Gigabyte fan controls?

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NetTechie
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Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:24 pm

I'm wondering if the Gigabyte boards have onboard fan controls. The board I'm looking at is this one:

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product ... id=4658#ov

Would speedfan control them? I didn't see any software bundled for fan control. The board has three headers: CPU_FAN, SYS_FAN1, and PWR_FAN headers.

EDIT: Apparently I missed a header, SYS_FAN2.
Last edited by NetTechie on Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:05 pm

http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/121/t ... px_et5.htm

Looks like it has something called Smart-Fan for cpu fan speeds. No mention of any other fan speed controls there (like case fan).

Wonder what speedfan can control? The board is not listed on their site as compatible. The list could be outdated though.

http://www.almico.com/forummotherboards.php?man=264

Zolishoru
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by Zolishoru » Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:32 pm

The bundled software used for fan control is called Easy Tunes 6; personally, I wouldn't recommend, because is a resource hog - use SpeedFan instead, it's working, but you have to find out the proper setup yourself by trial and error. As side note, I'm using speedfan on a 990FXA-UD3.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:35 pm

What headers does speedfan let you control? All of them? Looks like the UD3 has the same three headers as the UD7.

loty1825
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by loty1825 » Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:40 pm

All modern boards do have fan control in BIOS at least for the CPU fan, even if they don't come with any fan controlling software.

According to the GA-990FXA-UD7 manual it has four fan headers. What I get out of pinouts only the CPU and 1st system fan headers can be controlled. The CPU fan can be either PWM or voltage controlled and the system fan only voltage controlled.

I own Gigabyte H77-DS3H and it's BIOS fan control isn't that good. It can drop Noctua NF-15A attached to system fan header only to about 550RPM. By manufacturers specs NF-A15's lowest RPM is 300 and some boards can drop it even below that.

GA-990FXA-UD7 BIOS settings for fan control look exactly like on mine board and I guess it also won't be able to drop fans really low. So it probably wouldn't be a good choice for a quiet PC.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:45 pm

Two controllable headers. That should be ok, one for the case fans, one for the cpu fan. I'd have to split the headers three ways for the case fans though, as my case is going to be the Silverstone FT02. Might not be a wise idea to run three 180mm fans off of one header. Wonder what would happen if the 180mm fans were all running full speed on one header?

loty1825
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by loty1825 » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:01 pm

It might draw too much current. Sum of all the fan amp ratings shouldn't be higher than the fan header amp rating. But I can't find what the rating of the fan headers is in the manual for that particular board.

Zolishoru
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by Zolishoru » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:05 pm

NetTechie wrote:What headers does speedfan let you control? All of them? Looks like the UD3 has the same three headers as the UD7.
I'm (voltage)controlling only the CPU header, and distribute the power to all the fans(5XNF-F12), then connect the monitoring signal back to the MB.
Side note: according to the spec's, the 4pin PWM header must support up to 1.5A current.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:22 pm

Can the SYS_FAN1 header be used in PWM mode on this board, in addition to it's voltage mode? It has four pins...

Edit: I found this in a post somewhere, whether it is accurate I don't know:
The other thing to bear in mind with gigabyte mothebroards is that the fourth pin on the SYS_Fan1 connector doesn't provide PWM controlling. The speed controlling is done by adjusting the voltage. I have used lots of Gigabyte boards in the past and even 3 pin fans can be temperature controlled in the SYS_Fan1 connector. I believe the fourth pin is just a way of identifying the temperature controlled connector.
But... maybe there is a way to switch it to PWM mode? Anyone know?

If I could use it in PWM mode, there a ways to control more fans from one PWM header, drawing current for the other fans from the power supply and not the motherboard.

Abula
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by Abula » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:39 pm

If you are looking for good BIOS PWM fan control go with MSI or AsRock, both have 2 real PWM fan headers that can be controlled independantly (always bound to the CPU temperature), but this can allow you to control your cpu cooler separated from your case fans.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:41 pm

MSI does not make an AMD board with six PCI-E x16 slots. I checked AsRock, doesn't look they make one either. This Gigabyte board is rather unique in that regard.
Last edited by NetTechie on Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Abula
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by Abula » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:43 pm

NetTechie wrote:MSI does not make an AMD board with six PCI-E x16 slots. I'll check AsRock.
I assumed since you were already thinking on selling your AMD and switching to intel, that you should look into those boards if that was the case.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:47 pm

I'm considering it, and I'll definitely check the MSI and AsRock offerings for six x16 slots if I switch.

The thing attracting me to Intel is that they might be more stable at higher temps, letting me run it more silently.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:51 pm

Ok... so I've thought up a possible way to do this. Since the PWM control is only on the CPU_FAN header, I would use that to control the three 180mm fans, drawing on the PWM signal to control the fans, and letting the fans get their power from the power supply - thus staying under 1.5 amps.

There are two ways I could do the above. One is replace all the 180mm fans with PWM version fans, and run a splitter cable:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20988 ... PL-ST.html

Or, I could use the PWM signal with a fan controller that converts PWM to voltage, and then run the stock 3 pin fans off of that:

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/Rheosmart/6.html

Then use the SYS_FAN1 header with a regular wire splitter to run the two or three cpu cooling fans, hopefully staying under the 1.5 amp max since the fans are small.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1090/ ... itter.html

Think three 120mm fans draw more than 1.5 amps?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:23 am

If you will use a proper PWM splitter (that Swiftech it is) you can get rid of any header current limit (as the PSU will supply all the current you may need), BUT only with PWM fans (those Silverstone AirPenetrator are not so). Usually voltage controlled header have more restrictive current limit than PWM ones (usually around 1A max).
IMVHO you need a different motherboard or an external controller (I don't understand what the Sunbeamtech Rheosmart 6 knobs do), if you want to automatically control all those fans.
Last edited by quest_for_silence on Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:34 am

Hmm, probably true that they don't figure the case fans to use as much power. Good point.

The PWM fans I saw that were 180mm are made by Phobya. They may not cool as well, which makes the second option more attractive, using the Sunbeam device with it's PWM to voltage converter to use the Silverstone fans.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:43 am

NetTechie wrote:Hmm, probably true that they don't figure the case fans to use as much power. Good point.

The PWM fans I saw that were 180mm are made by Phobya. They may cool as well, which makes the second option more attractive, using the Sunbeam device with it's PWM to voltage converter.


As added to my previous message, I don't understand what Sunbeamtech Rheosmart knobs do: at first glance, if the mobo PWM signal control the fans connected to it, then those knobs look like pointless, while if they are not pointless, then the Rheosmart shouldn't be able to use the mobo PWM signal.
Maybe they should be used only without the PWM signal coming from the mobo header? At any rate, as said from other people, the PWM signal on Gigabyte boards is not the best one to drive down a fan, and with 180mm fans you have to go very low.

I cannot help with Phobya large fans.

NetTechie
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by NetTechie » Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:53 am

quest_for_silence wrote:
NetTechie wrote:Hmm, probably true that they don't figure the case fans to use as much power. Good point.

The PWM fans I saw that were 180mm are made by Phobya. They may cool as well, which makes the second option more attractive, using the Sunbeam device with it's PWM to voltage converter.


As added to my previous message, I don't understand what Sunbeamtech Rheosmart knobs do: at first glance, if the mobo PWM signal control the fans connected to it, then those knobs look like pointless, while if they are not pointless, then the Rheosmart shouldn't be able to use the mobo PWM signal.
Maybe they should be used only without the PWM signal coming from the mobo header? At any rate, as said from other people, the PWM signal on Gigabyte boards is not the best one to drive down a fan, and with 180mm fans you have to go very low.

I cannot help with Phobya large fans.
Ok, these little devices are actually kind of neat. They have two modes, a knob mode, and a button below each knob that when pressed turns off that knob completely, which is the mode I would use them in, and turns on the PWM mode. In PWM mode, it uses a signal from the CPU Fan header to determine the fan output voltage, so 3 pin fans will spin down as if they were PWM. In this mode, the knobs cease to serve any purpose... hence my idea to mount the whole thing somewhere inside the case out of sight, seeing as I'd never be using the knobs.

Here's a link to the Phobya fan, that works as a PWM fan.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16104 ... 79123.html

quest_for_silence
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:43 am

NetTechie wrote:hence my idea to mount the whole thing somewhere inside the case out of sight, seeing as I'd never be using the knobs.


If it's all correct, it might work (but require a BIOS/Software control).

NetTechie wrote:Here's a link to the Phobya fan, that works as a PWM fan.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16104 ... 79123.html


It would seem that starting voltage/minimum speed is too high to be able to work really quiet (with a 180mm fan you need to slow down it at idle under 200rpm).
Last edited by quest_for_silence on Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Abula
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Re: Gigabyte fan controls?

Post by Abula » Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:44 am

quest_for_silence wrote:As added to my previous message, I don't understand what Sunbeamtech Rheosmart knobs do: at first glance, if the mobo PWM signal control the fans connected to it, then those knobs look like pointless, while if they are not pointless, then the Rheosmart shouldn't be able to use the mobo PWM signal.
Think of the Sunbeam as automatic and manual mode, the buttons on below the knobs individually free each of them. So the knobs are needed only if you decide to switch off the the PWM to voltage automatic control to manual, but this might be desired, let say the motherboard PWM control sucks like asus last iterations with 40% as the minium restriction, you still can use the knobs and not live with higher rpms, etc. Or for example some fans might not like undervolting as much as others, so using a single PWM signal that will convert it into undervolting.... might have issues with some fans... etc, this is where freeing the fan from the control and manging with the knob will be useful.

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