Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

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

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
pes
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:28 pm
Location: Sweden

Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by pes » Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:21 pm

Asus P8P67 Pro

"1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (4-pin)
2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (1 x 4-pin; 1 x 3-pin)
1 x Power Fan connector(s) (3-pin)"

ASRock P67 Extreme 4

"Fan Headers

1 x CPU fan
1 x CPU auxiliary fan
3 x Chassis fans
1 x Power fan

"Fan Control

CPU fans controlled jointly, 10 levels
Chassis fans controlled independently, 10 levels"

After finding out the P8P67 didn't have enough headers to control 3 chassis fans in total, and also - as a newbie not knowing the first thing about fan headers, taking it for granted it would be straight forward - only one for the cpu I started looking into other motherboards and lo and behold..

I understand automatic bios fan control is not something you can generally count on. I was just hoping I would have the ability to to finetune the front chassis fans beyond the initial 7v undervolting and at least have the ability to try to do as much as possible via the bios. The two chassis fan headers can be spun down via the Windows registry on the Asus, or so have I read: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1036834648.

Should I not worry about this stuff? I will most likely go with the Asus to honour what is available at the b&m that I am buying from. I could get 5v resistors for the front fans, I already plan to get a fanmate for the 120mm back exhaust, and I could also extend the undervolting to the rear fan on the Mugen. Also there are splitter cables I just dont know how that would work in practice..

Fire-Flare
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:44 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by Fire-Flare » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:09 pm

I'm using an Asus Crosshair IV Extreme board and all three of its chassis fan headers share the same temperature sensor as the CPU, but have independent control levels. Setting them to the same levels as the CPU fan header is the same as using 4-way splitter in that instance.

Also, I've used PWM splitters before and they do work, but only one fan is able to send its RPM signal to the motherboard; multiple would cause a highly inaccurate reading. As long as you don't try to control too many fans from one header (I haven't exceeded 3) they won't be a problem.


If you're not satisfied with the motherboard's fan control or the utility that your manufacturer may include on the driver disc, The Speedfan program can take over the fan control of up to six 4-pin headers and control them individually according to your temperature preferences. And if your board isn't compatible with it, you can tell the creator the details of your board and he'll modify the program and release a beta version that does support it.

AhamB
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:01 am

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by AhamB » Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:11 am

Fire-Flare wrote:The Speedfan program can take over the fan control of up to six 4-pin headers and control them individually according to your temperature preferences.
That's true as long as the fan headers have 4 pins and your fans have 4 wires (PWM controllable). 3 pin fan headers can only be read out, not controlled (AFAIK). I use Speedfan for my CPU fan and it works great. I don't think I've seen the fan go over ~280 rpm yet. :)

Fire-Flare
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:44 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by Fire-Flare » Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:27 pm

AhamB wrote:3 pin fan headers can only be read out, not controlled (AFAIK).
A few motherboards allow voltage control on 3-pin fans, but only on CPU headers.

pes
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:28 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by pes » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:06 pm

Thanks guys, that is good to know about Speedfan. I guess thats why it feels kinda uncertain, between (and combining) splitters, pin adapters, pwm - which I dont have a full understanding of when it has bearing and not - and PWM fans being 3-pin mostly while the cpu header is 4 - effectively killing the PWM (?) using an adapter, I'm still a bit dumbfounded.

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:48 am

AhamB wrote:
Fire-Flare wrote:3 pin fan headers can only be read out, not controlled (AFAIK).

It depends of how the manufacturer have impemented the chipset fan control, not of the headers itself: on my mobos I can fully control most of the 3-pin fan headers with SpeedFan, and where the 4-pin headers are also voltage controllable (most MSI), I often use that way to reach lower rpm (lower than by PWM).

tim851
Posts: 543
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
Location: 128.0.0.1

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by tim851 » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:53 am

pes wrote:PWM fans being 3-pin mostly while the cpu header is 4
Erm, no, PWM is always 4-pin.

pes
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:28 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by pes » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:14 pm

Was making the assumption from the Slipstream PWM and reading around: http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fa ... 0-pwm.html

As said I dont know the first thing about pins, molex and headers and whats what, so I may have misunderstood something. Or its an exception.

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:00 pm

pes wrote:Was making the assumption from the Slipstream PWM and reading around: http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fa ... 0-pwm.html

As said I dont know the first thing about pins, molex and headers and whats what, so I may have misunderstood something. Or its an exception.

Please, look at the fan: it has a four pins white socket, and four wire (orange, yellow, red and black) are coming from rotor and through the hub to the connector itself.

Image

Fire-Flare
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:44 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Asus vs ASrock on fan headers and fan control

Post by Fire-Flare » Tue Mar 08, 2011 4:15 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:
pes wrote:Was making the assumption from the Slipstream PWM and reading around: http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fa ... 0-pwm.html

As said I dont know the first thing about pins, molex and headers and whats what, so I may have misunderstood something. Or its an exception.

Please, look at the fan: it has a four pins white socket, and four wire (orange, yellow, red and black) are coming from rotor and through the hub to the connector itself.

Image
That is one of Scythe's 120mm Slip Stream PWM models. As you can see it has 4 wires. The orange one that 3-pin fans don't have allows speed control without changing the fan's voltage.

A PWM fan can be plugged into a 3-pin header but will not receive the PWM signal.

When looking for one, be advised that fans listed as having a "4-pin" header can mean they connect to a molex connector on the computer's power supply to draw voltage from the 5v or 12v line like this Silverstone model. They are not PWM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811999346

Post Reply