CPU fan at 100% on cool cpu despite faneq

Hi all,

Yesterday, I assembled a new Pc, consisting of, amongst other parts,
of:
Abit AB9 Pro main board
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
CoolerMaster X-Dream P775 (replacing the cooler that came with the
CPU)
I would like the main board to control the cpu fan's speed by FanEQ.
CPU FanEQ is configured as follows:
Temperature low: 45°C; high: 75°C.
Voltage low: 30%; high: 100%
The fan continously runs at about 2340 rpm, which must be the speed
gained at voltage supply. At least, hardware specifications mention
2200 rpm as maximum speed. The CPU's temperature reading is only about
25°C to 28°C.
I reconfigured the voltage percentages to other values, but the fan's
speed remains the same. Since speed readings are reported, I assume
the fan is connected correctly to the CPUFAN1 socket. At least, the
cable consist of three wires.

Any suggestions on this?

On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:28:36 -0700, R. Schreurs wrote:

> I reconfigured the voltage percentages to other values, but the fan's
> speed remains the same. Since speed readings are reported, I assume
> the fan is connected correctly to the CPUFAN1 socket. At least, the
> cable consist of three wires.
>
> Any suggestions on this?

Some MB's have 4 wire fan connectors and using a 3 wire fan disables
speed control. There's usually a note about this in the manual. Perhaps
thats the case with yours. Just a wag.

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Dear Sir:
Good luck with your build. I am a few steps behind you.

Is the Abit AB9 Pro worth buying (seems to have buggy bios from
general forums)
and want do you intend to do with dual gigabit ethernet connections?

Thank you

"R. Schreurs" wrote in message...
>Yesterday, I assembled a new Pc, consisting of, amongst other
> parts, of:
>Abit AB9 Pro main board
>Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
>CoolerMaster X-Dream P775

> I would like the main board to control the cpu fan's speed by FanEQ.

> The fan continously runs at about 2340 rpm, which must be the
> speed I reconfigured the voltage percentages to other values, but the
> fan's speed remains the same. Since speed readings are reported, I
> assume the fan is connected correctly to the CPUFAN1 socket.
> At least, the cable consist of three wires.
>
> Any suggestions on this?

Yes. The reason the fan speed regulation doesn't work is because you have a
three wire fan. You need a four-wire, PWM capable fan in order for speed
control to work on the CPU fan header on this and similar boards.

You might be able to work around this problem on your current hardware by
connecting the CPU fan to one of the other headers, and then using the FanEQ
settings to make this header throttle according to CPU temperature.

You will then need to disable the fan speed monitoring and shutdown
functions on the CPU fan header, otherwise your computer will shut down due
to the CPU fan port registering zero RPM.



Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace nospam with pipex in reply address)

The UK's leading BT-owned technology reseller www.dabs.com

Thanks for your replies.
Only now, I noticed that the main board has a 4 pin connector.
I removed the Cooler Master fan and put the Intel fan in the came with
the CPU. What a relief! The CPU is currently running on 30% voltage
and only 1200 RPM.
I selected the CoolerMaster X-Dream P775 because of reported low noice
and the fact that it has larger fan blades. That is all very well, but
if it keeps running on maximum speed, no matter how cool the CPU, than
it is not a silent option.

On 27 mrt, 16:58, "Richard Hopkins" <r...@dsl.nospam.com> wrote:
> "R.Schreurs" wrote in message...
> >Yesterday, I assembled a new Pc, consisting of, amongst other
> > parts, of:
> >Abit AB9 Pro main board
> >Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
> >CoolerMaster X-Dream P775
> > I would like the main board to control the cpu fan's speed by FanEQ.
> > The fan continously runs at about 2340 rpm, which must be the
> > speed I reconfigured the voltage percentages to other values, but the
> > fan's speed remains the same. Since speed readings are reported, I
> > assume the fan is connected correctly to the CPUFAN1 socket.
> > At least, the cable consist of three wires.
>
> > Any suggestions on this?
>
> Yes. The reason the fan speed regulation doesn't work is because you have a
> three wire fan. You need a four-wire, PWM capable fan in order for speed
> control to work on the CPU fan header on this and similar boards.
>
> You might be able to work around this problem on your current hardware by
> connecting the CPU fan to one of the other headers, and then using the FanEQ
> settings to make this header throttle according to CPU temperature.
>
> You will then need to disable the fan speed monitoring and shutdown
> functions on the CPU fan header, otherwise your computer will shut down due
> to the CPU fan port registering zero RPM.
>
> Richard Hopkins
> Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
> (replace nospam with pipex in reply address)
>
> The UK's leading BT-owned technology resellerwww.dabs.com

R. Schreurs wrote:
> Thanks for your replies.
> Only now, I noticed that the main board has a 4 pin connector.
> I removed the Cooler Master fan and put the Intel fan in the came with
> the CPU. What a relief! The CPU is currently running on 30% voltage
> and only 1200 RPM.
> I selected the CoolerMaster X-Dream P775 because of reported low noice
> and the fact that it has larger fan blades. That is all very well, but
> if it keeps running on maximum speed, no matter how cool the CPU, than
> it is not a silent option.

Have you tried using Speedfan to PWM the voltage directly? Or does anyone
know if the fan is disabled in hardware due to the 3-pin and Speedfan won't
work?

--
Phil

"Phil, Non-Squid" wrote in message...
> Have you tried using Speedfan to PWM the voltage directly? Or does
> anyone know if the fan is disabled in hardware due to the 3-pin and
> Speedfan won't work?

It's not that the fan control is "disabled in hardware", it's that the
hardware necessary to do this simply isn't present on the motherboard.

The whole point of the four pin fan system is that it moves the PWM
switching transistor and associated components from the motherboard to the
fan itself. This allows the fan designer to tailor the switching circuit
design, pulse frequency and so-on to the specific fan model, rather than
rely on a generic "one size doesn't quite fit all" solution on the
motherboard.

Because of this transition, four pin headers, unless specifically designed
with a selectable option to control four *and* three wire fans, simply don't
have any voltage regulation hardware of their own. All they do is send the
full twelve volts up the power pin at all times, along with the low level
speed control signal up the fourth wire.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace nospam with pipex in reply address)

The UK's leading BT-owned technology reseller www.dabs.com

Richard Hopkins wrote:
> "Phil, Non-Squid" wrote in message...
>> Have you tried using Speedfan to PWM the voltage directly? Or does
>> anyone know if the fan is disabled in hardware due to the 3-pin and
>> Speedfan won't work?
>
> It's not that the fan control is "disabled in hardware", it's that the
> hardware necessary to do this simply isn't present on the motherboard.
>
> The whole point of the four pin fan system is that it moves the PWM
> switching transistor and associated components from the motherboard
> to the fan itself. This allows the fan designer to tailor the
> switching circuit design, pulse frequency and so-on to the specific
> fan model, rather than rely on a generic "one size doesn't quite fit
> all" solution on the motherboard.
>
> Because of this transition, four pin headers, unless specifically
> designed with a selectable option to control four *and* three wire
> fans, simply don't have any voltage regulation hardware of their own.
> All they do is send the full twelve volts up the power pin at all
> times, along with the low level speed control signal up the fourth
> wire.

So you're saying that 3-pin headers like on my NF7-S are designed to be run
with software progs for control, whereas the newer 4-pin headers mean you're
effed if you have a 3-pin fan? There's no way to control the fan speed in
that case?

I may have to invest in a fan controller at that point... I have a new build
coming up.

--
Phil

"Phil, Non-Squid" wrote in message...
> So you're saying that 3-pin headers like on my NF7-S are designed to
> be run with software progs for control,

No I didn't say anything about "software progs", didn't mention the control
method at all.

What I said was that throttle-able three pin fan headers must, by
definition, have a switching transistor and smoothing circuit modulating the
supply to their +12v pin. Whether that switching transistor is controlled
via software (like SpeedFan) or hardware (like uGuru) is irrelevant.

By contrast, four pin headers don't need to have that switching transistor
on the motherboard, because it's in the fan. That's the point.

> whereas the newer 4-pin headers mean you're effed if you have a 3-pin
> fan?
> There's no way to control the fan speed in that case?

Of course there is, you buy a shiny new four pin fan to match your new
board! Haven't you heard about the economics of upgrading?

If you don't want to do that, yes, there are still alternatives. Most of the
current uGuru boards will allow you to throttle *any* of the onboard fan
headers according to CPU temperature, so if you have a three pin fan, just
plug it into one of the three pin AUX headers, and set that header to
respond to the CPU. Simple.

Beyond that, as mentioned earlier, it is theoretically possible to build a
motherboard such that it can control three *and* four pin fans on a four pin
header, with a BIOS or jumper selectable switch. Whether any boards actually
do this, on the other hand, you'll have to ask elsewhere. Hell, it's even
possible to make your own external PWM controller that will turn a three pin
fan into a four pin one if you want. I made one for mine - five components,
cost less than a pound, works like a charm.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace nospam with pipex in reply address)

The UK's leading BT-owned technology reseller www.dabs.com

Thanks for your replies.

Yesterday, I connected the 3 pin fan to AUXFAN1 and configured it in
the BIOS:
Temperature low: 35°C; high: 75°C.
Voltage low: 8V; high: 12V.
The voltage is regulated by the CPU temperature reading.
8V is the lowest voltage value possible. This works, but the fan will
run about 1850 RPM on that voltage, which makes it more noisy than the
intel one. I'll just stick with the fan that came with the CPU and try
to return the CoolerMaster as it is no improvement in my case.

On 11 apr, 06:56, "Richard Hopkins" <r...@dsl.nospam.com> wrote:
> "Phil, Non-Squid" wrote in message...
> > So you're saying that 3-pin headers like on my NF7-S are designed to
> > be run with software progs for control,
>
> No I didn't say anything about "software progs", didn't mention the control
> method at all.
>
> What I said was that throttle-able three pin fan headers must, by
> definition, have a switching transistor and smoothing circuit modulating the
> supply to their +12v pin. Whether that switching transistor is controlled
> via software (like SpeedFan) or hardware (like uGuru) is irrelevant.
>
> By contrast, four pin headers don't need to have that switching transistor
> on the motherboard, because it's in the fan. That's the point.
>
> > whereas the newer 4-pin headers mean you're effed if you have a 3-pin
> > fan?
> > There's no way to control the fan speed in that case?
>
> Of course there is, you buy a shiny new four pin fan to match your new
> board! Haven't you heard about the economics of upgrading?
>
> If you don't want to do that, yes, there are still alternatives. Most of the
> current uGuru boards will allow you to throttle *any* of the onboard fan
> headers according to CPU temperature, so if you have a three pin fan, just
> plug it into one of the three pin AUX headers, and set that header to
> respond to the CPU. Simple.
>
> Beyond that, as mentioned earlier, it is theoretically possible to build a
> motherboard such that it can control three *and* four pin fans on a four pin
> header, with a BIOS or jumper selectable switch. Whether any boards actually
> do this, on the other hand, you'll have to ask elsewhere. Hell, it's even
> possible to make your own external PWM controller that will turn a three pin
> fan into a four pin one if you want. I made one for mine - five components,
> cost less than a pound, works like a charm.
> --
>
> Richard Hopkins
> Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
> (replace nospam with pipex in reply address)
>
> The UK's leading BT-owned technology resellerwww.dabs.com