PWM fan query

[Whiffle]

Hi,

I am building a server that is based upon and am trying to keep it is as quiet and efficient as possible.

It is based upon a MSI H67MA-E35-B3 Socket 1155 motherboard and an i3-2105

I have two case fans (140mm on the front and 120mm on the back) and although they are pretty quiet, you can hear them occasionally.

As the server is just being used for Argus TV and Mediabrowser 3, it it is pretty much ticking over most of the time, recording and streaming from the 4 Hard Drives.

This means that I could certainly get away with a mechanism for speeding up the fans only when needed.

Unfortunately, there are only two 3-pin fan headers on the board I have and neither seems to control voltages.

I found this, by accident, and it seems to be the perfect solution:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-031-AK&tool=3

However, I was just wondering whether this was a good idea for a server where the CPU is ticking over but hard drives might be working fairly hard streaming data in and out.

In other words, does the CPU header control fan speeds based upon the CPU load or is it based upon a temperature reading?

 

[Tealc]

The CPU_FAN header normally uses the CPU temperature as its reference temperature, although you may be able to control it using another reference. I think Speedfan allows you to do this, although I can't be sure.

You could use a automatic speed fan controller that comes with stick on thermal probes so you can stick one to a hard drive and have it raise and lower accordingly.

There are also some speed regulated fans that comes with their own temperature probe.