NZXT PWM fan hub

[flowrider99]

I have a new version of the H440 with the PWM fan hub which i have not been able to make work the way i think it should. My testing has shown the following........

1. Unlike NZXT's advice i have found that there is no need to connect the PWM cable to the CPU header on your motherboard, connecting to any controllable fan header operates the same way.

2. You must have a case fan connected to the white 4 pin fan connector on the hub (fan1) to see rpm of the fan but this only shows the rpm of the connected fan on that particular header.

3. Changing fan speeds via the motherboard BIOS or software only affects the fan on the white fan1 header, all other fans appear to run at full speed, surely it should change all the connected fan's speeds.

I dont think the fan hub works very well, (surely NZXT tested the functionality..........i guess they did'nt!) in fact it seems to be a waste of money which NZXT could have utilised to make the case a little cheaper.

 

[Kyiami]

White connection is for cpu fan, and For me it worked like a charm. Do as it says in manual and it works. I had same issue on my nzxt manta case, it has same pwm hub. Only after connecting it to cpu fan header all went ok. I can control everything with curve i set in bios or asus software suite. Make sure your fan header is set to pwm and not DC. Read text in manual right under fan hub picture.

 

[flowrider99]

I have a CPU fan2 header which I have used with the hub but it makes no difference. My motherboard doesn't have an option for PWM or DC fan control but all headers are 4 pin so I assume it detects what is connected and adjusts automatically.

I have software fan control bundled with my motherboard (A-Tuning) and when I click on the fan test button I can see the fan connected to the white header slow down and speed up as the software tests but the other fans all continue at full speed.

 

[Disco_P]

Dont assume your 4 pin fan headers are pwm. Frequently 4 pin headers are used for economies of scale but are only voltage controlled.

 

[flowrider99]

I think the main point here is that when I connect the NZXT PWM hub to a 4 pin fan header (be it PWM or DC) it does control the fan speed but only the speed of the fan connected to the white 4 pin header on the hub. All other fans run a full speed no matter what.

 

[Kyiami]

Remove astock software. My asus aisuite plays tricks with my pwm hub. And check curve in bios for that header u use

 

[cjbagnall]

I use the cpu fan header on my mobo and it works perfectly, if I use any other 4 pin fan header on my mobo the fans run 100%. So i guess that the CPU fan header is the only PWM controlled header on my mobo and the others are voltage controlled.

 

[flowrider99]

I use the cpu fan header on my mobo and it works perfectly, if I use any other 4 pin fan header on my mobo the fans run 100%. So i guess that the CPU fan header is the only PWM controlled header on my mobo and the others are voltage controlled.

I can control fans on all my mobo headers. I don't understand why the NZXT hub only controls one fan and not all, I guess my hub must be faulty based on others experiences.

What I have done is connect the CPU_FAN2 header to the hub, connected one NZXT fan to the hubs Fan1 header (which is speed controlled) and connected 2 Noiseblocker fans to the other hub headers that aren't controlling the fan speed, the 140mm rear fan is connected to a chassis fan header on the mobo controlling the speed. This has actually resulted in a much quieter case.

 

[gitbags]

I can control fans on all my mobo headers. I don't understand why the NZXT hub only controls one fan and not all, I guess my hub must be faulty based on others experiences.

What I have done is connect the CPU_FAN2 header to the hub, connected one NZXT fan to the hubs Fan1 header (which is speed controlled) and connected 2 Noiseblocker fans to the other hub headers that aren't controlling the fan speed, the 140mm rear fan is connected to a chassis fan header on the mobo controlling the speed. This has actually resulted in a much quieter case.

I have been having exactly the same problems as you, the cause in my case was my mobo (gigabyte z170x Gaming 7) only having one pwm (cpu) fan header (as per Disco_P's post). After I saw this thread and Kyiami post, I dl'd the manual for the noctis seeing as there are no written instructions for the fan controller in the h440 manual.

So currently the pwm lead is connected to the cpu header and my kraken x61 to the white plug of the controller (connecting the pump off cpu opt caused the pump speed to drop too low when i adjusted fan speed).

Now I have full control over all my fans

So you guys have helped me at least.

 

[flowrider99]

If your happy for all your fans to be controlled based on CPU temps then fine but i prefer the chassis fans to be based on mobo temps. The fact remains though that no matter where i connect the PWM cable the hub doesn't control all the fans.

As an aside i have been looking up the supplied H440 fans on line and they are slightly different to NZXT FN fans that you can buy seperately. The FN fan in the H440 does not have sleeved cables or rubber mounts for the screws. One of my fans also leaks fluid! Luckily i dont use it anymore.

 

[gitbags]

Didn't say I was happy about it, just saying that was the only way I could get it to work

I'm happy enough manually adjusting my case fan speed if needs must, but I can understand the preference to allow them to be automatically adjusted.

 

[Tealc]

1. Unlike NZXT's advice i have found that there is no need to connect the PWM cable to the CPU header on your motherboard, connecting to any controllable fan header operates the same way.

If it is anything like the Phanteks PWM hub (and it sort of looks similar) then all the hub needs is an active PWM signal to function, so it can come from anywhere.

2. You must have a case fan connected to the white 4 pin fan connector on the hub (fan1) to see rpm of the fan but this only shows the rpm of the connected fan on that particular header.

Unless you have a USB connection that can record and send data, or multiple fan outs this is the way it is going to be. Fan 1 will be the only one with a tach out, otherwise it'll mess up your motherboard tach sensor. To get aroud this I've made PWM converter circuits that had multiple fan tach outputs, but gods they weren't very attractive.

3. Changing fan speeds via the motherboard BIOS or software only affects the fan on the white fan1 header, all other fans appear to run at full speed, surely it should change all the connected fan's speeds.

This'll be likely because you aren't running in a true PWM mode. If you vary the voltage to Fan 1, either by PWM modulating the input voltage (5-12v on and off) or regulating a DC voltage (steady 5v-12v) only Fan 1 will respond. All others, as they are directly powered by Molex or whatever will only see 12v.

I think it is the complications that arise from different motherboard using different flavours of control that has prevented these devices from being commonplace. Until a few years ago there was nothing out there even similar.

 

[flowrider99]

My issue with NZXT "PWM" fan hub is that it is not an accurate description as only fan1 is PWM controlled and all other fans are run at full speed. Whats the point of that? I thought I was buying a version of NZXT's Grid+ fan controller. To me if I remove the fan hub and replace all the NZXT fans then I have thrown away roughly £50 worth of kit making the chassis a very expensive buy.

Despite the above I love the design of the case, its a shame the fan hub is so poor.

 

[cjbagnall]

Your hub must be faulty or not receiving a pwm signal (not all motherboard 4 pin connectors are pwm), as mine controls the speed of all the fans connected to it, controlled by my cpu fan header and bios settings.