Asus ROG Maximus VII Impact

Looking at chapter 3.2.3, they are talking manually adjusting fans in general, the graph seems to go from 100% to 0%. It also says: Only the CPU fan can be switched between DC mode and PWM mode.
Looking at page 54, I'm seeying PWM signal for the CPU_FAN and a 5V signal for the CHA_FAN. Throughout the manual, the CoolHub fan connectors are being called ports for "chassis fans" 3 & 4.
 
Looking at chapter 3.2.3, they are talking manually adjusting fans in general, the graph seems to go from 100% to 0%. It also says: Only the CPU fan can be switched between DC mode and PWM mode.
Looking at page 54, I'm seeying PWM signal for the CPU_FAN and a 5V signal for the CHA_FAN. Throughout the manual, the CoolHub fan connectors are being called ports for "chassis fans" 3 & 4.

Looking at Noctuas page for the NF-F12 3000 RPM iPPC fan they have this listed under specifications:

Max. Input Power 3,6 W
Max. Input Current 0,3 A
Voltage 12 V

I assume the Max. Input Power means how much W they draw when spinning at 3000 RPM/running on 12V, or am I wrong? In either case, would it then be safe for me to connect two of these to each CoolHub connector (four fans in total)? Sorry for asking, I don't know much about fans.
 
Looking at chapter 3.2.3, they are talking manually adjusting fans in general, the graph seems to go from 100% to 0%. It also says: Only the CPU fan can be switched between DC mode and PWM mode.

So, the cheaper Z97i-Plus has 3x true PWM headers, but the Impact VIII only has 1 for the CPU?? (plus no fan-stop option)

I'm wondering if this manual is actually correct (or some copypasta from VII manual), or if ASUS are smoking crack?


The only reason I'd consider upgrading from the Z87i-Deluxe (or Impact VII, if I had one), would be for the improved BIOS fan controls.. which still aren't perfect in the Plus, but completely missing from the new Impact!
 
So, the cheaper Z97i-Plus has 3x true PWM headers, but the Impact VIII only has 1 for the CPU?? (plus no fan-stop option)

I'm wondering if this manual is actually correct (or some copypasta from VII manual), or if ASUS are smoking crack?


The only reason I'd consider upgrading from the Z87i-Deluxe (or Impact VII, if I had one), would be for the improved BIOS fan controls.. which still aren't perfect in the Plus, but completely missing from the new Impact!

Raj from Asus said in the OCN thread that the manual is incorrect, they should all be PWM headers.
 
Raj from Asus said in the OCN thread that the manual is incorrect, they should all be PWM headers.

Awesome, thanks Aiboh!

And regardless of the utter crap that one ASUS tech told me, I still think it should be possible for them to add the "fan-stop" option and lower min. duty cycle for case fans to the Impact VII and Z87i-Deluxe/Pro boards.

If they're truly worried about fan-stalling under 60% duty, this really wouldn't effect anyone under the standard silent/normal/turbo profiles.. only those of us that wanted to set the minimum below the 60% default. No worse than the current option to disable a fan entirely (or use FanXpert for fan-stop).
 
And regardless of the utter crap that one ASUS tech told me, I still think it should be possible for them to add the "fan-stop" option and lower min. duty cycle for case fans to the Impact VII and Z87i-Deluxe/Pro boards.

Not sure if this still works on the newest version of AI Suite but here's a workaround I found a while ago:

AI Suite, also, don't allow these fans to be set quiet. After Thermal Tuning AI Suite Sets them to min. 60% (obviously, AI Sute "reads" this from BIOS)
Currently I've made small "hack" in FanCalibrationData.xml in C:\ProgramData\ASUS\FanXpert
At this line I put this for both Assist Fans <maxdutytokeepstill>35</maxdutytokeepstill> which means Min. Duty Cuycle of 35%

@others
Please don't mess with FanCalibrationData.xml if you don't know what you doing. First make copy of FanCalibrationData.xml and add dummy extension like *.bak or *.old, kill AI Suite from task manager and do edit that line. After this run AI Suite from Start Menu and modification should be visible.

source: http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?36621-ASUS-Bios-fan-control-request&p=337135&viewfull=1#post337135
 
Not sure if this still works on the newest version of AI Suite but here's a workaround I found a while ago:

source: http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?36621-ASUS-Bios-fan-control-request&p=337135&viewfull=1#post337135

And thanks again! I've seen that hack before, but never got around to trying it before I uninstalled AiSuite.. again (FanXpert works quite nicely, but the rest of AiSuite suuucks).

If I'm not mistaken, upon 1st install of AiSuite, once you're inside FanXpert you can manually drop your fan curves below 60% - but.. once you hit the "fan tuning" button (which attempts to "read" your fan's characteristics), you're forever stuck at 60% min. duty cycle and can only use the fan-off toggle to get below that (or until you uninstall AiSuite completely and use their cleaner script).
 
If I'm not mistaken, upon 1st install of AiSuite, once you're inside FanXpert you can manually drop your fan curves below 60% - but.. once you hit the "fan tuning" button (which attempts to "read" your fan's characteristics), you're forever stuck at 60% min. duty cycle and can only use the fan-off toggle to get below that (or until you uninstall AiSuite completely and use their cleaner script).

I believe you're correct but it's been awhile since I setup my fan profiles so I don't remember for sure.
 
Which other Z97 motherboards offer extensive fan control on a hardware/BIOS level? Doesn't the ASRock do that?
 
Which other Z97 motherboards offer extensive fan control on a hardware/BIOS level? Doesn't the ASRock do that?

Yes Asrock, so does Gigabyte but they use a meaningless metric PWM/C 0.75 to 2.5, and they also have mostly fake PWM headers for chassis.
 
Yes Asrock, so does Gigabyte but they use a meaningless metric PWM/C 0.75 to 2.5, and they also have mostly fake PWM headers for chassis.

I wonder how EVGA does it with their Z97 Stinger. I remember reading something in the manual about them using only PWM.
 
Thanks for the manual link.

So far from my reading of the manual, there is even less information in this document regarding fan control limits.

Is nice to see the q fan graphical visualisation of fan speeds at the bios level (well done asus). For the hardcore bios fan control users, the prettier fan interface is nicer than anything else on the market, but the actual controls are not as comprehensive as asrocks offering.

doccumentation however, is severely lacking, omitting the most important part to us users, the limits to which we can set the controls to.

We can see from the graphic that we can set cpu down to 20% but i cant be sure if this can allow 0% (which should mean fan stop)

In the conventional setup page, with the same format as earlier pages, it no longer specifies the control limits, and instead says something along the lines of "the values may difer via Qfan tuning". Without anything useful in the qfan tuning page, this is pretty much useless too.

I guess we wont be expecting an update to the manual? So we just need to wait for someone who understands what were trying to do, and has the mobo on hand. End of the day, the manual is just a manual, all that matters is that it does what we want it to. Fingers crossed for me.


That said, asrock is still the class leader. My z87eitx i have configured to start the fans on minimum rpm, with my chassis fan starting at just over 200 rpm, something like 19% power, when using the sythe glydestream (3 pin voltage mode). One thing to rememebr is that you also need to have fans with a low starting resistance to really make use of the low speed fan controls if using 3 wires. 4 wire fans are easier to use, with the minimum rpm guaranteed by the fan, usually 5-700 for most quiet fans, noctua boasting 300 rpm minimums.
 
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Huh. Reading through the hardware part, that's pretty disappointing. I could do what he does and connect all fans to my CPU_FAN connector but I don't know if it's capable of delivering enough power to them all during high load without blowing the board up.

Each header is capable of driving several fans, refer to Asus' Amp limits in manual. See my post here for photos of wiring setup, you use chassis headers for rpm feedback only: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=580483#p580483
 
Each header is capable of driving several fans, refer to Asus' Amp limits in manual. See my post here for photos of wiring setup, you use chassis headers for rpm feedback only: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=580483#p580483

The Z97 Impact says this in the manual:

The CPU_FAN connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12 W) fan power.

I'm no rocket scientist but if I am to believe Noctuas specifications, the 3000 RPM model pulls 0,3A at maximum input power (1,2 if you count all four). Which means it's impossible to use all four. However the 2000 RPM model pulls only 0,1A at maximum input power (0,4 if you count all four) which means I should(?) be able to daisy-chain them all off the CPU_FAN connector without any issues whatsoever, even if I run it at maximum power. Right?

Here are the website for each fan:

2000 RPM
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=78&lng=en&set=1

3000 RPM
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=80&lng=en&set=1
 
The Z97 Impact says this in the manual:

The CPU_FAN connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12 W) fan power.

I'm no rocket scientist but if I am to believe Noctuas specifications, the 3000 RPM model pulls 0,3A at maximum input power (1,2 if you count all four). Which means it's impossible to use all four. However the 2000 RPM model pulls only 0,1A at maximum input power (0,4 if you count all four) which means I should(?) be able to daisy-chain them all off the CPU_FAN connector without any issues whatsoever, even if I run it at maximum power. Right?

Here are the website for each fan:

2000 RPM
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=78&lng=en&set=1

3000 RPM
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=80&lng=en&set=1


New technologies make very little heat. The setup you saw in my photo link (above) runs 2 fans, both idling at 200RPM.

4 fans at 3,000 RPM is a lot of air flow + noise, enough to cool my car. If you run 2 GPUs + pluming you can connect extra fans to the GPU headers.
 
New technologies make very little heat. The setup you saw in my photo link (above) runs 2 fans, both idling at 200RPM.

4 fans at 3,000 RPM is a lot of air flow + noise, enough to cool my car. If you run 2 GPUs + pluming you can connect extra fans to the GPU headers.

I'm probably not going to run them anywhere close to 2000 RPM at any given moment. In idle I reckon I'll try to get them as low as they can go for minimal dust and noise. And when I play games or do anything demanding then I'll ramp them up. I just want to be absolutely sure that the amount of power they pull is according to the website because if it's not, I risk destroying things and I don't want that.
 
I've also wondered if multiple fans can run off each header...

Essentailly, all you need to do is ensure the total power draw (amperage) of all the fans is within the power out capacity of the header, and ensure startup behaviour is agreeable.

So a 6W header rating, means it can deliver 0.5A at 12v. If your total fan power draw is below 6W or 0.5A at full power, then your safe. Voltage or PWM, both should work fine at medium to high speeds.

At low speeds, more specifically for voltage controlled headers, the use of multiple fans can be affect the start-up of one or more fans. Some might start with lower voltages, while others need a higher voltage to start. Additionally, fan controllers that utilise basic control methods (non-PWM voltage control) end up being current limited supplies, these will give significantly poorer startup behaviours, even with evenly matched fans.
One fan starting will cause the other to not startup until a much higher voltage is reached. An example; if both fans A and B startup at 40% voltage, if you slowly ramp voltage up to 40%, fan A might start. Once a fan is spinning, it will make it harder for the other fan to startup. it won't be until you increase voltage to say 50-60% before the other fan starts.
If you set your fan speed to 45%, individually connected fans would have comfortably started, but when paired together, only one would be running&#8230;.

Different fans have different startup voltages and speeds. Fans won't kill each other, but essentially manufacturers recommend against connecting multiple fans because of they cannot guarantee that the fans will run at a given power setting. As a manufacturer, you can understand why they would recommend against connecting fans together from a liability point of view, if one of those fans were your CPU fan, the other a case fan for example.

PWM fans are easy, they just work because they get full 12v, and internally control speed. All they need is the signal wire to tell them how fast, and that should not be affected by connecting multiple fans together.

So take home message, its ok to connect fans together. PWM is very doable, Voltage controlled fans doable, just keep in mind your fan speeds, and whether you intend to run them through their start-up speeds. If so, just be sure you have fully tested the behaviour before commissioning the rig to unmonitored duties.

Also, don't forget total maximum power consumption, but you knew that.
 
Essentailly, all you need to do is ensure the total power draw (amperage) of all the fans is within the power out capacity of the header, and ensure startup behaviour is agreeable.

So a 6W header rating, means it can deliver 0.5A at 12v. If your total fan power draw is below 6W or 0.5A at full power, then your safe. Voltage or PWM, both should work fine at medium to high speeds.

At low speeds, more specifically for voltage controlled headers, the use of multiple fans can be affect the start-up of one or more fans. Some might start with lower voltages, while others need a higher voltage to start. Additionally, fan controllers that utilise basic control methods (non-PWM voltage control) end up being current limited supplies, these will give significantly poorer startup behaviours, even with evenly matched fans.
One fan starting will cause the other to not startup until a much higher voltage is reached. An example; if both fans A and B startup at 40% voltage, if you slowly ramp voltage up to 40%, fan A might start. Once a fan is spinning, it will make it harder for the other fan to startup. it won't be until you increase voltage to say 50-60% before the other fan starts.
If you set your fan speed to 45%, individually connected fans would have comfortably started, but when paired together, only one would be running….

Different fans have different startup voltages and speeds. Fans won't kill each other, but essentially manufacturers recommend against connecting multiple fans because of they cannot guarantee that the fans will run at a given power setting. As a manufacturer, you can understand why they would recommend against connecting fans together from a liability point of view, if one of those fans were your CPU fan, the other a case fan for example.

PWM fans are easy, they just work because they get full 12v, and internally control speed. All they need is the signal wire to tell them how fast, and that should not be affected by connecting multiple fans together.

So take home message, its ok to connect fans together. PWM is very doable, Voltage controlled fans doable, just keep in mind your fan speeds, and whether you intend to run them through their start-up speeds. If so, just be sure you have fully tested the behaviour before commissioning the rig to unmonitored duties.

Also, don't forget total maximum power consumption, but you knew that.

in my case i'd like to run 2 Gentle Typhoon AP-15's at 1800rpm max off one header. Think they will start around 3v. Sound ok?
 
in my case i'd like to run 2 Gentle Typhoon AP-15's at 1800rpm max off one header. Think they will start around 3v. Sound ok?

Think you'll be good. I'm planning on using 4 Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 2000 RPM. Each fan should, according to Noctua, pull 0,1A at maximum power so I should be okay myself.
 
That's Australia for you :)
I'll be unpatiently await it's arrival in Europe, sobbing and raging on the internets.
 
That's Australia for you :)
I'll be unpatiently await it's arrival in Europe, sobbing and raging on the internets.

I'm originally from Australia, so I know the prices are jacked up a bit. Still, $320 seems A LOT. Look at the price of the Z97I-Plus on the PCCG website - $190. It's $160 in the US. Once you take the exchange rate into account, that's not that much of a markup. So what's this going to be in the US? $250+???
 
I think the price is inflated because of the low availability and high demand. I think the price will be lower in September.
 
Decided to just go with the Z97I-Plus. I don't think I'll end up using the extra features on available on this board, so the extra cost is not worth it for me.
 
I'm originally from Australia, so I know the prices are jacked up a bit. Still, $320 seems A LOT. Look at the price of the Z97I-Plus on the PCCG website - $190. It's $160 in the US. Once you take the exchange rate into account, that's not that much of a markup. So what's this going to be in the US? $250+???

No not at all seeing the price of the Impact IV when it come out was $349 the price wont change much.
 
ASUS Maximus VII Impact review at OCaholic.co.uk (2014-08-22)

Recommendation

Should you be looking for a high-end overclocking motherboard, then the ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Impact is a great choice. Other than that this is simply the best equipped mini ITX motherboard money can buy and compared to to competitors with same form factor, the Maximus VII Impact is just in a different league. In our opinion this can be seen as a justification for the rather high price, which is 188 Euro these days.

Rating

We give the ASUS Maximus VII Impact excellent 5 out of 5 stars.

http://www.ocaholic.co.uk/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1418&lang=english

kbf8Xap.jpg
 
Because storage has been the limiting factor (for the power-user/business user) for a while. Now that SSD's have come, the biggest bottlenecks have been diminished but we aren't done yet removing "legacy crap". The step from AHCI to NVMe will allow lower latencies (2.8µs vs 8.5µs), it has a huge queue depth vs AHCI and it is better suited for current modern multi-core hardware.

future%20NVM.PNG
 
I see. Will the casual home builder / light gamer notice or should I just save my money and get a z97i-plus? Kind of sick of waiting for this board.
 
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