fan headers on motherboard

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:21

Just wondering if on these new motherboards if there are any options in the bios to set the fan speeds really low if they are connected directly to the board because I don't want to buy an additional fan controller and the fans on the back of my case will not reach the controller at the front and I'm wanting to keep the noise as minimal as possible.

Thanks

rhysduck · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:32

What motherboard is it? Someone may be a bit more help if they new the omotherboard you have

Philtor · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:36

You can normally control the CPU Fan speed providing you have a PWM fan and appropiate system board. For case fans I would use the Akasa fan speed reduction cables if your stuck..... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-006-GE

Makhaira · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:38

Depends on your board, otherwise you need either a controller, or a quick bit of work with a resistor and soldering iron.

On Asus boards with the QFan feature, this will control case fans as well as CPU fans.

Philtor · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:42

afaik Q-Fan only regulates the CPU fan mate. I could be wrong..

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:44

Currently using an ABIT IP35-Pro

Just checked the UGuru in bios, there's a few settings but nothing to turn the RPM down just temperature shut off settings etc!

Might get a new ASUS board them, will have a look around!

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:46

I'm just braiding my whole system, just ordered a new case (TJ07) and ideally wan't to keep things as minimal as possible i.e. 3 pin headers with no extensions etc.

Philtor · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:46

Shot in the dark but maybe try speedfan first before spending any $$ ??

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:48

philtorrens said:
Shot in the dark but maybe try speedfan first before spending any $$ ??

SpeedFan crashes with my IP35-Pro and Windows 7 >_<

Makhaira · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:50

philtorrens said:
afaik Q-Fan only regulates the CPU fan mate. I could be wrong..

Might only be on some boards, but on my old A8N-SLI Premium it definitely did the case fans too.

I can't think of any manufacturer that lets you natively have direct control of the fans from the BIOS. To be honest I'd just stick some resistors in, it'll cost you a few pence instead of £s!

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 13:48

What about just extending the 3 pin header cables to a controller?

Is it as simple as just cutting the wire and extending the 3 cables red/yellow/black with some solder?

BUFF · 22 Feb 2010 at 15:44

leoncc said:
Currently using an ABIT IP35-Pro

Just checked the UGuru in bios, there's a few settings but nothing to turn the RPM down just temperature shut off settings etc!

uGuru was the best onboard fan control going & tbh I don't think that it's been bettered yet.
I don't think that you understand what it can do when set up properly - it will dynamically adjust fan rpm according to set reference temps (selectable CPU, Sys or PWM) .
So e.g. it may run a fan at ~800rpm at idle but ramp it up to 2,500rpm when under max load.

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 15:52

BUFF said:
uGuru was the best onboard fan control going & tbh I don't think that it's been bettered yet.
I don't think that you understand what it can do when set up properly - it will dynamically adjust fan rpm according to set reference temps (selectable CPU, Sys or PWM) .
So e.g. it may run a fan at ~800rpm at idle but ramp it up to 2,500rpm when under max load.

I will have another look later and post up some bios pics

Diggsy · 22 Feb 2010 at 16:27

As above, the IP35Pro or in fact almost any Abit boards were just about the best available for onboard fan controls.

There is just about every conceivable option open to you, you just need to know how to use it.

Take a look at the 3rd image on this page... http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3142&p=4

You set each fan by choosing the temp for lowest voltage, then temp for highest voltage, then simply choose your lowest and highest voltage setting for each.

Example...

Fan 1 - low temp 30c, high temp 60c. Voltage high - 10v, voltage low - 8v.

That will mean if your CPU idles at around 30c, then the fan will run at 8v, and when needed it will automatically adjust it towards 10v. Its not just a straight jump to 10v either, it is steadilly increased as the temp rises.

For the CPU, the only difference is it works in percentage rather than exact volts. So if your fan is 1000rpm and you set it to 80% then it will run at around 800rpm until it needs to run higher.

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 19:37

Diggsy said:
As above, the IP35Pro or in fact almost any Abit boards were just about the best available for onboard fan controls.

There is just about every conceivable option open to you, you just need to know how to use it.

Take a look at the 3rd image on this page... http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3142&p=4

You set each fan by choosing the temp for lowest voltage, then temp for highest voltage, then simply choose your lowest and highest voltage setting for each.

Example...

Fan 1 - low temp 30c, high temp 60c. Voltage high - 10v, voltage low - 8v.

That will mean if your CPU idles at around 30c, then the fan will run at 8v, and when needed it will automatically adjust it towards 10v. Its not just a straight jump to 10v either, it is steadilly increased as the temp rises.

For the CPU, the only difference is it works in percentage rather than exact volts. So if your fan is 1000rpm and you set it to 80% then it will run at around 800rpm until it needs to run higher.

Just spent 20 minutes learning UGuru and its brilliant, got my noise down a lot, CPU now running at 960rpm system and aux fans running at 1080rpm pretty much silent now!

Had this board nearly 2 years and never gave UGuru a try >_< works well like you said BUFF/Diggsy.

(I always wondered what that unknown device was in DM... Now I know lol.)

Diggsy · 22 Feb 2010 at 19:42

leoncc said:
Just spent 20 minutes learning UGuru and its brilliant, got my noise down a lot, CPU now running at 960rpm system and aux fans running at 1080rpm pretty much silent now!

Had this board nearly 2 years and never gave UGuru a try >_< works well like you said BUFF/Diggsy.

(I always wondered what that unknown device was in DM... Now I know lol.)

I cant believe you've had it so long yet never used one of its best features :eek:

At least you're sorted now, the fan controls on this board are nothing short of brilliant

leoncc · 22 Feb 2010 at 19:53

Diggsy said:
I cant believe you've had it so long yet never used one of its best features

At least you're sorted now, the fan controls on this board are nothing short of brilliant

UGuru says the mobo has 4 AUX fans and one SYS fan yet my eyes can only find 3 lol

Diggsy · 22 Feb 2010 at 20:23

leoncc said:
UGuru says the mobo has 4 AUX fans and one SYS fan yet my eyes can only find 3 lol

Oh they're there all right

...

leoncc · 24 Feb 2010 at 06:40

So I just found out that the Yate Loons come with 60cm cable (3pin) goodtimes!