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BIOS Fan Control
We tested the board's fan control by connecting the CPU cooler's fan to a variable
DC fan controller, so we could lower it as necessary, and proceeded to stress
the processor using Prime95 and monitored the fan speeds using SpeedFan. A Xigmatek
92mm PWM fan was connected to the CPU fan header while a Scythe Kama Flow 80mm
3-pin fan was connected to the secondary fan header.
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Fan Speed Behavior
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Criteria
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CPU Fan
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SYS Fan
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Trigger Temp.
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51°C
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N/A
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Temp. Range
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54°C
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N/A
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Fan Speed
Range
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1330 RPM to 2900 RPM
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1570 RPM
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Target temperature set to 50C and CPU Min. Fan Speed
to 0% in the BIOS.
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MSI's fan control was very primitive. The CPU fan's minimum speed was 1330
RPM despite the fact it was set to 0% in the BIOS — its PWM controller apparently
does not allow anything lower. The selected target temperature of 50°C was
almost dead-on — the fan speed increased rapidly once the CPU temperature
reached 51°C. It topped out at 2900 RPM when the temperature increased by
3°C. This short range resulted in an unpleasant rapid climb in fan speed.
A full 12V was delivered to the secondary fan — the SYS fan header was not
controlled.
SpeedFan Support
For Windows users, SpeedFan is our application of choice for fan control. It
can be configured to raise or lower multiple fan speeds to designated limits
when any specified temperature threshold is breached.
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SpeedFan correlations.
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SpeedFan reported both fan speeds and allowed for partial control of the CPU_FAN1
header (it is restricted in the same way as BIOS fan control). Only PWM fans
can be controlled. To enable fan control find chip "F71882F"in the
Advanced tab of the Configuration menu and set PWM 1 modes to "Manual Set
PWM."
Temp1 correlated to the CPU temperature, matching Core temperature very closely.
Temp2 and Temp3 were related to the northbridge — when a fan was placed
over the northbridge cooler, both of these sensors reported a decrease in temperature.
Temp2 however reported temperatures in the range of 100°C to 120°C and
its reading jumped up and down erratically. Temp3 ranged between 20°C and
35°C and was much more stable.
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