Help me understand Speedfan with Nforce4 mobo

[tmchow]

I just put together a new HTPC based around a Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra9 motherboard (socket 939, Nforce4 ultra).

I installed Speefan so i could monitor temps and see waht was going on. Speefan seems to detect and reports temperature off the mobo sensors. However, I'm having trouble understanding the results.

It says I have the temp chipset "IT8712F" with a total of 3 temp sensors (temp1,2,3). I have no idea what they correspond to on the motherboard. My current readings (not very high load) are:

Temp1 = 25 Celcius
Temp2 = 32
Temp3 = 70!!

I'm trying to figure out what temp3 sensor corresponds to. I'm guessing the CPU but can't fathom why it would be so high. It's an AMD 3500+ winchester, and I have artic silver ceramique heat paste with a HUGE Zalman 7700 heatsink on it (modified with a 92mm Nexus fan to replace the stock Zalman 92mm fan for noise reduction).

Granted, the 92mm Nexus fan I modified the CPU cooler with doesn't push as much air as the stock Zalman fan, but no way shoudl I be getting 70 celcius!

Unless there is either something wrong with Speedfan's detection, or temp3 doesn't correspond to the CPU. If it's the latter I have no idea what it would correspond to, because I thought CPU was typically the hottest thing in the system.

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[GadgetBuilder]

The IT8712F reads 3 inputs but sometimes inputs are not connected to anything. Most likely, Temp3 isn't connected so you need to turn it off by unchecking it on the configuration screen.

I have a VNF4 and it has a similar situation where Temp3 reads 127C so I disabled it. On my board Temp1 is the CPU and Temp2 is a sensor near the NF4 chip. The CPU typically runs cooler than the NF4 by 4C to 8C so your board may be setup similarly.

A simple test is to have SpeedFan enabled in Startup, then immediately bring up the SpeedFan screen and watch the temperatures ramp up from cold - temperatures which don't change aren't connected. On my system, feeling the heatsinks shows that the CPU is barely warm and the NF4 is not hot but is warm to the touch -- this agrees with the readouts, best I can tell.

Speedfan can control the fan speed on the VNF4, perhaps on your board too. You have to go to Configure/Advanced/IT8712F(Pull Down Menu) and set the PWM for the fan you want to control to "Software Controlled". Then follow the documentation to set that fan up for control via temp.

 

[tmchow]

Originally posted by: GadgetBuilder
The IT8712F reads 3 inputs but sometimes inputs are not connected to anything. Most likely, Temp3 isn't connected so you need to turn it off by unchecking it on the configuration screen.

I have a VNF4 and it has a similar situation where Temp3 reads 127C so I disabled it. On my board Temp1 is the CPU and Temp2 is a sensor near the NF4 chip. The CPU typically runs cooler than the NF4 by 4C to 8C so your board may be setup similarly.

A simple test is to have SpeedFan enabled in Startup, then immediately bring up the SpeedFan screen and watch the temperatures ramp up from cold - temperatures which don't change aren't connected. On my system, feeling the heatsinks shows that the CPU is barely warm and the NF4 is not hot but is warm to the touch -- this agrees with the readouts, best I can tell.

Speedfan can control the fan speed on the VNF4, perhaps on your board too. You have to go to Configure/Advanced/IT8712F(Pull Down Menu) and set the PWM for the fan you want to control to "Software Controlled". Then follow the documentation to set that fan up for control via temp.

Thanks! My NF4 chipset is passively cooled, so it gets pretty hot, probably even too hot to touch after awhile. Way hotter than your actively cooled chip that's for sure. That's why I'm having hard time believing that my NF4 chip corresponds to Temp2, which is 32 celcius only..feels way hotter than that.

Good idea about looking at the temps ramp up by loading speedfan right away. I watched the Temp3 and it doesn't even move from 70 celcius even under full load so you may be right. I guess by loading speedfan right away as you suggested, if it reads 70 celcius right off the bat then it probably isn't connected. I"ll check that.

 

[Emultra]

Thanks, Gadget. With your instructions, I can now control the speed of my CPU fan.

However, I have an A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard, and I would like to lower the speed of my chipset fan. I believe it corresponds to Fan3, and thus Speed3 should alter it. But no matter how much I lower Speed3, it doesn't change. Speed2 won't work either.
Speed1 is CPU fan amd works, as said.

Both SpeedFan and ASUS PC Probe sees my chipset fan as going 9375RPM.