Fan control from mobo

timbo2410 · 18 Apr 2010 at 16:50

I've had my new fans delivered and have them all fitted now. I have the two case fans hooked up to the four pin connectors, but the fans themselves can be plugged straight into the mobo. Why are they attached directly to the PSU? Is there a reason for or against plugging into the mobo? Can the fan speed be controlled via the mobo? Sorry for the questions ... I am learning as I go

shahpor · 18 Apr 2010 at 18:38

Some motherboard can support PWM fans, which is to say that they can change the fan speed depending on temps.

Would help if you listed which fans and motherboard you had.

timbo2410 · 18 Apr 2010 at 19:05

Ok. I've got the Asus A8N sli deluxe and have just replaced the stock case fans (Antec P180) with a pair of 120 mm Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000's. They are connected up using a direct cable to the PSU and that is how the computer was built. So why not use the mobo's fan control? I looked at the mobo PDF and it does state about "Q" control ....

joey2cool · 18 Apr 2010 at 19:11

just out of interest, when you hook up fans with both 3 and 4 pin, do you connect both, or only one to have the mobo control speed?

setter · 18 Apr 2010 at 19:13

If you connect the fans direct to the motherboard they can be controlled, though iirc on the a8n sli deluxe, the PWR fan header doesnt support speed control, though the rest of the 3 pin headers will be fine.

timbo2410 · 18 Apr 2010 at 19:41

Ok so looking at the schematic of the board, there are two usable places I can attach my fans to. These would be CHA-1 fan and CHA-2 fan. So then I would have to go into the bios and set the "Q" fan controller to "ENABLE" ... what settings should I use as far as voltage and temperature are concerned? I have an Athlon 64 FX-55 if that helps.

timbo2410 · 19 Apr 2010 at 16:48

Anybody ?

eddyc · 19 Apr 2010 at 16:54

Try plugging a fan into each of the available mobo headers and then downloading speedfan. It will detect the fans and you can click the speed up and down. If when you change the speed in speedfan the speed actually changes then you have control from the mobo if it does not change then you do not.

Sorry no specific knowledge of your mobo.

timbo2410 · 19 Apr 2010 at 19:16

Thanks for that, I'll download it and have a play around once I get my system back together. Just waiting for a Northbridge heatsink to arrive. Thanks for the info