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SmartFan not working

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grit621
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2010/01/23 01:53:20 (permalink)
I'm trying to gain some control over my CPU/case fans. I've got 3 Noctua fans hooked up to the correct connectors on the board. In BIOS under the hardware health section, i can monitor the RPMs of all 3 fans in real time. However, I cannot control the fan speed at all.

I've tried SmartFan, and no settings make any changes.

I've tried manual via duty cycle and no settings make any changes.

I've tried manual via RPM and no settings make any changes.


How do i get this option to work? I actually went to lots of work to get this computer set up so it would be as quiet as possible and I'm relying on BIOS to control the fans. This worked perfectly with these same fans on an Asus motherboard.

Help please. :(

- Garrett



#1

11 Replies Related Threads
    feathers632
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/23 03:05:24 (permalink)
    Now you discover one of the biggest failings of the EVGA P55 series... Fan control (or lack of).  The CPU fan header only speed controls 4 pin fans (yes I know every other brand of motherboard including Asus and Gigabyte allows regulation of speed with a 3 or 4 pin fan on CPU header).  Furthermore other brands show fan RPM below 1000.  FTW only shows fan speed if it's 1000rpm+ 

    So, if you want to regulate fan speed with your 3 pin fans, you can only connect to sys fan and pwr fan headers.  Set them to PWM auto and you can define your speed/temp ranges for both fans.  To test it's working, set all the speed bands to zero, save and exit then go back into the bios.  You should find the fans stop turning after a while.

    What you can do is use Speedfan software to gain control of the fan headers but still you will only be able to regulate Sys and Pwr fan header speed.  What you can do is make an adaptor or perhaps buy one to wire multiple fans to each header.  That's what I have done.

    i7 860 @ 4.3ghz
    FTW 657 A59 Bios.
    8gb GSKILL Ripjaw 1600 mhz 7 7 7 26 88 @ 1.65v.
    PCH 1.25
    CPU PLL 1.975
    CPU VTT 1.425
    DRAM 1.65
    Bclock 205
    QPI 4.2
    MCH Strap 1867 (this is critical at speeds past 4ghz must be no lower than 1867)
    CPU PWM Freq = 1019
    VTT PWM Freq = 634
    DDR PWM Freq =634
    CPU vcore 1.42
    Vdroop = Disabled.
    Manual memory mode (no XMP)
    PCIe 104mhz.
    Hyperthreading and all speedstep and turbo mode DISABLED!
    Watercooled CPU = swiftech Apogee and some heavy duty water cooling parts.


    #2
    grit621
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/23 17:25:30 (permalink)
    Well after reading your SpeedFan guide and doing some playing around, I think you're 100% correct: EVGA has hard-limited the fan speed to 1000 rpm somehow. I have 3 Noctua fans, and regardless of what I do, where I plug them in, I can NOT get the damn things to below 1000 rpm using any software or BIOS. Even 5% = 1000 rpm. 25% and up yield their max of about 1300 rpm. 0% will turn the fan off.

    I started with an Asus board and did not have this problem. And I've read the Gigabyte boards don't have this problem either. I'd like to stay w/evga, but if I can't even get software to take control of the fans appropriately...
    #3
    feathers632
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/24 01:55:27 (permalink)
    Well if 0% turned the fans off, then you can gain control of the sys and pwr fan headers in the bios or with speedfan.  Setting at 0% and seeing the fans stop turning shows the fan control is working for those two channels.  So all you have to do is create a profile based on temp range. 

    I have speedfan set to control my radiator and case fans.  Case fans connected to sys fan header and radiator fans on pwr header.  In the bios you would have to set temp range based on mobo case temp and vreg temp but with speedfan you can re-route the control.  I have radiator fans on pwr header and with speedfan I set the pwr header to respond to cpu core temps.  My water radiator cools a cpu waterblock so that's why I have speedfan controlling rad fan speed.

    It works well once you have set it up properly.



    i7 860 @ 4.3ghz
    FTW 657 A59 Bios.
    8gb GSKILL Ripjaw 1600 mhz 7 7 7 26 88 @ 1.65v.
    PCH 1.25
    CPU PLL 1.975
    CPU VTT 1.425
    DRAM 1.65
    Bclock 205
    QPI 4.2
    MCH Strap 1867 (this is critical at speeds past 4ghz must be no lower than 1867)
    CPU PWM Freq = 1019
    VTT PWM Freq = 634
    DDR PWM Freq =634
    CPU vcore 1.42
    Vdroop = Disabled.
    Manual memory mode (no XMP)
    PCIe 104mhz.
    Hyperthreading and all speedstep and turbo mode DISABLED!
    Watercooled CPU = swiftech Apogee and some heavy duty water cooling parts.


    #4
    grit621
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/25 16:02:22 (permalink)
    I think there's something deeply funky with the fan connectors. My Noctua fans come with an extension cord that includes a soldered resistor to reduce voltage and slow the fan down. So I clipped one in on my 140mm fan. The fan flat-out stopped working. It twitched like it WANTED to get going, but wouldn't go. Took the resistor portion out and it went back to normal. This problem does not show up when you plug into a PSU cable instead.
     
    Also, the minimum RPM i can bring the fans to is about 1060. After that, they just shut down. I think, as you mentioned Feather, the board simply prevents fans from going below 1000 rpm, though I don't know how/why.
     
     
    #5
    feathers632
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/25 16:18:19 (permalink)
    No!  The fan speed should respond to what you dial in.  The RPM isn't shown below speeds of 1000 but the speed can still be controlled.

    I can control my fans from 0 to 100% via speedfan and in bios too.

    Are you in the correct fan mode?  PWM smartfan in bios.



    i7 860 @ 4.3ghz
    FTW 657 A59 Bios.
    8gb GSKILL Ripjaw 1600 mhz 7 7 7 26 88 @ 1.65v.
    PCH 1.25
    CPU PLL 1.975
    CPU VTT 1.425
    DRAM 1.65
    Bclock 205
    QPI 4.2
    MCH Strap 1867 (this is critical at speeds past 4ghz must be no lower than 1867)
    CPU PWM Freq = 1019
    VTT PWM Freq = 634
    DDR PWM Freq =634
    CPU vcore 1.42
    Vdroop = Disabled.
    Manual memory mode (no XMP)
    PCIe 104mhz.
    Hyperthreading and all speedstep and turbo mode DISABLED!
    Watercooled CPU = swiftech Apogee and some heavy duty water cooling parts.


    #6
    johnmk
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/25 17:52:33 (permalink)
    Is there a fan mode setting in the EVGA P55 FTW? I didn't think there was.
    #7
    feathers632
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/26 02:10:39 (permalink)
    johnmk

    Is there a fan mode setting in the EVGA P55 FTW? I didn't think there was.


    I will take some bios pics and post them today...

    i7 860 @ 4.3ghz
    FTW 657 A59 Bios.
    8gb GSKILL Ripjaw 1600 mhz 7 7 7 26 88 @ 1.65v.
    PCH 1.25
    CPU PLL 1.975
    CPU VTT 1.425
    DRAM 1.65
    Bclock 205
    QPI 4.2
    MCH Strap 1867 (this is critical at speeds past 4ghz must be no lower than 1867)
    CPU PWM Freq = 1019
    VTT PWM Freq = 634
    DDR PWM Freq =634
    CPU vcore 1.42
    Vdroop = Disabled.
    Manual memory mode (no XMP)
    PCIe 104mhz.
    Hyperthreading and all speedstep and turbo mode DISABLED!
    Watercooled CPU = swiftech Apogee and some heavy duty water cooling parts.


    #8
    DMIINC
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/26 07:56:54 (permalink)
    Problem is that they are atempting to control fans as if they were 4 pin PWM. This does work to some extent but it will not detect speeds properly. Also if I try to adjust my fans through BIOS they are at 100% even though I set them at 50%. I believe from my own research that the fans can be switched back to linear DC mode which would detect fan speeds down into 400RPM range.

    See pic below. If you use speed fan you can flip them back to linear DC and will allow better speed detection however EVGA still needs to work on proper calibration and include this into next BIOS release if possible. 


     
    #9
    feathers632
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/26 08:39:28 (permalink)
    DMIINC

    Problem is that they are atempting to control fans as if they were 4 pin PWM. This does work to some extent but it will not detect speeds properly. Also if I try to adjust my fans through BIOS they are at 100% even though I set them at 50%. I believe from my own research that the fans can be switched back to linear DC mode which would detect fan speeds down into 400RPM range.

    See pic below. If you use speed fan you can flip them back to linear DC and will allow better speed detection however EVGA still needs to work on proper calibration and include this into next BIOS release if possible. 




    Ok I tried that and the fans are either off or on and the readings below 1000 are all over the place!

    The control works very well with PWM manual so that is how I run it.



    i7 860 @ 4.3ghz
    FTW 657 A59 Bios.
    8gb GSKILL Ripjaw 1600 mhz 7 7 7 26 88 @ 1.65v.
    PCH 1.25
    CPU PLL 1.975
    CPU VTT 1.425
    DRAM 1.65
    Bclock 205
    QPI 4.2
    MCH Strap 1867 (this is critical at speeds past 4ghz must be no lower than 1867)
    CPU PWM Freq = 1019
    VTT PWM Freq = 634
    DDR PWM Freq =634
    CPU vcore 1.42
    Vdroop = Disabled.
    Manual memory mode (no XMP)
    PCIe 104mhz.
    Hyperthreading and all speedstep and turbo mode DISABLED!
    Watercooled CPU = swiftech Apogee and some heavy duty water cooling parts.


    #10
    DMIINC
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/26 09:27:09 (permalink)
    Hence calibration. At 50% in linear DC mode I show output of 11.1 V at JPWR. It is all over the place and best results that I had were around 27% when selected through speed fan. As I said before it took EVGA 8 months to fix fans on X58 so we have to voice our concerns and it will be fixed. BTW fans on X58 boards work beautifully now.

     
    #11
    feathers632
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    Re:SmartFan not working 2010/01/26 10:34:20 (permalink)
    DMIINC

    Hence calibration. At 50% in linear DC mode I show output of 11.1 V at JPWR. It is all over the place and best results that I had were around 27% when selected through speed fan. As I said before it took EVGA 8 months to fix fans on X58 so we have to voice our concerns and it will be fixed. BTW fans on X58 boards work beautifully now.


    So perhaps they will improve fan control for P55 then eh?

    Until that day comes, I will continue in PWM mode with my 3 pin fans.  I lose fan speed below 1000rpm but at least the fan control is consistent and I can vary the speed from 0 to 100%.

    Since I run multiple fans on a single header, I can get by with this setup until EVGA release a bios fix to improve things.



    i7 860 @ 4.3ghz
    FTW 657 A59 Bios.
    8gb GSKILL Ripjaw 1600 mhz 7 7 7 26 88 @ 1.65v.
    PCH 1.25
    CPU PLL 1.975
    CPU VTT 1.425
    DRAM 1.65
    Bclock 205
    QPI 4.2
    MCH Strap 1867 (this is critical at speeds past 4ghz must be no lower than 1867)
    CPU PWM Freq = 1019
    VTT PWM Freq = 634
    DDR PWM Freq =634
    CPU vcore 1.42
    Vdroop = Disabled.
    Manual memory mode (no XMP)
    PCIe 104mhz.
    Hyperthreading and all speedstep and turbo mode DISABLED!
    Watercooled CPU = swiftech Apogee and some heavy duty water cooling parts.


    #12
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