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Fan Control
Fan control is perhaps the board's most disappointing "feature" as
it really doesn't work.. We connected a Scythe 92mm PWM fan to the board's CPU
fan header and turned off the actual CPU fan while stressing the system with
Prime95. Core temperature skyrocketed, but the fan speed would not change. It
just continued spinning according to the last manual speed that was entered,
even though Smart Fan control was enabled, and the manual setting was greyed
out.
Manual control resulted in a speed of 180 RPM at the 0 setting and 2520 RPM
at the 15 (maximum) setting. Also, the board can only control PWM fans, and
only if it is connected to the CPU fan header. The secondary fan header could
not be controlled, despite the BIOS having settings for it.
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SpeedFan main screen.
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SpeedFan does not yet support the board either. It could not detect any fan
speeds nor enact any type of fan control.
Cooling
Lower cost boards ship with simple heatsinks on the northbridge and southbridge
while those targeted at enthusiasts typically have large heatpipe coolers and
heatsinks on the voltage regulation modules near the CPU socket. A well-cooled
motherboard can deliver better power efficiency and stability.
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Heatsink Temperatures
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Measuring Point
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Temperature
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GPU (internal
sensor reading)
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78°C
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Chipset Heatsink
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62°C
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VRMs
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40 to 50°C
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Measured with a spot thermometer after 15 minutes
of full CPU + GPU load. CPU fan reduced to 5V.
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After fifteen minutes of full CPU and GPU load, the hefty chipset heatsink
measured only 62°C, a modest number. The MOSFETs near the CPU
socket were very cool, registering between 40 and 50°C. This was due to
their close proximity to the down-blowing heatsink, even though its fan was
set to 5V. The internal GPU sensor reported a maximum temperature of 78°C.
Assuming it has the same tolerance as a discrete GPU, this too, is acceptable.
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