Gigabye vs Asus: Mobo with 3 x PWM fan headers

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

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marc999
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Gigabye vs Asus: Mobo with 3 x PWM fan headers

Post by marc999 » Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:24 pm

I'm currently planning an upgrade within the next few months (prob around Win 7 launch). I would like to get a mobo with PWM control for the CPU and at least one case fan, two would be ideal. I am under the impression that ASUS's boards offer 2 or maybe 3 PWM fan headers, but Gigabyte boards only offer PWM control of the CPU fan. Is this correct? Neither company seem to list it on their spec sheets, not at least that I could find. Your help would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

lodestar
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Post by lodestar » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:59 pm

Why not consider using the Akasa AK-CB002 PWM splitter cable. This has the advantage of not drawing fan power through the motherboard headers, and any motherboard with a PWM CPU socket will be sufficient. See (in the UK) for example http://www.dabs.com/products/Akasa-PWM- ... -5CN1.html.

DaveLessnau
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Post by DaveLessnau » Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:37 am

On my Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3P, both the CPU_FAN header and the SYS_FAN2 header are 4-pin (the SYS_FAN1 and PWR_FAN headers are both 3-pin). Even though the manual shows identical pin configuration for the 4-pins, only the CPU_FAN is controllable in the BIOS (either by Voltage control or PWM control). I don't know if something like Speedfan can control that SYS_FAN2 header via PWM.

Metheny
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Post by Metheny » Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:10 am

I´ve got the Gigabyte EX58-UD4P with Windows 7, and the motherboard comes with a program called Easy Tune 6, you can only tune the speed of the CPU fan, via the PWM connector, and set the thresholds.
I bought the Noctua NH-U12P cooler and I can´t control it because it´s 3 pin, it seems unless I use a voltage/PWM converter.

ascl
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Post by ascl » Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:23 am

I have an EP45-UD3L so it might not be identical... however, it also has a PWM CPU header, and SYS_FAN2. BOTH are controllable using Speedfan, and do not require PWM fans (ie voltage control works too).

You may need to change the bios setting to use voltage control is all.

Metheny
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Post by Metheny » Mon Aug 03, 2009 5:55 am

In my case, with Noctua fans, speed control is not working, neither with Auto or Voltage setting in BIOS, and I don´t know the reason...

marc999
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Post by marc999 » Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:45 am

Thanks all for your input! So it generally seems that Gigabyte boards support speed control of 1 - 2 fans, though not necessarily via PWM. Good to know.

lodestar,
Thanks for that link, I think you gave it to me in my other recent post about the Mugen 2. It's an excellent solution but if you're going to use two fans with the Mugen 2, then you only get 1 left over for one of your case fans. I guess it could still work cause it looks like some Gigabyte boards offer speed control for a second fan. The only problem though is that one of your case fans will be directly linked to CPU temps instead of case temps. Still a viable if not perfect solution though.

Any ASUS folks out there that can let us know about their boards? I remember back in the day they had something called Qfan and they don't mention it on their boards anymore but I'm sure it still must be there, in some form or another.

It just dawned on me that I suppose the fans don't have to be PWM. If I remember correctly, the only advantage of PWM is that you don't have to worry of a no-start due to too low of a voltage. I can always just choose fans that can start at 5V. That being said, does that change things? Are there either ASUS or Gigabyte mobos that will support mobo BIOS speed control of three fans (voltage or PWM or a combination of the two), ideally with one based on CPU temps and the other two based on case temps?

ascl
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Post by ascl » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:22 pm

My experience with an ASUS board wasn't good from a speedfan point of view. It kind of worked, but not reliably. Hopefully they have improved since I owned an ASUS Maximus Formula ROG board.

johnbentley
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Post by johnbentley » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:17 pm

ascl wrote:I have an EP45-UD3L ... it also has a PWM CPU header, and SYS_FAN2. BOTH are controllable using Speedfan, and do not require PWM fans (ie voltage control works too).
ascl, are the two remaining headers, the 3 pin SYS_FAN1 and 3-pin PWR_FAN, also controllable via speedfan? I'm eyeing off the GA-EP45T-UD3LR.

ntavlas
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Post by ntavlas » Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:14 am

Gigabyte boards usually have two 4 pin headers that can be adjusted either by speedfan of by the board itself. Even though there is no bios option for the second 4pin header, it is controlled automatically probably based on system temps. This is true for both my ep43 and 780g boards. You can also control those 2 headers by speedfan if you wish.
Unfortunately, not all their boards can control a non pwm cpu fan. The 780g and most p45 boards can, my p43 board can only control 4pin fans.

johnbentley
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Post by johnbentley » Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:40 am

not all their boards can control a non pwm cpu fan. The 780g and most p45 boards can ...
Thanks. That gives me hope. Now I just need confirmation.

ascl
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Post by ascl » Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:06 pm

Sorry for the late reply. Only 2 headers are controllable. The other two you can monitor but not control.

johnbentley
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Post by johnbentley » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:44 pm

ascl, thanks for the further advice in your PM to me ... I assume you have no objection against making this public ...
If you are after software controlled fans, (3 pin), you might want to check out the Silverstone CMD01. It allows fan control via NVidia's System Tools or HWMonitor.

You do not need an ESA motherboard to use it (I have one with my EP45-UD3L). Amazon had a deal for $17 USD for them.
Alas that specific controller is not readily available in my neck of the woods.

What we really need is a list of motherboards with all of its fan headers controllable via speedfan. ... I might start a new thread for that.

ascl
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Post by ascl » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:46 pm

The speedfan website has a partial list, but its a bit outdated. A definitive, up-to-date list would be great.

johnbentley
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Post by johnbentley » Thu Oct 29, 2009 11:15 pm

I have start a new thread: Motherboards with lots of fan headers Speedfan controllable

Edit: thread url from "all fan headers" to "lots of fan headers"

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