Search
Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Solved

Problem with CPU fan

Last response: in Components
Share

My CPU fan began to make a horrible noise, so I decided to replace it before it died, and to upgrade my cooling to a CM Hyper 212 plus. My old CPU fan had a 3-pin power connecter, my mobo has a 3-pin CPU fan power connector, but the Hyper 212 fan has a 4-pin power connector.

On powering up my computer, the Hyper 212 fan spins briefly and stops, and I get a message that the CPU fan has failed and that the computer will shut down to prevent damage. The power connector has tabs to ensure that it gets plugged in correctly (i.e., with pin 4 as the odd man out rather than pin 1), and the fan does spin up before stopping. If I leave everything in place and just plug the old CPU fan into the mobo, everything starts up fine. (Yes, I shut it down immediately rather than run without a CPU fan attached to the heat sink.)

I have a Pegatron M2N7B-LA motherboard. My PSU is a 600W Thermaltake, more than my system needs. Any ideas why the fan would spin up and then stop?

More about : problem cpu fan

Register or log in to remove
CPUs Master

The fan needs to have a 4th pin to use its PWM mode. To use it on a 3 wire board, look in your BIOS to see if there is a way to disable PWM mode so it will work as a std fan.

I've also found that plugging the CPU fan into the case fan header does not resolve the issue: the fan spins and then stops, just as before. Since the case fan is always on, this shouldn't be a PWM issue, right?
Related ressources
Ask the community
CPUs Master

RJCorbett said:
I've also found that plugging the CPU fan into the case fan header does not resolve the issue: the fan spins and then stops, just as before. Since the case fan is always on, this shouldn't be a PWM issue, right?

Did you check to see if you can disable PWM mode in BIOS?
Nevermind. I just realized you said CASE fan.

After further research, I've found that my motherboard does provide a 12V CPU fan connector, not just a 5V, so I don't think that the fan is underpowered. And since the fan doesn't come on when I bypass the CPU fan error, it is not just a problem of taking a while to spin up. If the wire leading to pin 3 (the signal) were bad, my only problem would be that I would get a CPU fan error, the fan wouldn't stop spinning, right? That is, if there is nothing wrong with my mobo, PSU, GPU, etc., why would my fan spin for half a second and then stop, even when plugged into the (3-pin) case fan header?
Register or log in to remove
 
Ask the community
Read discussions in other Components categories
!