P5B Deluxe Q-Fan Option with Zalman cpu cooler

Since I did not get much of a response on my last question let me try from a
different direction. I have a Zalman 9500 cpu cooler installed on a P5B
Deluxe MB with an E6600 cpu. I have connected the Zalman fan directly to
the MB connector and the fan runs at maximum speed - 2789 rpm give or take.
When I enable the Q-Fan for the cpu in the BIOS and set it to "Quiet" the
fan still runs at 2789 rpm. The cpu temperature is at 27C. When I enable
the Chassis Q-Fan and set it to "Quiet" the chassis fan slows down from 2311
rpm to 1562 rpm. The Motherboard temperature is 29C. All of the above is
from PC Probe II. What is going on with the CPU fan? Does Zalman not take
orders from ASUS?!

Hello,

My MB is AMD, A8V and with Q-Fan running, the RPMs are about 2000.

When I first boot up, the fan is running really fast then slows down right
away. I do not use the fanmate. I like gadgets as much as the next guy but
who wants to sit there and play with max fan speeds, lol.

So, to answer your question, yes, it takes orders from ASUS, at least from
my A8V.

-g

Thanks for the information. I suspect I may have a problem with the MB.

"geoff" <> wrote in message
news:8WQqh.45595$. ..
> Hello,
>
> My MB is AMD, A8V and with Q-Fan running, the RPMs are about 2000.
>
> When I first boot up, the fan is running really fast then slows down right
> away. I do not use the fanmate. I like gadgets as much as the next guy
> but who wants to sit there and play with max fan speeds, lol.
>
> So, to answer your question, yes, it takes orders from ASUS, at least from
> my A8V.
>
> -g
>
>

KenL wrote:
> Thanks for the information. I suspect I may have a problem with the MB.

The motherboard CPU fan header is 4 pin. Your after market cooler may be
three pin. There is no BIOS setting to select whether the CPU fan being
used is 3 pin or 4 pin, which means only one control method may be supported.

There are two ways to vary the speed of a fan. In the "old days", with a
three pin fan, you had +12V, GND, RPM, and varying the voltage applied to
+12V, changed the fan speed.

Intel introduced a second scheme to control the fan (why, I don't know).
The fourth pin contains a PWM signal. Basically, it is a control signal
that runs at 25KHz or so. The width of the 25KHz pulses vary. If the
pulses are wide, the fan runs fast. If the pulses are narrow (low duty
cycle), the fan runs slow. The fan converts the pulse width signal, into
a voltage inside the fan hub. Intel states that the 12V lead feeding the
fan, is supposed to stay at 12V, when the PWM control signal method is
being used.

That means extra work for motherboard makers. If the entire industry
switched to four pin fan cables for after-market coolers, this would not
have been a problem. But there are still plenty of coolers with three
pin fans. On some motherboards, there is a BIOS setting, that switches
the motherboard between CPU 3 pin and CPU 4 pin fan types.

It could be that your motherboard only uses the PWM method. The PWM signal
could be varying its pulse width with CPU temp, and you cannot "see" it,
if your fan is three pins. The easiest way to check for the potential for
the older voltage control method, would be the presence of a transistor next
to the CPU fan header. If no big transistor is present, the motherboard may only
be using the PWM method, suitable for four pin Intel fans.

Paul

>
> "geoff" <> wrote in message
> news:8WQqh.45595$. ..
>> Hello,
>>
>> My MB is AMD, A8V and with Q-Fan running, the RPMs are about 2000.
>>
>> When I first boot up, the fan is running really fast then slows down right
>> away. I do not use the fanmate. I like gadgets as much as the next guy
>> but who wants to sit there and play with max fan speeds, lol.
>>
>> So, to answer your question, yes, it takes orders from ASUS, at least from
>> my A8V.
>>
>> -g
>>
>>
>
>

My A8V is a 3-pin connector, the pins are labelled as:

- rotation
- +12 v
- gnd

.. . . and the Zalman I am using is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118223

.. . . previous to the new CPU, I used the stock AMD HSF which was also
3-pin, socket 939.

-g

Paul

It looks like I lose the fight to get rid of the Zalman fan control. The
cpu fan connection on the board has four pins (no transistor or BIOS option)
and the other four (1-power supply and 3-chassis fans) have three pins.
That's why the MB does what it is supposed to do with the chassis fans and
not the cpu fan since the Zalman fan has only three wires. I have an e-mail
into Zalman and I guess I could try with ASUS technical support to conclude
that there are no other options available using the P4B Deluxe MB. Thanks
for clearing up for me what is going on with the Q-Fan option.

"Paul" <> wrote in message news:eoh4a2$kj8$...
> KenL wrote:
>> Thanks for the information. I suspect I may have a problem with the MB.
>
> The motherboard CPU fan header is 4 pin. Your after market cooler may be
> three pin. There is no BIOS setting to select whether the CPU fan being
> used is 3 pin or 4 pin, which means only one control method may be
> supported.
>
> There are two ways to vary the speed of a fan. In the "old days", with a
> three pin fan, you had +12V, GND, RPM, and varying the voltage applied to
> +12V, changed the fan speed.
>
> Intel introduced a second scheme to control the fan (why, I don't know).
> The fourth pin contains a PWM signal. Basically, it is a control signal
> that runs at 25KHz or so. The width of the 25KHz pulses vary. If the
> pulses are wide, the fan runs fast. If the pulses are narrow (low duty
> cycle), the fan runs slow. The fan converts the pulse width signal, into
> a voltage inside the fan hub. Intel states that the 12V lead feeding the
> fan, is supposed to stay at 12V, when the PWM control signal method is
> being used.
>
> That means extra work for motherboard makers. If the entire industry
> switched to four pin fan cables for after-market coolers, this would not
> have been a problem. But there are still plenty of coolers with three
> pin fans. On some motherboards, there is a BIOS setting, that switches
> the motherboard between CPU 3 pin and CPU 4 pin fan types.
>
> It could be that your motherboard only uses the PWM method. The PWM signal
> could be varying its pulse width with CPU temp, and you cannot "see" it,
> if your fan is three pins. The easiest way to check for the potential for
> the older voltage control method, would be the presence of a transistor
> next
> to the CPU fan header. If no big transistor is present, the motherboard
> may only
> be using the PWM method, suitable for four pin Intel fans.
>
> Paul
>
>>
>> "geoff" <> wrote in message
>> news:8WQqh.45595$. ..
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> My MB is AMD, A8V and with Q-Fan running, the RPMs are about 2000.
>>>
>>> When I first boot up, the fan is running really fast then slows down
>>> right away. I do not use the fanmate. I like gadgets as much as the
>>> next guy but who wants to sit there and play with max fan speeds, lol.
>>>
>>> So, to answer your question, yes, it takes orders from ASUS, at least
>>> from my A8V.
>>>
>>> -g
>>>
>>>
>>

Just in case anybody is following this saga - I purchased the Zalman
CNPS9700 LED from Newegg a week ago. After the 3-wire/4-wire discussion I
went to the Zalman web site and found the CNPS9700 NT version of the cpu
cooler that has a 4-wire fan!!! Now I know why there was a discount on the
LED version?!

"KenL" <> wrote in message
news:. ..
> Paul
>
> It looks like I lose the fight to get rid of the Zalman fan control. The
> cpu fan connection on the board has four pins (no transistor or BIOS
> option) and the other four (1-power supply and 3-chassis fans) have three
> pins. That's why the MB does what it is supposed to do with the chassis
> fans and not the cpu fan since the Zalman fan has only three wires. I
> have an e-mail into Zalman and I guess I could try with ASUS technical
> support to conclude that there are no other options available using the
> P4B Deluxe MB. Thanks for clearing up for me what is going on with the
> Q-Fan option.
>
> "Paul" <> wrote in message news:eoh4a2$kj8$...
>> KenL wrote:
>>> Thanks for the information. I suspect I may have a problem with the MB.
>>
>> The motherboard CPU fan header is 4 pin. Your after market cooler may be
>> three pin. There is no BIOS setting to select whether the CPU fan being
>> used is 3 pin or 4 pin, which means only one control method may be
>> supported.
>>
>> There are two ways to vary the speed of a fan. In the "old days", with a
>> three pin fan, you had +12V, GND, RPM, and varying the voltage applied to
>> +12V, changed the fan speed.
>>
>> Intel introduced a second scheme to control the fan (why, I don't know).
>> The fourth pin contains a PWM signal. Basically, it is a control signal
>> that runs at 25KHz or so. The width of the 25KHz pulses vary. If the
>> pulses are wide, the fan runs fast. If the pulses are narrow (low duty
>> cycle), the fan runs slow. The fan converts the pulse width signal, into
>> a voltage inside the fan hub. Intel states that the 12V lead feeding the
>> fan, is supposed to stay at 12V, when the PWM control signal method is
>> being used.
>>
>> That means extra work for motherboard makers. If the entire industry
>> switched to four pin fan cables for after-market coolers, this would not
>> have been a problem. But there are still plenty of coolers with three
>> pin fans. On some motherboards, there is a BIOS setting, that switches
>> the motherboard between CPU 3 pin and CPU 4 pin fan types.
>>
>> It could be that your motherboard only uses the PWM method. The PWM
>> signal
>> could be varying its pulse width with CPU temp, and you cannot "see" it,
>> if your fan is three pins. The easiest way to check for the potential for
>> the older voltage control method, would be the presence of a transistor
>> next
>> to the CPU fan header. If no big transistor is present, the motherboard
>> may only
>> be using the PWM method, suitable for four pin Intel fans.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>>
>>> "geoff" <> wrote in message
>>> news:8WQqh.45595$. ..
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> My MB is AMD, A8V and with Q-Fan running, the RPMs are about 2000.
>>>>
>>>> When I first boot up, the fan is running really fast then slows down
>>>> right away. I do not use the fanmate. I like gadgets as much as the
>>>> next guy but who wants to sit there and play with max fan speeds, lol.
>>>>
>>>> So, to answer your question, yes, it takes orders from ASUS, at least
>>>> from my A8V.
>>>>
>>>> -g
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>

I have a Thermaltake Mini Typhoon. It also has the 3 pin cable going to th
4 pin mobo header.

"KenL" <> wrote in message
news:3KudnaUq2-...
> Just in case anybody is following this saga - I purchased the Zalman
> CNPS9700 LED from Newegg a week ago. After the 3-wire/4-wire discussion I
> went to the Zalman web site and found the CNPS9700 NT version of the cpu
> cooler that has a 4-wire fan!!! Now I know why there was a discount on
> the LED version?!
>
> "KenL" <> wrote in message
> news:. ..
>> Paul
>>
>> It looks like I lose the fight to get rid of the Zalman fan control. The
>> cpu fan connection on the board has four pins (no transistor or BIOS
>> option) and the other four (1-power supply and 3-chassis fans) have three
>> pins. That's why the MB does what it is supposed to do with the chassis
>> fans and not the cpu fan since the Zalman fan has only three wires. I
>> have an e-mail into Zalman and I guess I could try with ASUS technical
>> support to conclude that there are no other options available using the
>> P4B Deluxe MB. Thanks for clearing up for me what is going on with the
>> Q-Fan option.
>>
>> "Paul" <> wrote in message news:eoh4a2$kj8$...
>>> KenL wrote:
>>>> Thanks for the information. I suspect I may have a problem with the
>>>> MB.
>>>
>>> The motherboard CPU fan header is 4 pin. Your after market cooler may be
>>> three pin. There is no BIOS setting to select whether the CPU fan being
>>> used is 3 pin or 4 pin, which means only one control method may be
>>> supported.
>>>
>>> There are two ways to vary the speed of a fan. In the "old days", with a
>>> three pin fan, you had +12V, GND, RPM, and varying the voltage applied
>>> to
>>> +12V, changed the fan speed.
>>>
>>> Intel introduced a second scheme to control the fan (why, I don't know).
>>> The fourth pin contains a PWM signal. Basically, it is a control signal
>>> that runs at 25KHz or so. The width of the 25KHz pulses vary. If the
>>> pulses are wide, the fan runs fast. If the pulses are narrow (low duty
>>> cycle), the fan runs slow. The fan converts the pulse width signal, into
>>> a voltage inside the fan hub. Intel states that the 12V lead feeding the
>>> fan, is supposed to stay at 12V, when the PWM control signal method is
>>> being used.
>>>
>>> That means extra work for motherboard makers. If the entire industry
>>> switched to four pin fan cables for after-market coolers, this would not
>>> have been a problem. But there are still plenty of coolers with three
>>> pin fans. On some motherboards, there is a BIOS setting, that switches
>>> the motherboard between CPU 3 pin and CPU 4 pin fan types.
>>>
>>> It could be that your motherboard only uses the PWM method. The PWM
>>> signal
>>> could be varying its pulse width with CPU temp, and you cannot "see" it,
>>> if your fan is three pins. The easiest way to check for the potential
>>> for
>>> the older voltage control method, would be the presence of a transistor
>>> next
>>> to the CPU fan header. If no big transistor is present, the motherboard
>>> may only
>>> be using the PWM method, suitable for four pin Intel fans.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>>>>
>>>> "geoff" <> wrote in message
>>>> news:8WQqh.45595$. ..
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>
>>>>> My MB is AMD, A8V and with Q-Fan running, the RPMs are about 2000.
>>>>>
>>>>> When I first boot up, the fan is running really fast then slows down
>>>>> right away. I do not use the fanmate. I like gadgets as much as the
>>>>> next guy but who wants to sit there and play with max fan speeds, lol.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, to answer your question, yes, it takes orders from ASUS, at least
>>>>> from my A8V.
>>>>>
>>>>> -g
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>
>
>