Aurora R11, liquid cooled top fan replacement

Question

Replaced my stock Top Fan with a Corsair ML120 Pro (no LED, no RGB) today.

Thanks for all the great info! The great news is that it's much quieter!

System specs: Aurora R11, 1000w PSU with liquid cooler / i9 10900k / RTX 2070 super / 32GB 3200MHz RAM

Also have 1TB M2 / 2TB 3.5" 7200 RPM / and (2) 2TB 2.5" 5200 RPM drives in the lower bays.

Stock fan: Speedfan RPM readings: Top fan system idle - 1137 RPM Decibels: 44 idle/balanced = 27% fan speed : 54 performance setting = 41% fan speed in AWCC

Corsair ML120 Pro: Specs: 400 - 2400 RPM / 37 dBA / 75 CFM Speedfan RPM readings: Top Fan system idle - 723 RPM idle (40% slower RPM than stock) Decibels: 41 idle/balanced = 17% fan speed / 51 performance setting = same 41% fan speed in AWCC

So the Corsair RPM's is about 40% slower at idle/balanced setting (723 RPM). With the stock fan, the 1137 RPMs was loud enough to bother me.

The upgrade results in a 3 decibel drop of noise. Might not sound like a lot, but it's significant. And it's a lower-end slight hum vs. the higher pitch 'whine' of the stock.

Temps are no problem with the upgrade.

At idle: 31 CPU / 31 GPU with balanced setting and web-browsing etc.

Far Cry 5: 65 CPU / 77 GPU @ 1440p resolution (get around 120 fps)

The bad news:

It's a pain-in-the-neck to get to the fan screws! Took me about an hour to replace. A small jeweler-type screw driver worked well to fit up through the slots. I needed to use a small pair of vice-grips to twist the screwdriver to break the screws loose.

And placing Scotch tape loosely around the screws (use the original screws) before installing new fan (with the screws not seated) was a critical step.

I was able to do it all without removing the pump etc. - just removed the connections for the pump and top fan from the board header.

I also read this helpful Dell thread here.

Thanks again to all here, and good luck to the next guy!

C H · Answer

yeesh - how do you edit a post? It removed all the formatting from my last post! (Chrome doesn't show the 3...dots to access edit) Works in Edge brower. But now it says time expired to edit. DOH!

r72019 · Answer

Too late.  You can only edit within the first 15 minutes or so.

C H · Answer

The ideal solution would be for Dell to allow setting the Top Fan speed below the BIOS controlled minimum of 27%! Tried numerous ways to drop that 27% down. No luck. So I decided to go the replace route and glad to have at least some relief.

C H · Answer

AWCC reads/controls the Corsair fan fine.

I've heard of problems when fan goes above 70%, but my cooling is fine at 40% max.

I tried 8 fan control programs also- only 1 can read the fan controller: Speedfan

It needs to be set up properly to work though.

It can read and control the top fan.

Speedfan 1.jpg Speedfan 2.jpg Speedfan 3.jpg

The last picture, you need to add a fan controller by clicking the 'Add' button.

Jump_Fight · Answer

Congrats! I also want to do an upgrade to my top fan without removing the pump but I am really new to desktop (Even the memory upgrade tool me a while). Do you know a youtube video that shows me how? Also, how did you get a Corsair ML120 Pro (no LED, no RGB), I think it is out of stock everywhere.

Jump_Fight · Answer

Thanks for the info! Do I have to replace both top and front fans together? From my observation, all noise is coming from the top fan, so I prefer to only replace the top one if possible. My main concern is, to replace the front fan too I would have to remove the GPU liquid cooling, which is kind of nervous for a newbie like me. Would it cause any power/frequency sync issue if I only replace the top one?

ECJoker19 · Answer

@Jump_Fight  'Also, how did you get a Corsair ML120 Pro (no LED, no RGB), I think it is out of stock everywhere.' You have to purchase it directly from Corsair website. 1 fan is for $28 and 2-pack ones are $40. https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Fans/c/Cor_Products_Cooling_Fans?q=%3Aprice-desc%3AfanSize%3A120mm&text=&pageSize=12#rotatingText

C H · Answer

The thread I linked to has some pictures and useful information.

It's not rocket science, but it does require patience and some dexterity.

And replacing just the top fan works fine - AWCC works the same as before.

I got the fan from Amazon after 1 month back-order.

The only way I did the fan without removing the pump was to use a jeweler-type screwdriver.

And a pic of the stock fan with tape on screws to show the idea.

pic 1.jpg pic 2.jpg

Jump_Fight · Answer

Wow, amazing. Thanks

Jump_Fight · Answer

Wow, thanks. Almost bought the 2-set one.Any idea if I have to replace both the top and front fans together?

r72019 · Answer

No, you can do just one fan.

r72019 · Answer

Also the front fan doesn't require an ml120 pro.  Pretty much any 3 or 4 pin 120mm fan will work in that header.

C H · Answer

@DELL-Chris M '' Thank you - looks great! And Chrome is now showing the 3 dots edit etc interface. Seems the forum server chokes on occasion.

C H · Answer

Update to top fan upgrade:

All is working great! It is so much quieter. The noise at idle with stock fan was just too much.

I basically use 2 different profiles:
1) Balanced most the time- Top fan runs @ 17% / front fan @ 12%. Temps idle/web browsing - CPU 32-35 / GPU 32-35 / GPU fan 18% (all of these are the set minimums)
2) Performance when gaming - Top fan 40% / front fan 30%. In Assasins Creed Origins 1440p/max settings: CPU 62 / GPU 77 / GPU fan 45% - FPS ~87.
When gaming in Balanced mode - CPU 72 / GPU 80 / GPU fan 55%, so I would rather use Performance to keep things cooler.
Also, setting custom values in AWCC is a little funky as less than 20% offset on front fan has no effect. So its 12% at 0 offset or 30% at 20% offset, no in-between.
I've been thinking of upgrading the front fan with a Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM, but a recent post here has had errors problems (not critical) with that fan, so not sure yet if going to use that or just another Corsair ML120 Pro.

An additional note, when pressing F12 at boot and then running diagnostics, the top fan gives an error. It seems to be because the top RPM of the Corsair ML120 Pro is less than the stock so it shows error. Doesn't affect anything, just the warning when running that boot diagnostics.

AuroraHasManyFans · Answer

I lament to report that I have been unable to take out my Aurora R11 (liquid cooled CPU)'s top case fan. The 4 fan screws (but not the 4 radiator screws) are way too tight for my comfort, I don't want to damage anything on this new computer. I might hire a licensed PC technician in the future, if I decide to replace the top fan at all.

Therefore, I replaced the front case fan only, with a Corsair ML120 Pro maglev fan (no LED). Even though that's only one AVC fan replaced, the result has been pleasantly surprising. With AWCC thermal in "balanced" mode, the overall fan noise is a lot quieter and more pleasant. I guess it's because the front fan is much closer to my ears than the top fan.

With AWCC thermal in "performance" mode, the top AVC fan is still too annoyingly loud.

R11 (LC CPU) top cover removedR11 (LC CPU) front fan replacement

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Aurora R11, liquid cooled top fan replacement

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