Are My Fans Ok?

Brocky36

Brocky36

Brocky36

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Joined
3 Dec 2015
Posts
342
Hi, all.

Ok, so I have just built my first rig and everything went well. All fans are working. It's quiet. CPU temps are good. It's performing well, so far.

As far as OCing goes, I have just ran the EZ Tuning Wizard on the BIOS. Admitedly, I am a novice when it comes to OCing.

Thing is, I can't really figure out what's going on with my fans. I have tried FanXpert, SpeedFan and Corsair Link, yet they are all giving me weird readings on mobo temps and no speed readings....so I am thinking that something isn't right with the way the fans are wired.

My build:
NZXT440 2015 (has built in PWM hub, 3x front intakes & 1x rear exhaust were all pre-connected to the hub which is on chassis behind the mobo)
Corsair H110i GT (2x SP140L PWM fans)
ASUS Z79K (latest BIOS)
ASUS Strix GTX 970 OC Edition
i5 4690K
8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 2400MHz dual channel

Here's some info. If anyone could offer some suggestions, that'd be great. I can take more screenshots of the software or pictures of the rig, if need be. I also have OCCT installed, though don't really know how to use it yet.
4l0ojo.jpg
donx9g.jpg

*Edit* - Added better screenshots
 
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Hi

Each software reads things differently. Some of them are not as accurate as the other. Most accurate in this case will be Corsair Link as it is directly plugged to the cooler (I guess?). If they work fine, you should not worry about it :)
 
Nichrome said:
Hi

Each software reads things differently. Some of them are not as accurate as the other. Most accurate in this case will be Corsair Link as it is directly plugged to the cooler (I guess?). If they work fine, you should not worry about it :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, Nichrome.

My main concern, though, is the really high mobo temp readings and that none of the software is giving me fan speed readings. I can't even do the audible test in FanXpert to figure out which is which. It's like they aren't there. That leads me to think that I have wired something incorrectly.
 
Bad readings or the sensors are bad. If they would be above 100C during idle, it would probably safe-shutdown to prevent damage when under load (as temps would rise for sure). Speak with Asus what can be done about bad sensors (or bad readings).
 
Most likely it's reading sensors that aren't connected to anything and just read rubbish. They'll usually read the same crazy value and not change. It's also possible they could have a multiplier and hence read 2x/4x/Xx the true value. It's not uncommon to have multiple sensor chips and use some of the outputs of one and some of the other. I'd your software hasn't picked up the 2nd sensor controller, you won't see the other values at all. You can try other software like HWInfo (www.hwinfo.com) or Open Hardware Monitor (www.openhardwaremonitor.org) to see if they're more up to date and pick up the extra sensors.

You mention a PWM hub. I'm not particularly up on PWM fans as mine are all 3-pin voltage - regulated fans but I believe you can have the same issue as 3-pin fan splitters. You can only read the speed pulse wire off one fan. If they are all connected you get a combination of all the pulses together and it doesn't give a sane reading. You may find your PWM hub has:
1. All four pins connected to all fans - this will give an insane, fluctuating reading.
2. All four pins to one fan and three to the rest - you'll only get a speed reading off the fan connected to the 4-pin header. If that isn't connected to a fan, it'll read zero.
3. 3-pin to all fans - you won't get any speed reading but it should give you speed control.
Easiest thing here is to check the above and plug one fan into a motherboard header directly so you know you'll get at least one good signal - then diagnose from there.

Worth noting that if you had anything that was really at over 100 C you'd find it easily by the heat coming off it. Identifying it would be easy as it would the thing that makes you swear/scream when you touch it! ;)
 
Cenedd said:
Most likely it's reading sensors that aren't connected to anything and just read rubbish. They'll usually read the same crazy value and not change. It's also possible they could have a multiplier and hence read 2x/4x/Xx the true value. It's not uncommon to have multiple sensor chips and use some of the outputs of one and some of the other. I'd your software hasn't picked up the 2nd sensor controller, you won't see the other values at all. You can try other software like HWInfo (www.hwinfo.com) or Open Hardware Monitor (www.openhardwaremonitor.org) to see if they're more up to date and pick up the extra sensors.

You mention a PWM hub. I'm not particularly up on PWM fans as mine are all 3-pin voltage - regulated fans but I believe you can have the same issue as 3-pin fan splitters. You can only read the speed pulse wire off one fan. If they are all connected you get a combination of all the pulses together and it doesn't give a sane reading. You may find your PWM hub has:
1. All four pins connected to all fans - this will give an insane, fluctuating reading.
2. All four pins to one fan and three to the rest - you'll only get a speed reading off the fan connected to the 4-pin header. If that isn't connected to a fan, it'll read zero.
3. 3-pin to all fans - you won't get any speed reading but it should give you speed control.
Easiest thing here is to check the above and plug one fan into a motherboard header directly so you know you'll get at least one good signal - then diagnose from there.

Worth noting that if you had anything that was really at over 100 C you'd find it easily by the heat coming off it. Identifying it would be easy as it would the thing that makes you swear/scream when you touch it! ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks, Cenedd.

Yeah, after a couple of hours of reading various forums, I'm confident that the reading for the motherboard temp is false. The BIOS reports the motherboard temp as being 27c. It doesn't fluctuate at all from 116c, according to the HWMonitor, Corsair Link etc. The air coming out of the case is very cool, and the heat-sinks on the board are slightly warm to the touch. It's unnerving to see it being reported that high but I guess I will just have to live with it.

The fans are really bugging me, though. Even the BIOS doesn't give me any kind of reading on those. SpeedFan & FanXpert don't see them. Neither does HWMonitor. Corsair Link is giving info on the pump and 2x radiator fans, of course.

The CPU FAN header is taken up by the H110i and no other CHA FAN headers on the board are in use.

Here's a picture of the H440's PWM hub...

15n9d0m.jpg

Left - 3x 3-pin connectors on 3-pin headers - The 3 front case fans.
There's also an unused 4-pin header above those.

Right - Upper is the rear case fan - 3-pin connector on 3-pin header.
Bottom is a 4-pin extension cable that came with the case. It runs off a 3-pin header - Connected into the other end of it (top-left of the picture), is the 3-pin (1 wire) pump RPM connector which is displaying correctly in Corsair Link. I had to use the extension cable, as the RPM cable wouldn't reach the hub headers.

So, have I got it wired incorrectly?

There surely has to be a way to get reports on these case fans....or, aside from hiding cables, what's the point of having the PWM hub built into the case??
 
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I've had a motherboard with sensors you have to ignore. It's irritating but as long as you can pick up the valid sensors it's not terminal.

I'm. It familiar with that PWM hub (or any, to be fair) but it looks like you have a 4-pin input at top left that you've presumably got connected to a motherboard header for control and to report speed back to. There are then a load of 3-pin fan headers and one 4-pin header (fan1). On the right hand headers you can see the 'missing' pins. This is likely to be set up for 4-pin PWM fans to connect to but NOT to report speed back. They will be controlled by sending them a PWM duty cycle signal (eg. On 50% of the time and off 50%). Only the 4-pin fan1 header will report a speed back and that is what gets sent back to the motherboard header. With nothing connected to that you're just getting zero rpm reported back. Plug a 4-pin PWM fan into the fans header and it'll probably start working. Just to confirm you've got readings, you can plug one of the PWM fans directly into a different motherboard header - so that you can see at least one reading and know you're picking up the sensor.
 
Brocky36 said:
Thanks, Cenedd.

So, have I got it wired incorrectly?

There surely has to be a way to get reports on these case fans....or, aside from hiding cables, what's the point of having the PWM hub built into the case??
Click to expand...

You can't get a read on the RPM of the fan as its multiple fans on a single slot. What you can do is create manual profiles for the channel you plugged the hub in to, that way you are able to manage the speed as one.

Obviously the downside is you cannot tweak each in isolation, which is why I personally plan on swapping out the hub for the NZXT Grid 2, you can then use some NZXT software called CAM to controll each one. So your option without that and using the stock hub is basically:

1. Plug stuff you want to set at different speeds in to the motherboard direct
2. Plug those you are happy with at one speed in to the hub, go to the Q-Fan crap and edit the profile for that fan channel to reduce/set the speed. Please note it will never give you an RPM reading but the power can be stepped in % based on CPU temperature. You can easily test it in the bios version of Q-Fan reduce the speed right down and apply it should dial back all fans on that channel.

I've got 7 fans on my hub, the build is cooled by 2 x 360mm radiators so the fan speed is reduced to about 40% most of the time as there is really no need for more. My CPU temp in the ASUS software is woefully jumpy... but its fine when doing a test burn.

Good luck.
 
Smffy said:
You can't get a read on the RPM of the fan as its multiple fans on a single slot. What you can do is create manual profiles for the channel you plugged the hub in to, that way you are able to manage the speed as one.

Obviously the downside is you cannot tweak each in isolation, which is why I personally plan on swapping out the hub for the NZXT Grid 2, you can then use some NZXT software called CAM to controll each one. So your option without that and using the stock hub is basically:

1. Plug stuff you want to set at different speeds in to the motherboard direct
2. Plug those you are happy with at one speed in to the hub, go to the Q-Fan crap and edit the profile for that fan channel to reduce/set the speed. Please note it will never give you an RPM reading but the power can be stepped in % based on CPU temperature. You can easily test it in the bios version of Q-Fan reduce the speed right down and apply it should dial back all fans on that channel.

I've got 7 fans on my hub, the build is cooled by 2 x 360mm radiators so the fan speed is reduced to about 40% most of the time as there is really no need for more. My CPU temp in the ASUS software is woefully jumpy... but its fine when doing a test burn.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Smffy.

So, I should still be able to control the voltage to the fans and therefore control the speed to some degree via Q-Fan, but I just won't get a visual reading on the RPM?

Tbh, the system is pretty quiet, even with the Corsair H110i's reputation of being loud. I just thought that the case having a PWM hub meant that I would have some control over the fans, albeit I did expect it's be all fans at once, via some software.

I also have bigger issues at the moment. Looks like my GTX 970 might need an RMA.

Thanks again for the reply. *thumbsup*
 
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