Question about system fans

[Robscure]

Hello everyone,

My computer runs great and is cool and quiet but I have a question about fan control.

I've been into my BIOS several times and have options called Q-FAN control, I enable it and set them all to Turbo because I want the fans keeping my computer optimally cool.

I notice that the fan in the back of my computer is not on however, and I can't figure out how to turn it on.

I mainly want it on because I want proper air-flow to help minimize dust build-up.

I put this rig together myself and I'm sure I didn't do the best job, there's probably certain elements which could be done better but I wouldn't know, I just assume that I did a few things wrong heh

Thanks

[Will404]

what kinda fan is it?? 2,3, 4 (PWM), or molex??

[o0~Wiz~0o]

Having the fans on turbo will only suck in more dust. The less fans and at the lowest rpm possible is best. Cooling does not have to be excessive on most systems.

[arthurleung]

I would suggest either the fan is not plugged in (correctly), or the fan header is broken, or the fan itself is broken.

Many people keep thinking that they need a lot of cooling and keep the fans at high. I keep my CPU below 75'C, GPU below 90'C and HDD below 45'C, and my fans have always been at the lowest setting even at a moderate overclock. There is zero benefit for me to increase the fan speed, more dust, more noise and it doesn't help my overclock.

[Robscure]

Thanks for the replies... I don't know what sort of fan is at the back... It came with the case, Lian-Li PC-A17

http://www.xoxide.com/lianli-pca17-blackcase.html

System Fan (Front): 12cm Ball-bearing (1500RPM)
System Fan (Top): 14cm Ball-bearing (1200RPM)
System Fan (Rear): 12cm Ball-Bearing (1500RPM)

The fans are always running so slow/quiet that I never hear them, and while playing games my CPU temps never go above 40c... They're at 33c right now while running LoTRo

How should I set my BIOS, does anyone know? I have Maximus Formula II mobo.

There's "Q-FAN" settings, enable/disable Q-FAN, and then each fan can be set separately...

Thanks

[arthurleung]

Thanks for the replies... I don't know what sort of fan is at the back... It came with the case, Lian-Li PC-A17

http://www.xoxide.com/lianli-pca17-blackcase.html

System Fan (Front): 12cm Ball-bearing (1500RPM)
System Fan (Top): 14cm Ball-bearing (1200RPM)
System Fan (Rear): 12cm Ball-Bearing (1500RPM)

The fans are always running so slow/quiet that I never hear them, and while playing games my CPU temps never go above 40c... They're at 33c right now while running LoTRo

How should I set my BIOS, does anyone know? I have Maximus Formula II mobo.

There's "Q-FAN" settings, enable/disable Q-FAN, and then each fan can be set separately...

Thanks

If you fan is not connected no amount of setting will help. Check the connections first.

[Robscure]

If you fan is not connected no amount of setting will help. Check the connections first.

It is connected, everything is connected to the mobo as far as I can tell.

I think it only turns on when the computer gets hot (which is never) lol

[arthurleung]

It is connected, everything is connected to the mobo as far as I can tell.

I think it only turns on when the computer gets hot (which is never) lol

Try swapping the fan header with another fan and see if the other fan stop working.
I'm unaware of any q-fan setting that will cause the fan to stop, unless there is explicitly a cut off temperature in BIOS (which is highly unusual for a high performance board)

[Robscure]

The problem was that I had the back-fan connected to the "opt_fan1" on my mobo instead of chassis_fan3

Thanks

[Pob255]

Well glad it's sorted and does go to show, never overlook the physical connection.

oh and personally speaking I'd find "CPU below 75'C, GPU below 90'C and HDD below 45'C" a bit too high for my liking, cpu 60, gpu 80 & hdd 40 is what I tend to aim for as max temps.

But yes you generally don't need a vast amount of air flow too keep the insides of a case cool.

[Robscure]

Well glad it's sorted and does go to show, never overlook the physical connection.

oh and personally speaking I'd find "CPU below 75'C, GPU below 90'C and HDD below 45'C" a bit too high for my liking, cpu 60, gpu 80 & hdd 40 is what I tend to aim for as max temps.

But yes you generally don't need a vast amount of air flow too keep the insides of a case cool.

My temperatures never go above 40c ... the idle temps of my CPU cores are 26-27c right now

I set the fans to "Silent" mode but I don't think I notice any difference in their RPM...

Does it matter much?

[arthurleung]

Well glad it's sorted and does go to show, never overlook the physical connection.

oh and personally speaking I'd find "CPU below 75'C, GPU below 90'C and HDD below 45'C" a bit too high for my liking, cpu 60, gpu 80 & hdd 40 is what I tend to aim for as max temps.

But yes you generally don't need a vast amount of air flow too keep the insides of a case cool.

Everyone have their own liking. CPU is rated to 95'C at least, GPU at least 120'C and HDD is 55'C so I'm not to worried. The 75/90/45 is my 7x24 setting and I have yet to have anything failed apart from one or rarely two drives a year which is pretty normal (and those that failed were running in low 30s'C, but I wouldn't say higher temperature have higher reliability)

[Pob255]

Well I am a little paranoid about gpu temps, nothing like having a card cook it own memory chips to make you aware of it, granted that was a few years back now however I've still not forgotten it.

I'll also admit that cpu temp, for me, is also dependent on what cpu it is.
For an older p4 or p4 D, I'd find 75c fine.

I've seen too many HDD fail at 45c after a year or two, ok I've seen them fail below that too, however I've found 45c to be a real trigger point.

As you say

Everyone have their own liking.

why I wrote

personally speaking