Software control-able fans?

[hyt3k9]

Pardon the stupid question... I feel like I should ALREADY know this.

But.. Do you have to buy a special type of fan to be able to control it with a software solution like speedfan?

What I mean is.. all the case fans inside my case to be able to be controlled by software.

1) What is the best program to use? Also, I want something that isn't bloated or take very little resources to run in the background. (Another nice thing, if the program isn't set to launch with Windows.. maybe the fans will default to high speed or something) I still want to be in control.. not real interested in BIOS handling this for me.

2) Are there special types of fans needed for this? Please specify if there are certain connectors needed.. like PWM 4 pin or whatever.

TIA

 

[BillParrish]

Most motherboard fan headers have the 3rd wire rpm monitoring so speedfan can read the rpms. The problem is that the voltage at the fan header is fixed at 12v and cannot be adjusted. Now there are some MB that have (mainly intel and server class boards) 4 pin headers when used with a 4pin PWM controlled fan will act like the fan headere for the CPU and allow fan speed control.

So its more about your particular MB than anything else. If the fan headers on the mb allow it, you can usually configure speedfan to control them. If the fan headers do not, you are SOL.

 

[EquaLiZr]

I use speedfan to control the fans connected to the motherboard (3pin)

 

[Down8]

I love (both of) my CoolerMaster CoolDrive 6(s). Sort of a hardware/saftware control. 4 fan leads, which can be changed via the hardware buttons, or via the software (which runs on Vista and XP, with no updates). Also does temperature monitoring.

/shillery
-bZj