Turning off CPU fan and Chipset fan

[uhaulball]

I was playing with my fan controller program today, because i will be changing case fans soon with nexus 120mm and 80mm fans. and i was also looking into possible aftermarket cpu fans that are about the same height as a stock AMD 64 HSF. Is the Zalman cnps7000-cu a good choice in terms of default sizing? i need one that improves airflow and noise, but not sacrificing the small scale size of the default. Any suggestions? or is the zalman the way to go?

Back to the original question of post however, when i was playing with ITE's SmartGuardian fan controller/temp monitor, i was trying to get a feel as to what my comp will sound like with all the new fans in it. I turned off all the case fans, cpu fan, and northbridge fan; trying to emulate a silent/near silent setup. I noticed that my cpu and chipset temps slowly rose, which is normal as the fans are off. but then i noticed that my PWM IC temps began to drop! My temps with my stock case fans and stock HSF were already sufficient since my computer sits on my desk next to a window with very cold ambient temps of ~ 5-6C. So perhaps it was because with all the fans ON, there was heat generated in the PWM? and when the fans were off, that heat was not generated anymore? I was looking for someone with better understanding of this to give some input. Thanks

 

[zagood]

Motherboards control fans via PWM, so yeah, probably had something to do with it.

Were you just idling though? Wouldn't the temps go down with no/very few processes being run? (while the CPU and chipset would still go up, since they're producing heat all the time).

-z

 

[Operandi]

PWM IC would be the chipset responsible for reading your temps and power your fans via PWM. So by turning off your fans the chip's power draw will be next to nothing resulting in lower temps.

Regarding the Zalman it's about the same height as the stock AMD HSF but much larger in other dimensions, but why is that important? I would also recommend Yate Loon over Nexus fans as they are exactly the same fan minus the inline resistor.

 

[uhaulball]

Originally posted by: Operandi
PWM IC would be the chipset responsible for reading your temps and power your fans via PWM. So by turning off your fans the chip's power draw will be next to nothing resulting in lower temps.

Regarding the Zalman it's about the same height as the stock AMD HSF but much larger in other dimensions, but why is that important? I would also recommend Yate Loon over Nexus fans as they are exactly the same fan minus the inline resistor.

I have a lian li pc-60 plus. in the review by anandtech of the case, they used that specific zalman, and i'm not sure if you know about the case or not, there is a rear intake as opposed to an exhaust. and that intake has a duct that attaches to the intake fan from the inside and goes over the CPU. The duct and the stock hsf i have right now are touching each other, but it still fits. and as you can see in the picture from the review, the zalman and the cpu duct can go together too. http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cases/lianli/pc60plus/overcpu.jpg
also, about the yate loon. does the nexus have the inline resistor or does the yate loon have it. wouldnt the resistor help eliminate growling noise caused by fans on the PWM/3pin power method?

 

[Operandi]

Yeah, I'm somewhat familiar with that case. I have a modified Lian Li PC-6070 (non-plus), basically the same case but with a more traditional layout; front intakes rear exhausts. Personally I don't like how Lian Li setup the Plus series; I would switch the fan to an exhaust and do away with the duct.

The Nexus has the resistor; they buy their fans from Yate Loon add in a resistor for reduced speed and mark them up. I've never had a motherboard cause fans to growl or buzz, thats normal a problem with cheap external PWM fan controllers.