Fan controller question

mrgoodtouches

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Jan 5, 2015
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OK so here are my specs
CPU Intel i7 4790k
Cpu cooler hyper 212 evo
MOBO asus vi maximus hero.
Psu evga g2 850w
Gpu evga ssc gtx 970
Case phantek enthoo pro
FANS
4X CORSAIR AF120
1X PHANTEK 140 FAN
and the hyper 212 fan.

Here's my question right now I have all my case fans plugged in to the fan hub of the case. And then a 4pin going from the hub to my mobo cpu_opt. And for some reason it causes my mobo to freak out. It gives me a cpu fan error. And then it makes my CPU fan run way lower the what it should 600rpms. But when I unplug the hub from the mobo my CPU fan go's back to where it should 1000rpm. And my temp go back to where they should for only having one fan running 38c. So if I got a fan controller and installed would I haft to plug a 4 pin connector to mobo? And also I haven't updated my bios yet. So could that be causing the problem?
 
Solution
The CPU_OPT fan port is meant for coolers such as tower heatsinks with two fans, you should put the Hub into a case_fan port, also i can recommend seperating the 140mm fan and the 120mm fans, because they have a different RPM/CFM ratios.

the reason your motherboard is throttling the cpu fan is because it believes there are 2 fans attached to the cpu cooler (again, because the hub is plugged to the CPU_OPT

Pomosa

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Feb 22, 2015
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The CPU_OPT fan port is meant for coolers such as tower heatsinks with two fans, you should put the Hub into a case_fan port, also i can recommend seperating the 140mm fan and the 120mm fans, because they have a different RPM/CFM ratios.

the reason your motherboard is throttling the cpu fan is because it believes there are 2 fans attached to the cpu cooler (again, because the hub is plugged to the CPU_OPT
 
Solution

hwc1954

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Jan 7, 2015
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If you want to use the Phantek fan hub, then I would take a 4-pin splitter from your CPU Fan header. Connect your CPU fan to one side of the splitter (the side with all four pins with a tach signal). Connect the fan hub to the other side of the splitter (the side with a missing 3rd pin).

Note that the Phantek hub doesn't really work as it is supposed to. All of the fans connected to it will run at or near full speed. It's basically just a splitter. Pretty much useless or fan control.

Your ASUS MB has awesome fan control built in. It's probably the best single reason to buy an ASUS over some other brand. You've got two PWM fan headers and three voltage controlled fan headers, all of which can be independently controlled with the Fan Xpert utility in the AI Suite 3 software for your motherboard. I would watch the YouTube videos on Fan Xpert. It's way beyond any fan fan controller you can buy (except the Aquaeros):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i-aTUMuIB0
 

hwc1954

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That actually would be bad or pointless. If you use the Phantek fan hub connected to a voltage controlled fan header without the molex plug connected, all of the fans connected to the hub will be powered by a single fan header and you are likely to overload the header. Bad.

If you connect the molex plug to the power supply, the fans will simply run at 100%, so there is no point in connecting to the fan header on the MB at all, since there will be no fan control. Pointless.

The fan hub is supposed to vary the speed of the 3-pin voltage controlled fans connected to it based on the PWM signal from a PWM 4-pin header. Fantastic, except for the fact that the Phanteks fan hub doesn't work. The speed of fans connected to it only varies from about 95% full speed to 100% full speed. There's no effective speed control and, thus, no real point in using the hub for anything but a six fan splitter powered by a molex from the PSU.

It would be a shame to rig up the fans that way on a MB with awesome programmable fan control software like the ASUS.
 

mrgoodtouches

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Ah thanks for the info. But I do believe my fans are powered by the psu. By whatever powers the hdd the name escapes me lol. So I don't think I need to worry about overloading my mobo fan header. I am getting a fan controller for my fans asap. Just because I realy can't stand them running at full speed so loud. I think the fan controller will be easiest. What I might do is just hook up as many fans on the fan headers just to be safe. Because yes it's being powered by my psu. But the fans won't spin without the hub 4pin being plugged into the mobo
 

hwc1954

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Yes. If you have the black molex or SATA connector from the phantek hub connected to the PSU, then your fans will be powered by the PSU and running at 100% all the time. It's fine to have them powered by the PSU (although not necessary with your motherboard), but it sucks to have the fans run at 100% except when the computer is under heavy load.

You don't need a fan controller. You've got the best, slickest, fan controller built into your motherboard and the awesome Fan Xpert software. Way better than ANY fan controller you can buy, unless you pop for the Aquaero.

Just watch the YouTube video I linked. You can do all that without a fan controller. It's built into your MB and you've got enough controllable fan headers on the MB for all of your fans. Nothing else needed except maybe a splitter or two.

All the fan controller is going to do is give you a knob to control the speed of the fans manually. You can do that with Fan Xpert if you want (no controller needed). But, a better way is to let Fan Xpert automatically control your fans based on temperature (CPU socket temp is a good choice). The fans get super quiet when the computer is at idle. Crank up to full speed when things get hot and you need the cooling.
 

hwc1954

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Jan 7, 2015
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Here's another video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFjQb0BdBiA

If you just did the calibration of the fans and then selected the STANDARD mode preset, your fans would be automatically controlled based on the changing CPU temperature.

You don't have to use all the fan headers. You could easily put two of your Corsairs on a single header with a splitter. Actually, the fans draw a max of 0.13 amp. You could put four of them on one header if you wanted to (each header is rated at 1.0 amp). All the fans connected to a single header would be controlled as if it were one fan.