Help a newbie fix a video card fan problem.

S

SOSTrooper

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 30, 2009
Messages
477
Here's the problem I'm facing. I got a 5770 card, out of warranty since I don't know who the original owner was, it has a malfunctioned fan speed control of some sort. The fan is at 100% as soon as the system starts up. When I try manually adjust the speed in Catalyst, ATI Tool, or MSI Afterburner, they all have no effect on the speed of the fan. The card works perfect, in fact it runs VERY cool since it's being blasted at 100%, but very loud.

So before I go physically replace the fan with a 3rd party one, is there any way I can plug the 4 pin connector (pictured below) to something that I can manually adjust the fan with? Or can I somehow convert this 4 pin mini connector to a 3 or 4 pin regular fan connector (like those on case fans)?

4pinfan.jpg
 
Just a thought... the previous owner may have flashed the bios of the card to run the fan at 100%.

I'd recommend first grabbing a copy of gpu-z and running it then saving the 5770 bios off. Then get RBE (Radeon BIOS Editor) load up the bios and see what the fan settings are at. If you need a how to, go over to:

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/154/3

Below is what the bios fan settings on my 5770 look like unchanged. If your set to 100% for duty cycle min or if that lookup table is slected and all the fan speeds are 100% then a simple change and reflash of the card bios would probably fix your issue.

(you may find out everything looks good in the bios and you do indeed need to replace your fan but at least you'd know for sure this way)

clipboard02.jpg
 
longcat said:
Just a thought... the previous owner may have flashed the bios of the card to run the fan at 100%.

I'd recommend first grabbing a copy of gpu-z and running it then saving the 5770 bios off. Then get RBE (Radeon BIOS Editor) load up the bios and see what the fan settings are at. If you need a how to, go over to:

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/154/3

(you may find out everything looks good in the bios and you do indeed need to replace your fan but at least you'd know for sure this way)
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to make this suggestion, I followed the instruction and edited the BIOS and reflashed it back to the card, no dice. Fan is still at full blast. GPU-Z sees the fan running at 30%, but reports it going 4500rpm. Manually adjusting the fan speed via Catalyst and ATITool still have no effect.

I may consider spicing the wire and fit them with the appropriate 3 pin housing and metal pins. Something like this perhaps. I can disregard the blue wire am I correct?
 
I believe the blue wire is for RPM sensing... You don't need it if your just trying to connect it to power or a controller like R-Type suggested. I like that APEVIA one he suggested. looks clean and would be an easy install.
 
Hello Everyone,

How did you fix it SOSTrooper? I am having the exact same problem with my R7 260X 2GB 2xOC.
My fan controller is the Thermaltake Commander F5.

Yash047
 
If you have a multimeter I'd try a few continuity tests on the HSF to make sure it's not damaged. Make sure the card is removed from the PC when you do that. If GPU-Z is reporting the card is running at 30% it sounds like the harness may be damaged. As far as flashing the bios my advice is to flash it back to a default one from the manufacturer for the time being. Hope this helps.
 
4 wire PWM fans will usually run at max RPM if they aren't getting a PWM signal on the 4th wire. As for the reason why the fan isn't getting the PWM signal could be several issues. Something in the fan could have burned out, the wire could have a break or the card itself isn't sending the signal out.

If you don't have an oscilloscope to look at the PWM output, the only other way to test if PWM is working is to wire the fan up to a 4 wire fan header on the motherboard and see if you can control the speed. If you can't do PWM control then something is wrong with the fan or the wire.

PWM fans are generally backwards compatible with the voltage ramp system of 3 wire fans, but I know of no video cards that ever used the technology. It pretty much went from fixed speed fans to PWM control.
 
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