System Fan connectors on GA-X38-DQ6

I'd like to see Gigabyte provide fan speed control on the System Fan
connectors on the GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard.

ASUS provide this on their MBs. The fan speed is based on the MB
temperature, and they call it Q-fan.

Core2Duo wrote:
> I'd like to see Gigabyte provide fan speed control on the System Fan
> connectors on the GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard.
>
> ASUS provide this on their MBs. The fan speed is based on the MB
> temperature, and they call it Q-fan.
>

Do you see "Smart Fan Control Mode" in the BIOS ?

Download the PDF version of the manual, to make it
easier to find.

Another alternative, to using a chip based speed
control option, is to experiment with Speedfan from
almico.com and see what channels feature control.
What Speedfan cannot know, is what interfaces actually
have the hardware to vary voltage. Options may
exist in the hardware monitor chip, but if the
external interface circuitry is missing, then
nothing happens. And I'm not aware of a way
that Speedfan can determine it, via enumeration or
Plug and Play.

Paul

"Paul" <> wrote in message news:gad4ne$quo$...
> Core2Duo wrote:
>> I'd like to see Gigabyte provide fan speed control on the System Fan
>> connectors on the GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard.
>>
>> ASUS provide this on their MBs. The fan speed is based on the MB
>> temperature, and they call it Q-fan.
>
> Do you see "Smart Fan Control Mode" in the BIOS ?
>
> Download the PDF version of the manual, to make it
> easier to find.
>
> Another alternative, to using a chip based speed
> control option, is to experiment with Speedfan from
> almico.com and see what channels feature control.
> What Speedfan cannot know, is what interfaces actually
> have the hardware to vary voltage. Options may
> exist in the hardware monitor chip, but if the
> external interface circuitry is missing, then
> nothing happens. And I'm not aware of a way
> that Speedfan can determine it, via enumeration or
> Plug and Play.
>
> Paul
>


Paul,
I've seen Smart Fan in the Manual. It pertains to the CPU Fan,
specifically:

"CPU Smart FAN Control
Enables or disables the CPU fan speed control function."

I would like gigabyte to implement similar functionality for the System
fans!. Asus have done so.

PS. do you know why they provide one 3pin, and one 4pin, connector for the
System fans?.

Core2Duo wrote:
> "Paul" <> wrote in message news:gad4ne$quo$...
>> Core2Duo wrote:
>>> I'd like to see Gigabyte provide fan speed control on the System Fan
>>> connectors on the GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard.
>>>
>>> ASUS provide this on their MBs. The fan speed is based on the MB
>>> temperature, and they call it Q-fan.
>> Do you see "Smart Fan Control Mode" in the BIOS ?
>>
>> Download the PDF version of the manual, to make it
>> easier to find.
>>
>> Another alternative, to using a chip based speed
>> control option, is to experiment with Speedfan from
>> almico.com and see what channels feature control.
>> What Speedfan cannot know, is what interfaces actually
>> have the hardware to vary voltage. Options may
>> exist in the hardware monitor chip, but if the
>> external interface circuitry is missing, then
>> nothing happens. And I'm not aware of a way
>> that Speedfan can determine it, via enumeration or
>> Plug and Play.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>
>
> Paul,
> I've seen Smart Fan in the Manual. It pertains to the CPU Fan,
> specifically:
>
> "CPU Smart FAN Control
> Enables or disables the CPU fan speed control function."
>
> I would like gigabyte to implement similar functionality for the System
> fans!. Asus have done so.
>
> PS. do you know why they provide one 3pin, and one 4pin, connector for the
> System fans?.
>

I noticed that too, and I haven't a clue what they were
thinking.

The implication of the existence of two four
pin connectors on the motherboard, is that they did indeed
plan on including a Smart Fan function. And the thing is,
the hardware monitor chips sometimes support that function
fully in hardware, so there isn't even any BIOS or processor
interaction needed at runtime. The parameters need to be pumped
in at POST, and then the chip can run with those parameters
until shutdown.

What the four pin fan connectors could be telling you, is that
the hardware monitor chip has two of its PWM pins wired to those
two connectors. PWM is a method for controlling the speed, without
the motherboard manufacturer needing a transistor to implement
the function. The PWM signal runs at 25KHz, and is fed to a
transistor inside the fan hub. The fan is then responsible for
varying the fan voltage, as a function of the pulse width of
the 25KHz signal. Intel invented this scheme, to make fans more
expensive to make, and motherboards cheaper to make :-)

So with the four pin fans, you *could* use a Smart Fan function,
assuming it exists inside the Hardware Monitor. It would just
be a matter of finding a piece of software that can set the
thresholds and time constants used by the Hardware Monitor.
You could go to the web site of the company that makes
the HArdware Monitor chip and download the datasheet. That
would tell you about the automated features. I don't know if
Speedfan has an option to use that method or not. In principle,
it would mean loading Speedfan long enough to program the chip,
and then you could exist Speedfan. That would be the basic idea.
But to know whether it is possible, you start with identifying
the hardware monitor chip.

This is an example of a case fan with PWM control. It is only
an 80mm fan though. There is a four pin connector.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835705027

Paul

"Paul" <> wrote in message news:gajc0l$lh9$...
> Core2Duo wrote:
>> "Paul" <> wrote in message news:gad4ne$quo$...
>>> Core2Duo wrote:
>>>> I'd like to see Gigabyte provide fan speed control on the System Fan
>>>> connectors on the GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard.
>>>>
>>>> ASUS provide this on their MBs. The fan speed is based on the MB
>>>> temperature, and they call it Q-fan.
>>> Do you see "Smart Fan Control Mode" in the BIOS ?
>>>
>>> Download the PDF version of the manual, to make it
>>> easier to find.
>>>
>>> Another alternative, to using a chip based speed
>>> control option, is to experiment with Speedfan from
>>> almico.com and see what channels feature control.
>>> What Speedfan cannot know, is what interfaces actually
>>> have the hardware to vary voltage. Options may
>>> exist in the hardware monitor chip, but if the
>>> external interface circuitry is missing, then
>>> nothing happens. And I'm not aware of a way
>>> that Speedfan can determine it, via enumeration or
>>> Plug and Play.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>>
>>
>> Paul,
>> I've seen Smart Fan in the Manual. It pertains to the CPU Fan,
>> specifically:
>>
>> "CPU Smart FAN Control
>> Enables or disables the CPU fan speed control function."
>>
>> I would like gigabyte to implement similar functionality for the System
>> fans!. Asus have done so.
>>
>> PS. do you know why they provide one 3pin, and one 4pin, connector for
>> the System fans?.
>>
>
> I noticed that too, and I haven't a clue what they were
> thinking.
>
> The implication of the existence of two four
> pin connectors on the motherboard, is that they did indeed
> plan on including a Smart Fan function. And the thing is,
> the hardware monitor chips sometimes support that function
> fully in hardware, so there isn't even any BIOS or processor
> interaction needed at runtime. The parameters need to be pumped
> in at POST, and then the chip can run with those parameters
> until shutdown.
>
> What the four pin fan connectors could be telling you, is that
> the hardware monitor chip has two of its PWM pins wired to those
> two connectors. PWM is a method for controlling the speed, without
> the motherboard manufacturer needing a transistor to implement
> the function. The PWM signal runs at 25KHz, and is fed to a
> transistor inside the fan hub. The fan is then responsible for
> varying the fan voltage, as a function of the pulse width of
> the 25KHz signal. Intel invented this scheme, to make fans more
> expensive to make, and motherboards cheaper to make :-)
>
> So with the four pin fans, you *could* use a Smart Fan function,
> assuming it exists inside the Hardware Monitor. It would just
> be a matter of finding a piece of software that can set the
> thresholds and time constants used by the Hardware Monitor.
> You could go to the web site of the company that makes
> the HArdware Monitor chip and download the datasheet. That
> would tell you about the automated features. I don't know if
> Speedfan has an option to use that method or not. In principle,
> it would mean loading Speedfan long enough to program the chip,
> and then you could exist Speedfan. That would be the basic idea.
> But to know whether it is possible, you start with identifying
> the hardware monitor chip.
>
> This is an example of a case fan with PWM control. It is only
> an 80mm fan though. There is a four pin connector.
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835705027
>
> Paul


Paul,
My ASUS P5E, and P5E WS Pro motherboards are able to run 2 chassis fans
quietly using only a 3pin connector.
Once enabled, the Q-fan function works well.

Core2Duo wrote:

>
>
> Paul,
> My ASUS P5E, and P5E WS Pro motherboards are able to run 2 chassis fans
> quietly using only a 3pin connector.
> Once enabled, the Q-fan function works well.
>
>

There is an obvious disconnect, between the BIOS feature set of your
Gigabyte board, and the hardware seen on the board. I cannot explain
why the necessary BIOS interface is missing. What I can tell you,
is motherboard manufacturers don't suffer from guilt, and if the
picture in the manual shows no good fan control, they won't feel
compelled to add it in a later BIOS.

Some oversights have to be solved, in order to put features in
other newer motherboards. So when a certain memory remap function
was missing from some boards, it got added. Because the development
work for it, would be a necessary part of any newer boards. But
for something like fans, all the methods are known (they'd be a
library the BIOS designer could just reach out and tap into, in
making the new BIOS). So there must be some other reason
why the function got deleted at the last minute.

Asus divides their fan functions, by motherboard class. The
cheapest boards might get nothing. The QFan feature controls
the CPU fan. If QFan2 is mentioned, then you get control of
both CPU and one chassis fan. Asus uses this for market
differentiation (justify a more expensive board).

By comparison, the boards made for Dell/HP/Gateway and the like,
might have fan control implemented for all fan headers, just so
they can ship a quiet computer. So the approach from a feature
perspective is a bit different. It seems for retail motherboards,
they don't really care what you get. For those, cost is everything,
and every penny counts.

Paul