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I just purchased a 5.25" touchscreen fan controller for my AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 6-Core 3.8GHz Desktop PC. I've never used one of these devices before so I'd like to know how to set up the temperature-sensors?

The instructions that came with this "Bitfenix Recon Degital Touch Screen 5 ports Fan Smart Controller" are of very little use, they say what's in the box, what it does, and how to control it via the internet (although I have a feeling that using the internet to control it would only be available with Windows, and since I exclusively use Debian and Arch Linux, I'll probably never use that feature). It also shows some incredibly poor quality pictures showing how to connect each of the 5 built-in fan wires. But they don't show any pics of setting up the Thermometers and it doesn't write out instructions for them either. I bought it off eBay and I can't find the company's website, so that's no help. Here's the eBay link to another auction of the same item in case that would be helpful: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bitfenix-Recon-Degital-Touch-Screen-5-ports-Fan-smart-Controller-5-25in/254540756336?hash=item3b43cfb570:g:~JwAAOSwq05dQ62E (Although, strangely enough, I paid $35 including shipping, so this one I'm linking to is way more expensive. If that's really what it should cost, I'm also guessing mine won't work anyhow and that'll make this question totally moot.)

There is a total of 5 selectable fan controls. My desktop has more than 5, but I'm just planning on hooking some up with 'Y-Cables' so when I select #1, I'll be controlling Fans 1A & 1B at the same time. But that's not really what I asking about, I just thought giving you some details would help my question, which I'll ask right now.

The unit comes with 5-Thermometers, and I don't know where I should put any of them. I'm guessing that Thermometer 1 should be placed near Fan 1, T2 should be placed F2, and so on. Is that the right assumption? And if it is, how do I attach T{1,2,3,4,5} to an area nearby to F{1,2,3,4,5}? As far as I can tell, the Fan Controller does not come with any tape or glue or whatever.

So, back to the heart of this question. Where should the Thermometers be placed and how do I keep them attached to that place?

Well, that's the gist of everything I'm wondering about. Any info you can provide would be great.

Thank you very much!

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You should not put the temperature sensors at the fans themselves, but ideally onto the hottest things the respective fan(s) are serving: the CPU/GPU/chipset heatsinks, or onto RAM or storage devices that seem to run hot.

After all, the point of a temperature-sensing fan controller is to make sure the system gets enough cooling when it needs it, while being more quiet when maximal cooling is not needed.

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  • Thakk you for the answer! How do I attach the thermometers? Should I use anything special? Would electrical tape work? Please let me know.
    – Ev-
    Commented Aug 4, 2020 at 1:29
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    According to a video of the Bitfenix Recon on YouTube, in the package there should be a piece of two-sided tape intended for attaching the sensors. Whatever you use should be suitable for temperatures up to about 100 degrees C, and thermally conductive. If the sensors have a protective clear plastic tube on them, remove that before attaching the sensors: it's just to prevent damage before installation. Electrical tape is typically good to about 80 degrees which is a little low for this application: it might become a stinky mess when hot.
    – telcoM
    Commented Aug 4, 2020 at 4:56

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