Fan controlling

[nibbler]

Anybody know any good software for fan controlling? My fans seem to be on max all the time. I got 1 coolermaster 120mm and 1 akasa amber.

[Pob255]

SpeedFan can, but I've found it very ropey depends on your motherboard as to how well it will work.
I've always found a fan controller best for 3pin fans and a simple pin swap 5v fan mod for molex powered fans.

if you have a spare 3.5" bay then the Akasa AK-FC06 can be had for less than £10, can control 3 fans and has an additional 2 USB ports if you have a spare motherboard header.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AKASA...Fan-Controller

[nibbler]

I have speed fan, but it simply doesn't work :S
So what, are you saying that I should just switch to molex or what?

[jim]

If you've got the fans plugged into the motherboard properly and you can't change the fan speed then you don't really have much choice but to do it through hardware - you could get the little zalman fan controllers as an alternative, but they need to be set once and you can't really get to them again without opening the case. If you just want to make them quieter, you could do that.

If you want to change them on the fly then something like pob suggested is probably best.

If you can't do it through the BIOS or speedfan then I'd say software solutions are out.

[0iD]

Yeah, it's one of those areas where a hardware solution is best. Plus there's a huge selection of controllers out there, depending on what you want to do & your budget.

[Pob255]

The only other hope is the often hidious looking software monitoring software that normally come with a motherboard, that can sometimes control fan speeds.
depends on motherboard and the supplied software.

If you're motherboard has 4pin PWM sockets for system fans as well as the CPU fan then you could replace the fans with PWM fans, but that will probably cost more than a fan controller.

Final cheapest option are the resistor based volt reducers
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Zalma...our-3-pin-Fan)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Shark...RPM-and-Noise)

[0iD]

If you want basic, the Zalman FAN MATE 2 is a little over £3
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=321731

[nibbler]

Well it worked with the gigabyte software but its ugly slow and annoying. How can I use speedfan? It's not very clear. Temps are really no issue I run on 34/40 idle load cos of my great HSF.

[Pob255]

The only way that I know of to get speedfan working fully is to get a motherboard that it's fully compatible with.

Hardware is still the best option, a local pc shop would probably be your best option for getting one.

[nibbler]

I have maplin and that's it. There really is no choice for me in Glasgow :@

[oolon]

I have the most over kill fan controller out there... mCubed T-Balancer BigNT You can configure a cooling profile this then runs without your computer having an OS loaded. OS crashes are a big problem for software controlled fans that probably they time you just over heated. Supports 10 analogue, 10 digital sensors, and 2 flow sensors. Controls 4 fans/Pumps however you can connect the mini-ng for 2 more, fans can be PWM or analogue controlled.... Shame really it costs to much.

[AD-15]

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...essories/kazeq

If you're looking for value, then this is by far the best way to go. You can control 4 fans on the Kaze Q, and it only needs a 3.5 inch bay.

I can only agree with what has been said so far. If you do not have a motherboard that has some hardware based system of altering the voltages across each fan header (like Abit's fantastic uGuru), then you're better off going with one of these.

[nibbler]

I have a GA-690G-S32H or suchlike, it has 4pin PWM headers and it's definitely not old so why wouldn't it support it? I know my motherboard can slow things down because I have in the past with the almost useless bundled software. How is Speedfan used? I cant IMPLEMENT any changess

[jim]

It's not about age, it's just about compatibility. There are huge numbers of motherboards out there that all do it slightly differently, and since speedfan is free software I don't think anybody is going to be rushing to get compaitibility for every motherboard that's ever been produced.

There are always going to be some missing... I don't think I've ever had a motherboard that worked properly with speedfan, and I haven't bothered trying lately, it's far easier just to use hardware methods.

[nibbler]

Fair enough. To be honest its not that large an issue that i'll pay even a fiver so I'll wait till upgrade time and get a proper one