I'm looking for a z68 motherboard with good fan control, any ideas?

[VistaVendetta]

I was thinking of the Asus P8Z68-V/Gen 3 but I can't find any info on its fan control. Basically I don't own any PWM fans nor do I plan to buy any I want to control my fans through my motherboard by using Speedfan 4.46 but I know if the motherboard doesn't support that sort of voltage control I'm out of luck, so I wanna know do you guys know if this motherboard or other in its price range support speedfan 3 pin voltage fan control.

I wanna make a custom fan profile in speedfan that:
1. links my top frontal intake and bottom side intake with the GPU temp
2. bottom frontal intake with the HDD temp.
3. Top side intake with CPU temp, I might just plug this one into the second CPU fan header since I plan on using a CM S524 CPU fan.
4. Rear exhaust I really don't know that to link it to.

Heres my case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139012
Heres my fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185058

 

[foscooter]

Never heard of Speedfan. And I don't think that mobo supports it.

Asus has it's own Fan utility, part of AI Suite II. But I've had nothing buit problems with the AI software, so I got rid of it (actully just didn't install in on a re-install of OS). All the tweaks I wanted to do in AI Suite, I could be myself in the BIOS.

The BIOS for that mobo does have some kind of fan control, but not detailed. You set your fans on Silent/Noraml/Turbo, that's it.

If you want specific fan control, I'd get a Fan Controller. They mount into a 5-1/2" front drive bay, and can hook a bunch of fans to them, and control them several different ways. Most included thermo sensors.

If you want a case with built in fan controls (but only low/medium/high), the only case I know of is a Cooler Master Cosmos S II. There are probably others.

BTW, I like my Asus P8Z68-V Pro, with all its fan headers: (2) 4-pin CPU fans, (2) 3-pin PWR fans, (1) 4-pin PWR chassis fan, (1) 3-pin chassis fans. I've used then all, and still have 2 fans hooked up via molex (I have 8 fans total).

 

[computernerdforlife]

Why don't you just pick up a card that fits below your DVD drive slot that has a fan control digital display on it. The reason i'm not recommending one specifically is because I haven't ran into one of these devices in a few years but I know they exist.

 

[foscooter]

You'll need to use the 3-pin to 4-pin adapters to control the fan speed through BIOS features.

Never heard of such a thing. I do know that you can plug a 3-pin fan into a 4-pin fan header (as I have). The PWM feature of the 4-pin header then doesn't work, or I could be wrong (according to the link above, which I haven't read fully).

 

[foscooter]

Those are 3-pin (directly to motherboard) to 4-pin MOLEX connector (from the PSU). No controller or mobo connections!

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Found some new information that may be more useful from another site regarding the same question.....

"The chassis fan slots are voltage controlled, so it all works fine now.
Of course it was the last slots I tried. I had tried the CPU and POWER slots before... the chassis slots kind of seemed the least likely to work. I mean, they're chassis fans!?

I had Fan Xpert the whole time. I'm still not sure if it's the temperature/fan power curve in the Fan Xpert that's controlling how the fans operate or if it's the settings in BIOS (they're not the same settings, Fan Xpert forces a minimum of 40% for chassis fans). I just uninstalled Fan Xpert and it still works fine, so I'm guessing it's BIOS. Or Fan Xpert left the settings working somehow. Either way, don't really care because it works!"

 

[foscooter]

Since the BIOS can monitor mobo temps, I think Fan Xpert can adjust fan speeds to match them.

But, I don't know if you can tell Fan Xpert which fan covers what part of the mobo (i.e. CPU, GPU, case, etc.).

Like I said, I gave up on Asus AI Suite II. BIOS settings were good enough (silent/normal/turbo), and with the 3-speed setting of the fans (Antec Tri-Cool), I can adjust them (albeit manually) good enough. I get ALOT of air movement out of the case, and had to "turn down" the top fans. It was getting cold under my desk!