Help with cooler noise - pwm

[Zooman580]

Hi
I just bought the corsair a70 cpu cooler. Its a great performance cooler and all, but it doesn't have PWM, and therefore can only run at 1600 rpm or 2000 rpm, which is overkill for when I'm browsing the web or running a program that doesn't need the power and heat of an i7. It has double fans with 3 pin connectors. THe two connectors has a Y connector for the CPU fan socket. Would there be any way to modify this so that it CAN have reduced rpm when not gaming or photoshopping? I've tried using the resistor cables which come with it but that simply reduces the rpm to 1600 which is still too much and removing those resistors it such a pain since the cooler is large. Is there such a thing as a 3 pin to 4 pin adapter? I've tried using the motherboard's fan speed adjuster but that doesn't work.
I wish I could have done my research. I thought the a70 had pwm.......PWM is useful.
Any help on this?
Would I have to just replace the fans on it? 2000 rpm is really loud

 

[o1die]

A few motherboards have a smartfan setting that works with 3 or 4 pin fan connectors. My msi has a fifty percent setting for each of the 3 pin system fan ports. You might try selling your corsair and switching to a plain 4 pin heatsink. I searched the cable specialty websites and couldn't find a 3 pin to 4 pin adapter, except for the power supply connectors.

 

[abully]

No point in getting 4 pin cable... it wont work unless the fan is PWM model...

OK now this is what you have to do to control the fan speeds automatically... remove any resistor attached to the fan...go to bios and disable any cpu fan control feature... next download and install speedfan (its free)... identify the fan which is connected to the cpu (it will read all fans connected to the mobo) its usually the first one... next identify the different temperatures speedfan is reading... identify the temperature which varies a lot depending on load levels (this is important because you will vary the fan speed based on this temp reading)... for some its core temps for some its northbridge temps... you will also see different speed controls at the bottom like speed 01, speed 02, speed 03 etc depending on the mobo's PWM controls... we'll come to that later...

Click configure... under temperature tab you will see all the temps listed... for an easier understanding lets say temp 1, temp 2, temp 3, core 0 and core1... and you choose temp 1 as the reference temp for fan speed control... expand all other temps by clicking on the + symbol next to each temp and DESELECT all the tick-boxes corresponding to speed 01, 02, 03 etc... so you should have all the speed tick-boxes ticked only under temp 1... Click on temp 1 and you'll see temp settings at the bottom, choose the desired temp you want to maintain (that'll be the idle temp +1c or +2c)... warning temp will the max you can go...(i keep 35 and 70)... select the tick-box next to it (and also deselect the tick-box for other temps)

Go to speeds tab... you should determine what is the minimum speed you want your fans to run... suppose you decide you want your fans running at 700 rpm as the lowest... that translates to 35% of 2000rpm (your fan's max speed)... click on each speed and you'll see the minimum value and maximum value at the bottom... keep the minimum as 35 and max always 100... select the automatically variated tick-box...

go to options tab there you will see delta value for fan speeds... make its value 1... ensure the tick box next to it is ticked (set fans 100% on program exit)...

Click OK... on the main screen you'll see another tick-box below the configure button saying automatic fan speed... tick that box... always click minimize and never the close button (unless you choose minimize on close option in options under configure)...

And finally VERY IMPORTANT... put the speedfan at system startup... the fans start at full speed upon boot and once windows is loaded then speedfan regulates the speed... you should see the speed percentage coming down based on the temps... you can adjust to any variable you may desire from the configuration...

Now you're good to go... lemme know if it works out for you...

 

[Zooman580]

No point in getting 4 pin cable... it wont work unless the fan is PWM model...

OK now this is what you have to do to control the fan speeds automatically... remove any resistor attached to the fan...go to bios and disable any cpu fan control feature... next download and install speedfan (its free)... identify the fan which is connected to the cpu (it will read all fans connected to the mobo) its usually the first one... next identify the different temperatures speedfan is reading... identify the temperature which varies a lot depending on load levels (this is important because you will vary the fan speed based on this temp reading)... for some its core temps for some its northbridge temps... you will also see different speed controls at the bottom like speed 01, speed 02, speed 03 etc depending on the mobo's PWM controls... we'll come to that later...

Click configure... under temperature tab you will see all the temps listed... for an easier understanding lets say temp 1, temp 2, temp 3, core 0 and core1... and you choose temp 1 as the reference temp for fan speed control... expand all other temps by clicking on the + symbol next to each temp and DESELECT all the tick-boxes corresponding to speed 01, 02, 03 etc... so you should have all the speed tick-boxes ticked only under temp 1... Click on temp 1 and you'll see temp settings at the bottom, choose the desired temp you want to maintain (that'll be the idle temp +1c or +2c)... warning temp will the max you can go...(i keep 35 and 70)... select the tick-box next to it (and also deselect the tick-box for other temps)

Go to speeds tab... you should determine what is the minimum speed you want your fans to run... suppose you decide you want your fans running at 700 rpm as the lowest... that translates to 35% of 2000rpm (your fan's max speed)... click on each speed and you'll see the minimum value and maximum value at the bottom... keep the minimum as 35 and max always 100... select the automatically variated tick-box...

go to options tab there you will see delta value for fan speeds... make its value 1... ensure the tick box next to it is ticked (set fans 100% on program exit)...

Click OK... on the main screen you'll see another tick-box below the configure button saying automatic fan speed... tick that box... always click minimize and never the close button (unless you choose minimize on close option in options under configure)...

And finally VERY IMPORTANT... put the speedfan at system startup... the fans start at full speed upon boot and once windows is loaded then speedfan regulates the speed... you should see the speed percentage coming down based on the temps... you can adjust to any variable you may desire from the configuration...

Now you're good to go... lemme know if it works out for you...

ok so I followed everything you said
thanks for the instructions btw
I removed the resistors and disabled q fan control for the cpu. I had speedfan installed already and did what you said. Basically I set the CPU temp as the reference and unchecked everything else. That might be the part I messed up on. I made reference the cpu temp.
After that it's pretty hard to mess up. I rechecked your steps etc. The fan still refuses to drop from 2000 rpm. Do I have to restart the computer or something? Also, how do you make the program start at system startup? Maybe that could be what I'm doing wrong.
Are all fans controllable this way? My fans are 3 pin non-pwm fans.
I hope that doesn't change anything. Could you help and tell me what else I could be doing wrong? Thanks
Would I be better off with a fan controller?
I know that non-pwm fans can be controlled by lower voltage but idk how taht works

 

[rajajang]

great tips

 

[beanoslim]

That is some reply abully.

I'd just get 2 new fans that you can run hard at low noise, from the reviews I've read the a70 fans aren't quiet.

Fan speed controllers are good but when you need to turn it up the fans will still be loud..

 

[Zooman580]

That is some reply abully.

I'd just get 2 new fans that you can run hard at low noise, from the reviews I've read the a70 fans aren't quiet.

Fan speed controllers are good but when you need to turn it up the fans will still be loud..

That's true....the A70 fans are twice as loud as my Antec 902's case fans on med speed. And the worst part is the A70's fans only have 2 speeds. with the lower speed still far to loud for idle.

I don't mind loud fans when I'm playing games since most coolers are at least SORTA loud under full load
So i guess I could go with a fan controller. I only need one adjustment pin though...most fan controllers have 4 or 5 diff ones

 

[beanoslim]

Cheap as chips. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Controller-Adjusting-Speed-Single/dp/B000292DO0

 

[abully]

OK... now lets see whats the problem here...

If you did exactly what i said it should work... nevermind 4 pin or pwm fans... all fans connected to mobo can be speed controlled by speedfan by varying the voltage... i have my 2 noctua cooler fans plus 3 case fans controlled this way... and none are pwm fans...

what was the minimum value you kept for the cpu temp??? is this close to idle temps??? for example if your idle temp is 35 you should keep the minimum value as 36 (NOT 34)... that way the fans will come to the lowest speed percentage... max you can keep any high value... remember your fan speeds will come down only if speedfan thinks that your current temps are less than or equal to the temp you set as minimum value...

you can keep speedfan in the startup menu by following any steps prescribed in the below links...
XP - http://www.windowsbbs.com/windows-xp/46782-how-add-program-launch-startup.html
Vista - http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=33789
Win 7 - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1401-startup-programs-change.html

and one other thing... the fan speeds start dropping after 30seconds to a minute... so have some patience after you start speedfan...

 

[Zooman580]

OK... now lets see whats the problem here...

If you did exactly what i said it should work... nevermind 4 pin or pwm fans... all fans connected to mobo can be speed controlled by speedfan by varying the voltage... i have my 2 noctua cooler fans plus 3 case fans controlled this way... and none are pwm fans...

what was the minimum value you kept for the cpu temp??? is this close to idle temps??? for example if your idle temp is 35 you should keep the minimum value as 36 (NOT 34)... that way the fans will come to the lowest speed percentage... max you can keep any high value... remember your fan speeds will come down only if speedfan thinks that your current temps are less than or equal to the temp you set as minimum value...

you can keep speedfan in the startup menu by following any steps prescribed in the below links...
XP - http://www.windowsbbs.com/windows-xp/46782-how-add-program-launch-startup.html
Vista - http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=33789
Win 7 - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1401-startup-programs-change.html

and one other thing... the fan speeds start dropping after 30seconds to a minute... so have some patience after you start speedfan...

My idle temps are 19C according to speedfan. Its because its only around 15C in my room...maybe. I set the desired temp to be 25C. When you say minimum temp, is that the same as the desired temp at the temp page? I set the program to open at startup and waited a few minutes after restarting. Nothing really happened. The rpm did drop from the usual 1962 rpm or 2009 rpm (those are the unmodified numbers). Now after setting this up once in a while speedfan will show 1918rpm. Is that a good sign? There's no physical difference for dropping some rpm. I double checked my settings according to your nice instructions. Everything's right. What does the delta have to do with anything?

Anyways thank you very much for helping me, even if I'm still having trouble. Any more suggestions?

 

[beanoslim]

Take matters into your own hands and get a fan speed controller and some quiet fans

 

[Zooman580]

Take matters into your own hands and get a fan speed controller.

thanks......
but no if i can control the voltage from my mb id rather do that

 

[beanoslim]

Its your headache. [:aford10:1]

 

[abully]

c'mon slim... be nice... remember we were like this once...

the temp setting is fine... yes minimum temp is the desired temp... the delta value is the percentage of drop at a time; meaning it will drop 1 percent at a time when reducing the speeds like a countdown... if you keep it at 5 then the drop will be 100,95,90,85...

what is the speed minimum and maximum value??? how many speed values are you getting??? what are the temp readings you are getting in speedfan??? you said you kept cpu temp as the reference so i hope you have unticked the boxes of ALL SPEEDS inside the other temps...

Also what are the fan speeds you are able to get in speedfan???

OK now the mother of all questions... under speeds tab you will see the different speeds, then the chip which reads the speeds and there is one more column named sensor... do you have PWM1, PWM2 etc listed on it or is it empty??? if its empty then i guess your board cannot auto control the speeds...

 

[abully]

OK zooman... i am posting screenshots of my speedfan config just to give an idea... point out if you have any doubts...

 

[beanoslim]

Ok I understand the need to get something to work properly but Speedfan or no Speedfan Zoom will still have noisy fans when his cooler revs up.

Replacing his fans at least will eliminate the need to reduce his fan speed so much, I have some similar Enermax fans and can confirm they are very quiet even at full speed.

These deliver nearly as much airflow yet produce a fraction of the sound, Speedfan or Fan Controller you are still going to benifit from a set of quiet fans.

http://www.enermax.co.uk/index.php?L=2&id=133

Abully, you just had to post pics of your HAF-X didn't ya, I want one.. :lol:

 

[abully]

Those pics were for another post...

The enermax fans are max 1200 rpm... OP has fans of 2000 rpm... i'm sure thats where the sound issue comes from and he would probably be happy if he can get the fans to run at 1200 rpm...

Maybe OP doesnt want to spend on new fans now... i would suggest try to use existing hardware and change if no other option is there...

 

[beanoslim]

Thats ok as long as they cool his cpu @1200rpm, the enermax are also pwm.

Anyways, good luck what ever you decide, cool n quiet is something we can all agree on.

 

[Zooman580]

c'mon slim... be nice... remember we were like this once...

the temp setting is fine... yes minimum temp is the desired temp... the delta value is the percentage of drop at a time; meaning it will drop 1 percent at a time when reducing the speeds like a countdown... if you keep it at 5 then the drop will be 100,95,90,85...

what is the speed minimum and maximum value??? how many speed values are you getting??? what are the temp readings you are getting in speedfan??? you said you kept cpu temp as the reference so i hope you have unticked the boxes of ALL SPEEDS inside the other temps...

Also what are the fan speeds you are able to get in speedfan???

OK now the mother of all questions... under speeds tab you will see the different speeds, then the chip which reads the speeds and there is one more column named sensor... do you have PWM1, PWM2 etc listed on it or is it empty??? if its empty then i guess your board cannot auto control the speeds...

http://img714.imageshack.us/f/temps0.png/

http://img812.imageshack.us/f/80940107.png/

Here is what I have so far.....
Under speeds it doesn't say PWM just sys cpu aux
Do you think this means my board doesn't have pwm? it was over $200
Also, for the temps I don't have temp 1 temp 2 etc, yours does. The values on my speedfan are replaced with other things on the pictures

If there are any other pics you would like to see please tell me

thanks again

 

[abully]

OK... MY BAD... I didnt tell you one more configuration in speedfan and that would be the clincher for you... i guess i forgot about it...

Inside configure under advanced you should see different settings based on your mobo chips... see my below pic for reference...



Choose your chip (Winbond XXX) and that would throw its respective properties and values... I dont know what properties your board will throw but comapring it with mine i guess you should look for CPU, Sys and Aux (where mine read PWM 1 mode, PWM 2 mode, PWM 3 mode)... click on each one of them and at the bottom you would see Set to with a drop down box... choose software controlled for all three (since you have only cpu fans so i think changing CPU only should do the trick)... Tick remember it and OK...

I hope it works... Post whatever you get... This could be a reference for someone else in future...

And one more thing... which fan slot in the mobo have you connected the cpu fan??? i hope you connected it to the CPU fan header...

 

[Zooman580]

OK... MY BAD... I didnt tell you one more configuration in speedfan and that would be the clincher for you... i guess i forgot about it...

Inside configure under advanced you should see different settings based on your mobo chips... see my below pic for reference...

[url]http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7981/74887677.png[/URL]

Choose your chip (Winbond XXX) and that would throw its respective properties and values... I dont know what properties your board will throw but comapring it with mine i guess you should look for CPU, Sys and Aux (where mine read PWM 1 mode, PWM 2 mode, PWM 3 mode)... click on each one of them and at the bottom you would see Set to with a drop down box... choose software controlled for all three (since you have only cpu fans so i think changing CPU only should do the trick)... Tick remember it and OK...

I hope it works... Post whatever you get... This could be a reference for someone else in future...

And one more thing... which fan slot in the mobo have you connected the cpu fan??? i hope you connected it to the CPU fan header...

[url]http://img694.imageshack.us/i/advanced.png/[/URL]

thats weird, at the temps page it shows sys, cpu etc, but at the advanced page shows PWM 1..2..3
in the picture, it was originally set to manual PWM, but i tried all the options, still refuses to make the fan slow down.
and no, i did not plug the cpu cooler into the case fan slots. That was worth a try though, i unplugged my cpu fan and plugged it into a diff slot, wouldn't even spin.

 

[abully]

well... that was the last juice... i really cant understand why it wont work... the option should be software controlled meaning speedfan will control it and that is not there...

 

[Zooman580]

well... that was the last juice... i really cant understand why it wont work... the option should be software controlled meaning speedfan will control it and that is not there...

I know the reason.......lots of bad luck on my part
I don't know, guess I have to go get a fan controller now

Thanks for all the help anyway abully

btw everyone, don't ever try to unplug your cpu fan while its still moving, especially if you have a cramped case.......fan blades are sharp, but fan blade tips are much sharper, especially at 2000rpm

now there are 3 long gashes on my finger and a drop of blood on my harddrive

have a good day

 

[Zooman580]

Best answer selected by zooman580.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar