GB not 4x16GB so you don't stress the controller. What will be the primary uses of your PC and if one of those uses includes gaming what is your resolution?

I was figuring 4x16 would be less stress on the ram, and better speeds but would 2x32 be better over the 4x16? And for resolution, temporarily I will be using a 144hz 1920x1080 monitor. But eventually I want to switch to 165hz 3440x1440. But yes, it is a pc for gaming

 

[D10S]

https://imgur.com/a/TE2ah65

I’m not sure what you mean by the behind the front panel. If you’re meaning on the side where fans can go next to the front panel, there is only about 2 inches of clearance at maximum, did not actually measure, but I don’t believe that location would work for the radiator due to the fans on the front and the gpu intersecting in the area where the radiator could go. Included are pictures of the area. I also just found out that included in the case, was a 6x pwm repeater with 3 slots being used so I can at least sync all radiator fans into one spot on the Core Commander.

push/pull looks like a fan-rad-fan sandwich. looks like it might be doable on the front, unless the gpu is too long. worst case scenario, put the 150i on top, either push or pull, I don't think it'll matter. 360mm should be fine with one row of fans, though push/pull would run a little cooler.

I was figuring 4x16 would be less stress on the ram, and better speeds but would 2x32 be better over the 4x16? And for resolution, temporarily I will be using a 144hz 1920x1080 monitor. But eventually I want to switch to 165hz 3440x1440

ram support is handled by the imc (memory controller) on the cpu. the board just needs physically correct slots for either ddr4 or ddr5. fewer sticks= easier on the imc. good quality ram helps too, as it requires lower voltages to work, but imc quality is just as important. I had a 10500 that worked fine with 4133 c16 ddr4 at 1.25v vccsa (imc voltage, also called system agent voltage) but my current 10700f can only do 4000 c16, and that requires 1.34v vccsa. just pure silicon lottery.

 

[Slycerik]

correct. 4 of these sticks did not pass compatibility check on that mobo. and I don't think that's because of the board per se, but the quality of memory used. they seem to be lower samsung bin, not b-die. some b-die corsairs (1Rx8) can pass with 4x16g it seems, but not the lower samsung 1Rx8 bin.

Oh, okay then. That changes things

 

[Slycerik]

this kit will be fine according to qvl list appartently

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-64gb/p/N82E16820236934

I think he wants 4x16 for the looks.

I was really only going the 4 because I thought it would be better for the RAM having the usage spread across 4 instead of 2.

 

[Slycerik]

push/pull looks like a fan-rad-fan sandwich. looks like it might be doable on the front, unless the gpu is too long. worst case scenario, put the 150i on top, either push or pull, I don't think it'll matter. 360mm should be fine with one row of fans, though push/pull would run a little cooler.


ram support is handled by the imc (memory controller) on the cpu. the board just needs physically correct slots for either ddr4 or ddr5. fewer sticks= easier on the imc. good quality ram helps too, as it requires lower voltages to work, but imc quality is just as important. I had a 10500 that worked fine with 4133 c16 ddr4 at 1.25v vccsa (imc voltage, also called system agent voltage) but my current 10700f can only do 4000 c16, and that requires 1.34v vccsa. just pure silicon lottery.

Oh, I’m not sure if I could do that on the build unless I attach the radiator to the front panel instead of the side. The clearance looks a little tight for even radiator plus the one set of fans on the side there. That is if I do the push pull. If I do the top mount, I’ll probably do push configuration going through the radiator out the top side.

But I didn’t know that about ram, so basically just go to the 2x32 and make sure they’re higher quality ram? How would I go about finding 2 sticks of DDR5-5600 that would work for that? Only reason I’m trying for 5600 is because it’s the max supported by the mobo and I figured higher number there means faster. Correct me if I’m wrong, I really only am going off of assumptions right now, lol

 

[Inspireless Llama]

Here's a commander wiring diagram. I struggled with the setup a bit too in the beginning, but if I remember right, those wiring diagrams do help knowing what goes where.

By the looks of it, you should have a lightening node for your RGB wires, and the other one should be your fan controller for the power wires (to set fan speeds etc).

Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Corsair/comments/8vj9xo/corsair_commander_pro_rgb_wiring_flow_chart

 

[Slycerik]

Here's a commander wiring diagram. I struggled with the setup a bit too in the beginning, but if I remember right, those wiring diagrams do help knowing what goes where.

By the looks of it, you should have a lightening node for your RGB wires, and the other one should be your fan controller for the power wires (to set fan speeds etc).

Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Corsair/comments/8vj9xo/corsair_commander_pro_rgb_wiring_flow_chart

So the thing is with that, is that I’ll only have the Commander Core that comes with the H150i cooler and it doesn’t have all the same connections, although that does help a bit, but from what I read, I think I have to connect the 3 fans from the Cooler to the core as well which complicates things because I don’t know how I’d do that unless I connect 6 of the fans to a pwm repeater so that I can connect all 10 total fans. What are the downsides to using a pwm repeater other than not able to select different rgb for each fan?

 

[Inspireless Llama]

If I read correctly, and it was the same with my 3-pack of fans: The lightening node comes with that one, so you have the RGB controller. And if I'm correct, because I don't have one, the commander is basically the fan hub.

With the lightning node, you can connect 6 fans to it. The lightening node then connects to your commander, which should connect to a USB 2.0 connector on your motherboard.

Just make sure your PSU has enough sata connectors, especially if you have SATA powered drives (HDD / SSD). Your fans are going to need at least 2 sata connectors (fan hub & RGB hub) and I can't remember if the AIO requires one as well.

EDIT: There's a red X in my post and I can't find it back while editting so sorry about that. ALso, are you sure that there's a commander with your AIO? The one in my picture, and my own AIO too, didn't get a fan controller, they just connected to the "CPU FAN" on the mobo after I connected them on a splitter.

EDIT2: Nvm, the manual says it has a commander core with it.

EDIT3: Also something to look out for: The lightening Node only supports 6 fans. Your AIO, + the 3 pack of fans + the aditional fan comes to 7 fans. Those won't fit. The commander should only fit 6 fans as well but that's less of a problem because the motherboard will have some FAN_HEADERS anyway.

Do you really need 7 case fans? The case already comes with 3 fans included too. And a lightening node, so connecting your RGB for your AIO isn't going to be an issue anyway.

 

[Slycerik]

If I read correctly, and it was the same with my 3-pack of fans: The lightening node comes with that one, so you have the RGB controller. And if I'm correct, because I don't have one, the commander is basically the fan hub.

With the lightning node, you can connect 6 fans to it. The lightening node then connects to your commander, which should connect to a USB 2.0 connector on your motherboard.

Just make sure your PSU has enough sata connectors, especially if you have SATA powered drives (HDD / SSD). Your fans are going to need at least 2 sata connectors (fan hub & RGB hub) and I can't remember if the AIO requires one as well.

EDIT: There's a red X in my post and I can't find it back while editting so sorry about that. ALso, are you sure that there's a commander with your AIO? The one in my picture, and my own AIO too, didn't get a fan controller, they just connected to the "CPU FAN" on the mobo after I connected them on a splitter.

EDIT2: Nvm, the manual says it has a commander core with it.

EDIT3: Also something to look out for: The lightening Node only supports 6 fans. Your AIO, + the 3 pack of fans + the aditional fan comes to 7 fans. Those won't fit. The commander should only fit 6 fans as well but that's less of a problem because the motherboard will have some FAN_HEADERS anyway.

Do you really need 7 case fans? The case already comes with 3 fans included too. And a lightening node, so connecting your RGB for your AIO isn't going to be an issue anyway.

Ahh, alrighty then. I’ve only purchased the gpu, case, mobo, and cpu so far. I’m thinking I’m going to use the pwm repeater on 6 of the fans to allow the last 4 slots on the commander to be used for the other fans. I think that’s the only way I can do it. But that was another question was the fans, I’m not sure if I’ll need that many fans but I just said screw it, if there’s that many spaces for fans, there’s going to be that many fans, lol. Probably not necessary at all, but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry if I’m overclocking. But is the 10 case fans too overkill? There were 3 that came with the case, the 3 on the cooler, another 3 pack, and then the single fan.

 

[Brian Boru]

Welcome to the forum

is the 10 case fans too overkill?

M'lord, we need more fans to dissipate the heat from all the fans.

 

[Slycerik]

Welcome to the forum




M'lord, we need more fans to dissipate the heat from all the fans.

lol, Thanks man. How many fans do you think would be enough to help with the heat from the 3070 Ti and the 17-13700K assuming I’m probably only going to overclock them around 10-15%. 13700K I’m aware is capable of more, but I also don’t know how to over clock the best but on my current pc I have, didn’t build though, I have overclocked safely around 12% and I’ve had no issues.

Edit 1: Also, which fans should exhaust or intake in terms of side, top, front, and rear? Should the AIO be an exhaust or intake?

 

[D10S]

Should the AIO be an exhaust or intake?

Intake.

 

[Slycerik]

Intake.

Okay, should only the rear fan be an exhaust?

 

[D10S]

Okay, should only the rear fan be an exhaust?

Yup.

 

[Slycerik]

Yup.

Okay, that gives me a better idea of what I need to do then. So basically, rear fan is exhaust only, 2 sticks of ram instead of 4, and 10 fans is a bit overkill.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

Front is always intake, rear is always outtake.

There's been videos and alot of discussion about where to place your AIO, wether it should be intake or outtake, and wether you should have it in push or pull config. If i remember correctly, in the end it doesn't matter that much, maybe a few degrees.

But beacuse front is always intake, if you mount your AIO there, I would make it intake. Personally I had my AIO as outtake when it was top mounted.

Then in terms of fans: You'll have a minimum of 6 fans: 3 from the case (I suspect 2 front, 1 in the rear) + 3 from the AIO. That should be sufficient.

I have 8 fans in my case, which is overkill ,but I'm using them for RGB and the icue murals which are cool with games / movies . I have 3 in the front, 2 on top (they were from my AIO, got rid of the AIO, kept the fans), 1 in the rear and 2 from my CPU air cooler.

 

[Slycerik]

Front is always intake, rear is always outtake.

There's been videos and alot of discussion about where to place your AIO, wether it should be intake or outtake, and wether you should have it in push or pull config. If i remember correctly, in the end it doesn't matter that much, maybe a few degrees.

But beacuse front is always intake, if you mount your AIO there, I would make it intake. Personally I had my AIO as outtake when it was top mounted.

Then in terms of fans: You'll have a minimum of 6 fans: 3 from the case (I suspect 2 front, 1 in the rear) + 3 from the AIO. That should be sufficient.

I have 8 fans in my case, which is overkill ,but I'm using them for RGB and the icue murals which are cool with games / movies . I have 3 in the front, 2 on top (they were from my AIO, got rid of the AIO, kept the fans), 1 in the rear and 2 from my CPU air cooler.

Ah, sweet, okay. I can take a few fans out, that saves some cost, so that’s nice. I’m thinking I’m going to top or front mount my cooler, then 3 fans on either top or front depending on where cooler is, then 1 on rear and 2 on the side because I want the extra controller that comes with the 3 pack versus just getting a single.

Edit: I actually just saw something and I’m going to change the cooler to the next generation that Corsair has so that cable management will be a bit easier and connecting everything should be a lot easier too. It’s the iCUE Link H150i with the QX120 fans. Also, is there a large difference between 140mm fans and 120mm fans? Like is it a noticeable difference that is worth it?