Motherboard fan control

Odaik

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Aug 23, 2008
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hello,

I'm looking at puchasing the Gigabyte EX58 extreme motherboard. However, from what I've seen on the net, there is little or no fan control.

I'm currently using an abit IP-35 pro XE motherboard (with uGuru), and the fan control system is simply amazing. This, along with the temperature monitoring, allows me to very precisely control fan speeds, and they are automatically adjusted with drops/rises in temperatures. It's all hardware based too, from what I understand (a dedicated uGuru chip on the board?).

What kind of options do I have with this Gigabyte motherboard? I've used Easytune with a Gigabyte board in another system, but it was quite basic, and I had no control over the system fan RPM's. I also had to leave the application open (wasting resources?) to maintain control/alerts etc.

I've set all my case fans to maximum before using uGuru, and it is really quite loud. Will I be stuck with all 5 case fans set to 12v with this motherboard (assuming I don't use some hardware based fan controller, the type you stick into the drive bays)?

If there is absolutely no way the gigabyte board can control the fans (I'm assuming it's done with voltage adjustments rather than PWM, like my Abit board), then I'd be prepared to have a look at other boards.

Thanks!
 

LLJones

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Feb 28, 2009
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Use a hardware based fan controller. I have a nzxt top of the line digital. IMO what a POS. I am taking it out in favor of a manual fan controller. They cost very little and can control up to six fans. It will be your personal preference on which one you choose. Try visiting a web site that specializes in custom cooling pc's and then you will get to look at a half dozen or more choices.

The nice thing about controlling all of the fans is you get to set the noise level. It is a bit of a pain in that you have to turn up the fans before you start gaming, but this is only a 2-3 sec inconvenience.

The better the after market coolers you use on all of your components, cpu,gpu,nb,sb etc., the less air you have to move to keep them cool.

Good luck :)
 

Odaik

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Aug 23, 2008
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Thanks for your advice mate. :)

So there is definitely no board with fan control like the Abit uGuru system?

I've had a look at controllers, but I'll try and avoid them if I can find a board like the Abit I have.