Fan speed/noise

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nadsys
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:29 am

Fan speed/noise

Post by nadsys » Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:42 am

Hello,

first post here, read a lot of articles and the members seem knowledgeable so i thought i'd ask for your assistance.

What i want to resolve: I would like to reduce the noise of one of my fan's, this is an HTPC setup, no GFX card so heat is minimal.

my equipment:
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B, CPU-cooler
Intel® Core™ i5-4690 FC-LGA4, "Haswell"
Thermaltake Hamburg 530W PDU
SilverStone SST-GD10B case
Crucial M550 2,5" SSD 128 GB, SATA 600
LG CH12NS30, Blu-ray-Combo
ASRock B85M Pro4 Mainboard
2x 4Gb - Kingston HyperX D3 8GB 2400-11 XMP Beast K2 KHX
3x Noctua NF-P12 +++ 120mm

i had 3x silverstone ha1225L fans prior. Since swapping them for Noctua fans i have had issues obtaining a silent htpc. From researching i realise i have now bought the wrong fans for a case, it should have been the NF-S12 model, but even though i should not have the issue i have.

the problem:
chassis_fan1 is running at 1300rpm and is very noisy. i am using it as an air-outtake.

Chasis_fan2, cpu_fan2(using it as a case fan), cpu_fan1(cpu big shurikan) are all running at between 400-500rpm and are silent or as close as it gets without going passive/water cooled.

BIOS i have set all fans to run in "silent" mode.

i tried to use the A-Tuning tool from ASRock but couldn't find a way to reduce it. i also tried speedfan but also no joy (can't say i understood it fully).

When i run the "test fan" option on A-tuning for chasis fan 1 and 2 i get totally different values, it shows fan 2 can go as low as 130rpm at 10%, but the 10% value for chasis fan 1 is 1300.

Can anyone give me pointers how to make the noctua on cha_fan1 run at less than 1300 otherwise i may aswell put back in the SS ha1225L which was quieter as it ran at 900rpm.

things i don't know:
if the BIOS settings of "silent" stop A-tuning being able to make any adjustments.
If there is a better or different tool that i can adjust the fan with
If i can connect it to a different point on the MB like the pwr_fan connector (although i don't see an option in BIOS to control pwr_fan).

useful info:
link to BIOS which has a diagram of the layout: ftp://europe.asrock.com/manual/B85M%20Pro4.pdf
about the noctua fans: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=nf_s ... son&lng=en

thank you for your time and efforts.

lodestar
Posts: 1683
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:29 am
Location: UK

Re: Fan speed/noise

Post by lodestar » Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:07 am

nadsys wrote:...the problem: chassis_fan1 is running at 1300rpm and is very noisy.
The reason this fan is running at full speed is that the chassis_fan1 header on this board only supports PWM fans not 3-pin. All PWM fan headers provide 12V; the fourth pin is for a speed control signal which works through an integrated circuit in the PWM fan itself. So if you plug a 3-pin fan into a header like this it gets the full 12V and... well you know the rest. A potential solution is to use a Y cable to run this fan from the 3-pin chassis_fan2 header. Typically Y cable adapters are for PWM fans, they have four wires. However they will work perfectly well with 3-pin fans. And incidentally even two fans will be well within the current rating of the motherboard header.
nadsys wrote:If i can connect it to a different point on the MB like the pwr_fan connector (although i don't see an option in BIOS to control pwr_fan).
The pwr_fan connector provides the full 12V even for 3-pin fans and as you have already noticed there are no control options for this header.

nadsys
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:29 am

Re: Fan speed/noise

Post by nadsys » Mon Dec 08, 2014 12:09 pm

Lodestar, thank you very much. I purchased the Y cable, they had 3 or 4 pin versions in my local store. I took the 3 pin. Worked first time.

Now I have a new problem, the sat receiver HDD is louder than my htpc so that noise now annoys me. Maybe time to buy an ssd for it. Lol

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