Help me reduce mobo fan speed

[Emultra]

Name says it all. I need to reduce my chipset fan speed.

Both PC Probe and SpeedFan read it as 9375RPM.

I tried following the instructions of SpeedFan, but the speeds still say 0% and I need them to say 100% so I can begin lower from there.

 

[nOObBooB]

You could always add a fan speed controler, like the zalman fanmate. I think its only $6 pretty cheap solution if you cant fix your problem.

 

[GadgetBuilder]

What mobo? (Not all can control fan speed.)

What does SpeedFan list as control chips on your ISA?

Have you visited the SpeedFan site and plugged through the info there? They were intending to add the ability to download board configurations and if that is now available it might get you going quickly (assuming someone has uploaded the configuration for your board).

 

[Emultra]

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe

How do I see the control chips on my ISA? I have no idea what that is.

I'll take a look at the site.

 

[GadgetBuilder]

Bring up SpeedFan and at upper left is a scrollable window which shows what it finds when it scans your system. In particular you may have an 8712F which is a little tricky to set up the first time.

If you have an 8712F this thread may help:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=1560184

 

[Emultra]

It seems to work, but only "Fan1"'s speed is changable (reducing percentage slows speed), and that is the CPU.

Fan3 (chipset fan) does not clow down either with Speed2 or Speed3.

Speed1 appropriately affects CPU fan.

Speed3 should lower chipset fan but it refuses to do below 9375 no matter how much I turn down the %'s.

 

[GadgetBuilder]

Your mobo is one of the better ones available so it likely does provide a second controlled fan header. You might try connecting the fan to the other headers to see if one of them is controlled instead.

Or perhaps one of the forums specializing in your mobo would provide info. Now that you know how to work SpeedFan all you need is info about which fan headers allow control.

If push comes to shove you could plug the CPU fan into another header (assuming the CPU fan isn't too loud) and hook the chipset fan to the CPU header, then have SpeedFan regulate that speed based on the chipset temperature instead of the CPU temperature. A little confusing but it should drop the noise level.

A note on SpeedFan's setup: I found that setting the Delta value to 1% on the Options page provided the best control on my system (took me a while to figure this out). SpeedFan varies the speed nicely to keep the CPU temp at the setpoint on my system (no fan on my chipset).

Have you checked your BIOS - sometimes there is fan control provided there too.

If I happen across info specific to your board I'll post back.

 

[Emultra]

Okay, thanks.

What exactly is a fan header? English is my second language, it takes forever to learn all those little obscure words. Is it just where you connect the cable? I don't think I saw any other place to connect it. The manual said that's the place where the chipset cable goes in.

I'll check the BIOS for speed controls.

 

[Emultra]

Alright, I checked it. The only thing I could control on the Hardware Monitor page was the "CPU temperature goal" or something like that. Apparently the fans are supposed to go full speed when this temperature is reached (which it has never done yet). I was able to controll it by turning "Q-Fan controller" on.

The BIOS also, like PC Probe and SpeedFan, reports the chipset speed as ridiculous 9375rpm.

 

[GadgetBuilder]

Sorry, your English is excellent so I assumed it was your first language.

A fan header is the little 3 pin thing on the mobo where you connect a fan. Most boards have several. My board has 4 but only 2 are controlled, the other 2 run full speed -- I think your board is like this too. I searched on the net and found some info about your board and its fans.

The A8N-SLI has 2 headers which are controlled according to ASUS (see QFan section): http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-d/overview.htm

The problem is to figure out which headers are controlled and then to set SpeedFan up to control them.

Best guess is that the fans are controlled by the 8712F as fan1 and fan2. Try setting fan2 up so it is controlled by Temp2. Temp2 is a sensor located near the NF4 chip. You will need to go through the setup for fan2 similar to the setup for fan1. Temp3 is not generally connected; you may disable it in your configuration if you like (I did this on my board to simplify the displayed info).

Also, SpeedFan allows you to adjust the displayed fan speed by changing the multiplier or divider for each fan on the Configure/Advanced/8712F page so you should be able to make it read the true speed. The 8712F is a capable chip and SpeedFan allows you to program it nicely.

SpeedFan's fan control is more sophisticated than simply going to full speed if the controlling temp for the fan exceeds the setpoint. Instead, each time a sample is above the setpoint SpeedFan adds the percent specified on the options page to the on-time of the PWM. This causes the speed to ramp up rather than going to full speed. On my system this results in the fan running near the minimum I set most of the time, speeding up slightly if the ambient or the load increases. Generally, the speed is below the point where the fan is audible. Under heavy load the fan becomes audible because it goes to full speed, as you would expect. Of course, if you use a large increment on the Options page then the fan will go to full speed when the temp exceeds the setpoint -- that is why I use an increment of 1%.

 

[Emultra]

Thanks.

So if the chipset fan is connected to header "3", then it will always run at full speed? In other words, I need to connect the chipset fan to header 2 in order to be able to control it directly?

 

[GadgetBuilder]

Most likely the board came with the chipset fan connected to the correct header to allow speed control since ASUS advertises that QFan will control it.

I noted a reference in another thread to CHA1 and CPU as the controlled headers (maybe). Look on your board for these headers labels. Most likely the fan header you want is near the NF4 or the CPU. Headers on the mobo located far from these chips are probably for case fans. Look carefully all over the board for fan headers, on my board the case fan headers are located near the bottom of the board, far from the CPU.

Try setting the 8712f's dividers for the PWM's to 2 and 3 for fans 2 and 3. Then look at the speed readout. This may help to identify the 8712F channel the fan is connected to based on how much the readout changes.

 

[Emultra]

My exhaust chassi fan (which I think I connected to the CHA1 header, it just seemed logical) isn't getting recognized. It spins alright, but its speed is read as 0.

Enabling Q-Fan in BIOS just made it lower the fan speed for the CPU fan, and ramp it up once it hits the goal temp.

Fan2 doesn't seem to exist in my system. Or could that be the chassi fan that's not being recognized?

 

[GadgetBuilder]

I believe the chipset fan should be connected as shown here: http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050103/images/asus-a8n-sli-big.jpg

Does your chassis fan have 3 wires? It won't read the speed unless it has 3 wires. SpeedFan will regulate the speed nicely even if it cannot read the speed.

Disable QFan so it doesn't conflict with SpeedFan. Load SpeedFan and set it up to control the CPU fan using Temp1. There are several items to set in SpeedFan to enable fan control, so use the following to verify your setup. My recollection of how to set up SpeedFan follows (I may miss something since it has been a couple of months, so double check check using SpeedFan's HELP).

Configure Temperature Page: first line, click on name, set Desired temp to 30C or whatever is reasonable for your system. Set Warning temp to 48C or as needed. Click the + at the start of the first line and check the box on the line whose sensor is Pwm1 .
Similarly for the second line except click on the box whose sensor is Pwm2. You can change the name of the temperature using F2 if desired, e.g. I changed the second temp to NF4. The "Sample" column should show the temperature read from the associated sensor.

Configure Fans Page: boxes for first 2 items checked

Configure Speeds Page: First two lines checked. For each of these, click on the name, set Minimum value=50%, Maximum value=100%, check Automatically variated.

Configure Advanced Page: select 8712F, set PWM 1 mode to "Software Controlled" . Same for PWM 2 mode.

On the main SpeedFan screen, check "Automatic Fan Control"

I have SpeedFan load automatically at startup. It takes a minute or so to ramp the fan speed down to inaudible at startup.

 

[Emultra]

Thanks, I think that might be it, if only I can connect the chipset fan to what corresponds to fan2.

Though the link only gives me the Tom's Hardware logo (hammer).

 

[GadgetBuilder]

Don't know why the link doesn't work for you. The chipset fan header is about 3/4 inch from the fan, toward the gadget used to change into SLI mode.

Let me know whether you get it going, it seems like you're just about there.

 

[Emultra]

Maybe I should buy the Zalman NB 47J passive cooler and just ditch the chipset fan alltogether? It's cute like a kitten but it also wails like a wildcat...

 

[Emultra]

Incredibly enough, this model should be shipped to one of the Swedish stores the 29th of this month.

 

[johnh123]

I use the NB47J with no problems. My rig used to sound like a small tornado, but after I have replaced the fans and use crystalcpuid, I now can hardly hear it.