Best way to control fans?

tuggernuts

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What is the best way to take control of my fans?

My motherboard - an Asrock z97 Extreme6 that is otherwise great - has serious issues with fan control. I can't seem to get any board-powered fans to run at anything less than 100%, and even if that worked the Asrock software is difficult to live with and I have more fans than headers. The mobo limitation hasn't been an issue in the past as I just had case fans hooked up to my Define R5's fan hub, but I have since added some radiators to the system and I'd like to pursue silence as best I can.

I'd like to know what my options might be - hardware or software - for taking control of the fans. I want to maximize the control I have over each fan curve, so hardware-based solutions with simple positional switches or dials aren't of use. My first thought would be to just head to Microcenter and buy an Asus board, but I'd rather avoid the hassle and there are some things I would miss about the Asrock.
 
I tried Speedfan but it couldn't actually control any of the fans - same issue as with the Asrock A-Tuning software where the fans run at 100% at all times. I'm not sure if this is a hardware issue or if A-Tuning is overriding the settings for all programs.
 
I tried Speedfan but it couldn't actually control any of the fans - same issue as with the Asrock A-Tuning software where the fans run at 100% at all times. I'm not sure if this is a hardware issue or if A-Tuning is overriding the settings for all programs.

I'd suggest that's the problem really... (no disrespect intended in the least) - you need to drill into the issue and try to isolate what the root cause is.
Exactly what sort of fans are you using?
Are you plugging 3 pin fans into 4 pin sockets on the motherboard for example ?
Have you found others with the same motherboard reporting or discussing the same sort of problem?

If the fans aren't controllable at all in terms of speed and just max out at 100% rpm, then there must be something fundamentally wrong...
 
disable any auto-tuning and look in the bios for fan controls. make sure they are set correctly.
 
In your bios confirm they are set to be controlled, not 'disabled' in the monitoring/fan control section. Disabled will have them at 100% all the time. Also confirm the types of fans being used.
 
In your bios confirm they are set to be controlled, not 'disabled' in the monitoring/fan control section. Disabled will have them at 100% all the time. Also confirm the types of fans being used.

If for some reason this doesn't work and/or you want better fan control, Speedfan might work.. or if Speedfan doesn't support it, you can try HWINFO which is what I use on my laptop.
HWiNFO - Hardware Information, Analysis and Monitoring Tools
 
I'd suggest that's the problem really... (no disrespect intended in the least) - you need to drill into the issue and try to isolate what the root cause is.
Exactly what sort of fans are you using?
Are you plugging 3 pin fans into 4 pin sockets on the motherboard for example ?
Have you found others with the same motherboard reporting or discussing the same sort of problem?

If the fans aren't controllable at all in terms of speed and just max out at 100% rpm, then there must be something fundamentally wrong...

Looks like A-Tuning was the culprit, somehow. I checked everything - fans all set to "Standard" in UEFI, 3-pin to 3-pin and 4-pin to 4-pin connections, killing all my monitoring/overclocking software. Fans still pegged at 100%. Out of frustration I uninstalled A-Tuning and rebooted, and Speedfan was able to control things without issue. Reinstalled A-Tuning and now it handles the features I do want while Speedfan controls the fans. Persists through reboots, too.

I'll have to run to Microcenter for splitters since I have more fans than headers now, but that's always a fun way to kill an hour :D
 
I took a different approach.
Use quiet fans or larger fans that can run at lower voltage to silence them and provide better airflow that can be left on full all the time.

I havent needed fan control for years.
My gfx cards have Accelero Xtreme coolers that run full tilt quietly.
My case (Antec 900) has great airflow with fans on slowest speed.
I water cool my CPU with an external radiator using 2x140mm silent fans.
I could just as easily use the same silent fans on an air cooler.
 
I ordered a Grid+ for the move into the new case, I like speedfan, but I don't see me running 11 fans off the mobo lol
 
I use a corsair cmdr mini and control it with SIV. I already had some corsair hardware, and the siv developer has one (seemed a good fit).
I think siv also supports the gird+ if you dislike the software that comes with it
 
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