Fan/Temp question

[th0r0n]

Hi guys

Recently built my Zalman 9700, Antec P182, P5K-E and E6750 machine

The 3 chassis fans on the P182 are plugged directly into the PSU, and not the motherboard, and the Zalman is plugged into the PWR_FAN with the FAN MATE 2 controller mounted inside the case running at about 2000RPM.

Just wondering whether the motherboard would be able to control the CPU fan? What would happen if it overheated and my fan speed was set too low?

I'd like to use this Asus Q-fan application, but I'm not sure how to connect the Antec fans to the motherboard, as they only have molex connectors

Cheers,

T

[Sema4]

To the best of my knowledge, unless motherboard architecture has changed dramatically in this field, in the last year or so, the PWR_FAN connector is usually only used by the power supply fan and in fact is seldom used as most PSU's manage their own internal fans just fine.

It would be most likely to be connected to the PSU fan in order to permit fan speed sensing software to report the rotational speed of the PSU fan, rather than actually physically controlling the speed of the PSU fan, AFAIK only the CPU_FAN and sometimes, if present, the north bridge fan connector, are controlled by board managed software, all other fan connectors are typically for case fans, and are designed to run flat out at all times (hence the market for fan controller boards that occupy a drive bay).

The manual for your motherboard should have more information on which fan connectors are 'managed' and which ones are not.

Unmanaged connectors can still be useful for monitoring the rotation speed and 'alarming' if a fan should stop turning.

In your case, you would need to check the manual to confirm if the PWR_FAN is 'managed' by 'cool & quiet' type software, I have a feeling it won't be, tho I could be wrong, best check. If it's not managed, then the mobo will have no control over the speed of the fan, and if the speed was set too low, there would be nothing the mobo could do about it other than sound a buzzer if the speed dropped to zero.

Most modern CPU's however, do have thermal shutdown protection, so chances are if it did over heat, the system would just shut down without warning to protect the CPU, it would be an 'instant off' type shutdown, as tho someone pulled the power cable out.

Regarding connecting 'molex' fans to '3 pin mobo connectors', there are two choices, maplin sell the connectors and pins required and you can cut off the molex and replace it with a 3 pin type plug, this is by far the cheapest option, but also the most time consuming.

You could also just buy adaptors to convert molex to 3pin.

First and foremost, check your mobo to confirm which fan connectors are managed and go from there.

[th0r0n]

Hi, sorry, I'm pretty sure it's connected to CPU_FAN instead of PWR_FAN, got a bit confused there!

I'm just wondering what to set my Fan Mate to on my Zalman, I'd like to be able to control it from the desktop in an ideal world, or to have it managed by the computer.

T

[Sema4]

If it's connected to CPU_FAN socket, then set the Zalman controller to the maximum speed, the motherboard will control the voltage to the fan if you activate 'Cool-n-Quiet' or 'Q-Fan'

[th0r0n]

Thanks, I'll try that.

T

[DDY]

Get rid of the fanmate if you're using the motherboard to control the speed, it's just a waste of space.

[th0r0n]

What do I do with the free cable that will be dangling though?

Cheers,

T

[Sema4]

Ummm, I don't have one of these coolers your using, so I cant give you a precise answer about whether it's possible to remove the fan controller or not, but I did find this page and the photo's don't show the controller is being used, so it seems to suggest that it is possible to do :-

Zalman 9700 Installation

The photo on that page called 'plugged in' shows the fan connected directly to the CPU_FAN socket on the mobo, without the use of the additional fan controller.

If you click on the 'testing and conclusion' link at the bottom of the page, it goes on to say on the following page, that it's being used in Q-Fan mode as your intending to do, perhaps the information on these pages will help you.

[th0r0n]

Bum

That's the version without the "FAN MATE"

On my Antec P182, if I set all the fans to "max", and buy some 4pin to 3pin converters from Overclockers and plug into FAN1/2/3 ports, It should be all good?

T

[Sema4]

Oh, sorry, I didn't know they did a version without the 'fan mate' thingy...

Well, yeah, set all the 'fan mate' controllers to max so they are not limiting the speed of the fans, and then plug the power connector in to the mobo and turn q-fan on, this will let the motherboard control the fan without the fans maximum speed being limited by the 'fan mate', the mobo should deal with it just fine.

[th0r0n]

Cool, can I plug the Antec Tricool fans into the CHA_FAN1/2/3 instead? Would there be an advantage of doing that?

Cheers,

T

[Sema4]

Yes you can plug the other fans in to the board, and although the board may not control the speed of them (although it might, check the mobo manual to see which fan sockets are controlled by Q-Fan), the real advantage would be if the fans are 'speed sensing'.

Do they have just a 'red and black' wire ? or do they have 'red, black and yellow' wires on the connectors ?

If they have the yellow wire, they are most likely 'speed sensing' fans, the yellow wire is used to report what speed the fan is currently turning at, this is useful because if you ever get a fan failure and the fans are connected to the motherboard, if the monitoring software or BIOS is set up correctly then it will alert you to the fact that one of your fans is not spinning with an alarm, which is much better than finding out a fan is not spinning when something overheats and goes pop!

If they are just 'red and black' wire fans, then they are not speed sensing, and there is no advantage what so ever, to connecting them to the motherboard...

[th0r0n]

Thanks for that, I'll take a look.

I tried ramping the "FAN MATE" on the Zalman up to Max, and I've set Q-FAN to "Silent" but it's still spinning at 2500 RPM constantly!

[Sema4]

ummm, should be working fine if it's all set up correctly in the BIOS...

Still got the 8cm fan from the stock cooler by any chance ? Might be worth connecting the Zalman as you had it before, and plugging the stock fan in to the CPU connector on the motherboard to see if that runs flat out too, or if it's controlled correctly by Q-Fan.

What temp is your CPU running at ?

[th0r0n]

Asus Probe reports 25oC, that's the highest I've seen it report at idle...

T

[Sema4]

all the same, 25 is below room temperature in most homes, and thats no mean feat, it's probably warmer than that when it's turned off!

I would still suggest connecting the stock fan to the CPU fan socket to see if Q-Fan controls it correctly, no point checking anything else until we are sure Q-Fan is doing it's job right.