Anyway to manually control your fans?

[clarkey01]

Speedfan or is there something better ?

 

[covert24]

in my experience speedfan has never been able to control any of my mobs fan speeds. you can get a fan controller that fits in a expansion bay. i hear the zalman is good with the 4 knobs to control each fan. there are also some LCD based ones that are decent.

 

[myocardia]

I've never had any problems at all using SpeedFan to control my fans. If you buy a new chipset, though, you always end up needing to download the newest version.

 

[covert24]

really? because i even sent Alfredo my config and he told me to try the new beta. which didn't help me. Idk id rather control it physically rather than through software anyway.

 

[bryanW1995]

I've never been able to get speedfan to work, either.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

never used speedfan to control fans, it dont work.

i have a manual fan controller in my drive bay with 4 knobs. works great.

 

[Gillbot]

i use a manual fan controller as well.

 

[craftech]

Ditto on Speedfan. Doesn't control my fan speeds either.

John

 

[Tempered81]

yah never worked for me too

 

[bigboxes]

Yeah, I use a Zalman controller in a front bay. Four knobs (variable) and two switches for hi (12v), lo (5v) and off. I can always turn up the fans if things get hot.

 

[nyker96]

I used speedfan to control my ACF 7 pro 90mm that is set to vary based temperature. WOrks like a charm there's a tutorial on the net for that, just follow it and it quiet down the fan at idle.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I disable all fan speed controls in BIOS. I assume therefore that the fans are running at full speed, no? I prefer a constant droning noise from the fans, not some variable-speed thing, that gets on my nerves.

 

[clarkey01]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I disable all fan speed controls in BIOS. I assume therefore that the fans are running at full speed, no? I prefer a constant droning noise from the fans, not some variable-speed thing, that gets on my nerves.

Good question, Id like my fans on full all the time, Im not fussed too much about noise, I live in halls (student) so I have deal with that first

I have an antec 9 case btw, I just like to keep my Q6600 cool.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: clarkey01

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I disable all fan speed controls in BIOS. I assume therefore that the fans are running at full speed, no? I prefer a constant droning noise from the fans, not some variable-speed thing, that gets on my nerves.

Good question, Id like my fans on full all the time, Im not fussed too much about noise, I live in halls (student) so I have deal with that first

I have an antec 9 case btw, I just like to keep my Q6600 cool.

Larry and I get along fine, but we have differences in preferences on this matter.

Larry will remember the old Vantec Tornado 92x38mm fan, won't you, Larry?

You can do "household control" for lighting and appliances with your PC; you can integrate security cameras in such a regime; but mobo-makers fall short on this fan-control issue.

The last time I loved SpeedFan, it would only thermally control the CPU_FAN speed on my ASUS P4P800 boards. After that, I discovered that it was lagging in various respects, particularly in regard to nVidia chipsets. But now I see the shortcoming is not exclusive to nVidia. I tried it on my latest rig, and it now totally sucks.

And y'all like limited-CFM fans for low-noise. I like beefy fan motors which also provide low noise at low to mid rpm settings. So I WANT thermal control; I NEED thermal control; and I MUST HAVE thermal control.

I've searched far an wide for front-panel controllers that do this. Sunbeam-Tech pulled a scam on us arranged by unscrupulous contractors on the other side of the Pacific: they produced a little circuit-card called the Theta-101 controller; there was stellar review of the product in 2006, showing pictures of the item with blue-and-white rheostats installed for each and every fan plug. I bought two, and discovered those little components were missing; and the software and the board did not do what it was guaranteed to do: thermally control fans. I contacted FrozenCPU and HeatsinkFactory, both confirming that the units in stock were missing the blue-and-white parts (and check to see if they offer them now.) I called Sunbeam's RMA department over several weeks and several times, getting a recorded message and no return call -- it seemed as though they'd skipped town.

I don't really like manual fan controllers. Ironically, Sunbeam-Tech produces a very nice one with four aluminum rheostat knobs and LEDs that vary from red to blue depending on fan speed.

But you're not going to sit there and watch your component temperatures so you can spin fans up and down.

I also discovered something about my eVGA 780i motherboard. BIOS doesn't control fans as it is supposed to. Yet the same fans are thermally controllable through the nVidia Tools software -- as are fans connected to ESA-certified Silverstone Commander front-panel thermal controller. I could've foregone buying the Commander if I'd installed nVidia Tools and made the discovery beforehand.

HERE -- I SPOKE TO GARY STOFER AT SIDEWINDER ABOUT THIS. You all know Gary? Sure you do:

AKASA two-fan thermal controller

This doesn't require "ESA" integration to nVidia-boards-only. But it only controls two fans.

The proof of the pudding on these items -- and there are several more available out there in reseller-land if you look hard enough (and avoid Theta-101 scams) -- is whether or not they read motherboard and CPU sensors in addition to the included "tape-on" sensors. If they don't, you may have to dremel a slot in your heatsink base to put a sensor in there next to the IHS -- but not between the IHS and HS-base. You can't get a wide enough variation in temperatures taken from the heatsink-base near the heatpipes.

Then, for either manual or thermal controllers, they follow the marketplace of "YOU." YOU -- who want low CFM, low-noise fans. So the controllers have limited amperage and wattage specs for each fan plug. Unlike the motherboards, where it is the total amperage spec that counts, many of these controllers have a limited "amperage-per-plug." I wanted to use a 0.69A Delta fan in my rig, but the ESA-certified Silverstone Commander has a 0.50A limit per plug, and they told me "it may damage the fan or the Commander." So I'm using a ThermalTake Blue-LED sleeved-bearing in the meantime.