AIO fan control software: why so poor?

C

c3k

2[H]4U
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Sep 8, 2007
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Folks,

I've got an NZXT Kraken with their CAM software. I also have a Corsair GTiH110 (Okay. I just made up that nomenclature. I have no idea what the Corsair thing is. Their naming is stupid. It's a 280mm, dual fan radiator.) It's running the Corsair LINK software.

I've used CAM for about 2+ years. I've used LINK for almost a year.

CAM has improved. It is now stable. My Win10 machine with it runs without issue. I'd like more control, but it works.

The Corsair LINK app (which I've kept updated) continuously causes "app failure" crashes. My reliability graph is flatlined at zero, with a veritable forest of red "x"es.

CAM has shortcomings...but works.

LINK has promise...but crashes.

Why is it so difficult for these companies to create powerful, customizable, reliable fan control software?

Is there a better option out there?

Just venting. Sorry.
 
Download speedfan, make your own custom curves etc for any fan on any component on your pc and forget about it.
 
Koween said:
Download speedfan, make your own custom curves etc for any fan on any component on your pc and forget about it.
Click to expand...

Only works on some hardware...I've never had SpeedFan support and work on any hardware I own at all. Is it even developed anymore? I have to ask.


Corsair's Link works fine reading the data and controlling the fan on my RMi750 PSU.
 
c3k said:
Folks,

I've got an NZXT Kraken with their CAM software. I also have a Corsair GTiH110 (Okay. I just made up that nomenclature. I have no idea what the Corsair thing is. Their naming is stupid. It's a 280mm, dual fan radiator.) It's running the Corsair LINK software.

I've used CAM for about 2+ years. I've used LINK for almost a year.

CAM has improved. It is now stable. My Win10 machine with it runs without issue. I'd like more control, but it works.

The Corsair LINK app (which I've kept updated) continuously causes "app failure" crashes. My reliability graph is flatlined at zero, with a veritable forest of red "x"es.

CAM has shortcomings...but works.

LINK has promise...but crashes.

Why is it so difficult for these companies to create powerful, customizable, reliable fan control software?

Is there a better option out there?

Just venting. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Unistall the Entire Corsair Link Software Including the "driver removal dongle" which should be in your install/unistall programs under control panel.... and then download the newest version of Corsair Link, be completely sure you are downloading it for the Hydro Units as the Corsair Link for Corsair Commander and commander Mini works different, this is as typical mistake from both the end user and Corsair which never specify which software.. anyway to make it easier This is the latest version for the Hydro and PSU series

Skripka said:
Only works on some hardware...I've never had SpeedFan support and work on any hardware I own at all. Is it even developed anymore? I have to ask.
Click to expand...

Just exactly the same to me..
 
Thanks.

Speedfan: I've got version 4.52 (downloaded a few days ago). It does not even SEE my Corsair AIO. The only fan it can find is my GPU fan. (I'm running a Fractal R2 XL with 2/hardwired fractal fans (direct to the psu); The Corsair AIO has a pair of Noctua 140 PWMs on it; I've got a Noctua intake fan to the mobo and a Noctua exhaust fan on the mobo. Speedfan sees none of them...

SIV: I have vB16.0525.1 I haven't used it in months. I don't remember why. ;) I'll give it a go.

LINK: Hmm...I've used the control panel delete. I'll try flushing it again as Araxie mentioned. (A DDU option for cleaning out this software would be...awesome.) And, yes, I was using 4.3.0.154, as Araxie linked, above. (The Corsair forums are FILLED with complaints about LINK. Sure, satisfied folks rarely take time to say, "I like it".

Edited: My control panel shows two Corsair pieces of software (I have no Corsair hardware on this computer. The one with the NZXT cooler has a Corsair K95 RGB Cherry MX Red keyboard: my first mechanical and now I'm a total convert. But I digress...)

Edit cont: The two software entries are; "Windows Driver Package -Corsair Components, Inc. (SIUSBXP) USB (10/30/2015 3.6)", and "Corsair Link(TM) USB Dongle (Driver Removal)". Both installed on 8/22/2016.

So...time to discover what the hell that driver package is doing on my machine.
 
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I picked up a Grid+ for controlling the 11 fans in my new build and have been using it with CAM. Aside from it being laggy when making custom fan profiles, it works a treat.

If I were in your shoes I'd pick up a Grid+ and ditch the corsair software.

EDIT: Or I'm an idiot and you're talking about 2 different machines. Either way I'm happy with the Grid+ haha
 
rgMekanic said:
I picked up a Grid+ for controlling the 11 fans in my new build and have been using it with CAM. Aside from it being laggy when making custom fan profiles, it works a treat.

If I were in your shoes I'd pick up a Grid+ and ditch the corsair software.

EDIT: Or I'm an idiot and you're talking about 2 different machines. Either way I'm happy with the Grid+ haha
Click to expand...

Hmm... I may do that. The Grid+ looks nice. I can have my Corsair pump set in BIOS as cpu fan and keep it at 100%. The only downside to the Grid+ is that its specs state that PWM fans are controlled by voltage, not duty cycle. That may raise my minimum speed above what I like. But, this looks like a far better solution. (A plus is that I'm using CAM on the other machine and I've gotten used to it. It's nowhere near perfect, but it's far better than LINK.)
 
Skripka said:
Only works on some hardware...I've never had SpeedFan support and work on any hardware I own at all. Is it even developed anymore? I have to ask.
Click to expand...

c3k said:
Speedfan: I've got version 4.52 (downloaded a few days ago). It does not even SEE my Corsair AIO. The only fan it can find is my GPU fan. (I'm running a Fractal R2 XL with 2/hardwired fractal fans (direct to the psu); The Corsair AIO has a pair of Noctua 140 PWMs on it; I've got a Noctua intake fan to the mobo and a Noctua exhaust fan on the mobo. Speedfan sees none of them...
Click to expand...

This is probably a configuration error. Even if SpeedFan doesn't register fan rpm, it is still able to control them. It is a bit tricky to set up initially (first step is changing PWM control modes), but is free, can set custom curves for fans based on any MBO/CPU/GPU temp sensor and works reliably. I would give it another chance.
 
Meeho said:
This is probably a configuration error. Even if SpeedFan doesn't register fan rpm, it is still able to control them. It is a bit tricky to set up initially (first step is changing PWM control modes), but is free, can set custom curves for fans based on any MBO/CPU/GPU temp sensor and works reliably. I would give it another chance.
Click to expand...
Some motherboards just don't expose the chips that control system fans to the OS, they don't exist as far as the OS is concerned. I know this for a fact, as I've had two systems running the same version of Ubuntu but with different hardware, ldsensors detected the fans on one system but not on the other. The fans were connected to the motherboard headers on both systems.

Edit: OTOH, even if the motherboard exposes the sensors, if there are no drivers or the drivers don't expose the sensors to the rest of the OS, then you still may not have control, although you can manually send commands to the hardware if you know how it works.
 
Skripka said:
Only works on some hardware...I've never had SpeedFan support and work on any hardware I own at all. Is it even developed anymore? I have to ask.


Corsair's Link works fine reading the data and controlling the fan on my RMi750 PSU.
Click to expand...
Speedfan has worked on all me self built machines since abit bh6 motherboard.
i've only had missing support with HP or dell crap machines
 
SvenBent said:
Speedfan has worked on all me self built machines since abit bh6 motherboard.
i've only had missing support with HP or dell crap machines
Click to expand...

Didn't work on my P6x58D-E, doesn't work on my sig rig motherboard...don't remember it working on my Thuban Gigabyte mobo rig...Don't remember it working on my old K6N Neo AM4200+ system either.
 
Skripka said:
Didn't work on my P6x58D-E, doesn't work on my sig rig motherboard...don't remember it working on my Thuban Gigabyte mobo rig...Don't remember it working on my old K6N Neo AM4200+ system either.
Click to expand...
When you say it doesn't works how does it not work? I've seen a lot of people saying speedfan doesn't work, but most of the time just misconfigured.
 
SvenBent said:
When you say it doesn't works how does it not work? I've seen a lot of people saying speedfan doesn't work, but most of the time just misconfigured.
Click to expand...


All it does is read fan data like any utility can. Never controls it no matter the settings/drivers/etc-whether PWM fan header or voltage header.
 
Skripka said:
All it does is read fan data like any utility can. Never controls it no matter the settings/drivers/etc-whether PWM fan header or voltage header.
Click to expand...

This does sound like you never configured the sensor/control chip then.
this is mostly due to the facts the bios is overiding the sensor controls. so you have to disable that in the advanced settings of speedfan and set it to manuel.
This way speedfan can control the speeds.

if you don't do this then on many motherboards, adjusting speed with speedfan does nothing as the bios keeps overiding what speedfan says.
My work computer that im currently one is sadly one of those where speedfan absolutly detects nothing so I can't show you screenshots where you do it :(

-- edit --
found a screenshoot
IT8620EPWMEnable1-360.png


Looks how pwm1 pwm2 and pwm3 says smart guarding. that the bios controlling those
change those to manual of software controlled and put a checkmark in "remember it"
and voila magic has happened.
 
SvenBent said:
This does sound like you never configured the sensor/control chip then.
this is mostly due to the facts the bios is overiding the sensor controls. so you have to disable that in the advanced settings of speedfan and set it to manuel.
This way speedfan can control the speeds.

if you don't do this then on many motherboards, adjusting speed with speedfan does nothing as the bios keeps overiding what speedfan says.
My work computer that im currently one is sadly one of those where speedfan absolutly detects nothing so I can't show you screenshots where you do it :(

-- edit --
found a screenshoot
IT8620EPWMEnable1-360.png


Looks how pwm1 pwm2 and pwm3 says smart guarding. that the bios controlling those
change those to manual of software controlled and put a checkmark in "remember it"
and voila magic has happened.
Click to expand...

Been a long time since I played with it...Given the underwhelming software control of fans, I switched to a hardware controller a while back.


IIRC that configure menu and the manual mode did nada. But it has been a few years since I last went through a phase trying to use it.
 
Speedfan and my Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 don't work with one another. Using the same configure tab as SvenBent shows (and thanks for the screenie), I have NOTHING that shows a fan, with the exception of the "ATI Video Card at $0 on ISA". The various mobo fan chip(s) don't appear on the dropdown menu. I've selected every option (there are 12): nothing that controls a fan is present.
 
Shooting from the hip: if you are using windows 10 try starting it with admin rights.
 
SvenBent said:
This does sound like you never configured the sensor/control chip then.
this is mostly due to the facts the bios is overiding the sensor controls. so you have to disable that in the advanced settings of speedfan and set it to manuel.
This way speedfan can control the speeds.

if you don't do this then on many motherboards, adjusting speed with speedfan does nothing as the bios keeps overiding what speedfan says.
My work computer that im currently one is sadly one of those where speedfan absolutly detects nothing so I can't show you screenshots where you do it :(

-- edit --
found a screenshoot
IT8620EPWMEnable1-360.png


Looks how pwm1 pwm2 and pwm3 says smart guarding. that the bios controlling those
change those to manual of software controlled and put a checkmark in "remember it"
and voila magic has happened.
Click to expand...

Holy shit! I have been trying to get speedfan to control my fans for YEARS with no luck. This solved it!! Jesus, thank you!
 
Buy yourself this $5 adapter.

Plug it directly into your gfx card fan header and then connect your regular PWM fans on the radiator to it.

Now you can use MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision X or any other software that allows gpu fan curve modification to control the fans.
 
auntjemima said:
Holy shit! I have been trying to get speedfan to control my fans for YEARS with no luck. This solved it!! Jesus, thank you!
Click to expand...

You are welcome :D
Just doing my [H] Duty.

I just don't get why speedfan doesn do it automaticalle but i really dont like alot of the gui and work way with speedfan. but havent found a better alternative.
i would
- defautl to set all the pwms control to software
- remove the old fan control where you set 2 temps
- remove the overclocking
- remove the extra monitoring tab
- remover the volt monirroing ( is almost always wrong anyway)
- Be able to base the curve on the actually temp to overheat delta which is what the CPU sensor is reporting. This way a default curve could be made for all Intel CPU's

Hopefully one day i can program my own speedfan alternative :D
 
SvenBent said:
This does sound like you never configured the sensor/control chip then.
this is mostly due to the facts the bios is overiding the sensor controls. so you have to disable that in the advanced settings of speedfan and set it to manuel.
This way speedfan can control the speeds.
Click to expand...
saved me from posting this!
 
c3k said:
Hmm... I may do that. The Grid+ looks nice. I can have my Corsair pump set in BIOS as cpu fan and keep it at 100%. The only downside to the Grid+ is that its specs state that PWM fans are controlled by voltage, not duty cycle. That may raise my minimum speed above what I like. But, this looks like a far better solution. (A plus is that I'm using CAM on the other machine and I've gotten used to it. It's nowhere near perfect, but it's far better than LINK.)
Click to expand...

I've found it to do exactly what I want so far. Using splitters for the top 4 120s on 2 channels, bottom 4 120s on 2 channels, front 2 120s on 1 channel, and the rear 140 on 1 channel, and the whole unit is behind the motherboard tray.

I was going to go with an Aquaero unit, but you can't beat the price on the Grid+

cam_111716_1.jpg cam_111716_2.jpg unnamed.jpg
 
Just a PSA if anyone is thinking of buying the NZXT grid+ V2. It does not work with lots of noctua fans.
 
rgMekanic said:
Thats odd, Grid+ just does basic voltage controlling, same as Speedfan on a mobo header
Click to expand...


Yeah it was a nice program actually. The problem was it could not provide enough power to certain noctua fans (and some other manufacturer's fans) so they would just power cycle non-stop. NZXT rep told me the hardware needed to be re-designed to support higher power fans.
 
For ASUS motherboards, the ASUS software works great.

I have one computer with a Corsair H100i., The Corsair software works fine with it. Have had it a few years and I have never seen it crash once.

As for other hardware, it is hit or miss as far as fan control goes.

I have had mixed experiences with Speedfan. I have no systems I use it on right now.

For my laptop, I am using HWInfo64 for the fan control since it is the only software I could find that can access the fans somewhat properly. Still kinda buggy as it defaults the max fan speed to 2500rpm, when the real max is more like 4900 rpm. I just have to slide the slider down them up again when I first start it to make it work.

Sure wish Speedfan would actually work for my Dell M4600.
 
Furious_Styles said:
Yeah it was a nice program actually. The problem was it could not provide enough power to certain noctua fans (and some other manufacturer's fans) so they would just power cycle non-stop. NZXT rep told me the hardware needed to be re-designed to support higher power fans.
Click to expand...

I've been using Noctua iPPC fans for a while now with an NZXT Grid+ V2 and at first everything was fine. Now one of the 4pin connectors is straight up dead. I've also had issues with the fans stuttering so to speak. I don't know how else to explain it. It seemed like a power delivery issue so I separated some of the fans that I had running on splitters and that worked for a while. But now with the aforementioned dead 4pin I think that it's time for a warranty.

I'd like to try speedfan but I'm concerned about the amperage it'd pull through the motherboard port. I've verified with ASUS that you pretty much don't want to pull anymore than 2 amps per header.

I've thought about using a hardware controller from NZXT, but man. If cam worked better, I'd be 100% in. They need to focus a bit more on functionality and less on looks in my opinion.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Kwaz said:
I've been using Noctua iPPC fans for a while now and at first everything was fine. Now one of the 4pin connectors is straight up dead. I've also had issues with the fans stuttering so to speak. I don't know how else to explain it. It seemed like a power delivery issue so I separated some of the fans that I had running on splitters and that worked for a while. But now with the aforementioned dead 4pin I think that it's time for a warranty.

I'd like to try speedfan but I'm concerned about the amperage it'd pull through the motherboard port. I've verified with ASUS that you pretty much don't want to pull anymore than 2 amps per header.

I've thought about using a hardware controller from NZXT, but man. If cam worked better, I'd be 100% in. They need to focus a bit more on functionality and less on looks in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Are you using pwm or dc voltage control? If pwm, then just taking the pwm signal and using a splitter connected to the main 12v rail woud allow you to run a huge amount of fans from a single pwm header.
 
Koween said:
Are you using pwm or dc voltage control? If pwm, then just taking the pwm signal and using a splitter connected to the main 12v rail woud allow you to run a huge amount of fans from a single pwm header.
Click to expand...

I'm using an NZXT Grid+ V2 right now. Sorry, I quoted and made a comment in a way that wasn't clear about what I'm using to supply the voltage / signal. I fixed my post.
 
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