MSI Gaming 5 Z97 PWM control of CPU FAN 2?

[Krydel]

Just borrowed a PWM Akasa viper 140mm fan to put onto my 2nd cpu fan header on this motherboard and it runs at 100%, displays 0rpm and I can't change the speed either in the bios or command center. I can't remember, but i've a funny feeling this happened with some silent wings 2 that were pwm too.

If i plug it into a chassis fan header i can control with voltage as normal and if i switch my Dark Rock Pro 3 fans over to the 2nd header it works fine too, so pwm functionality must be working.

Doesn't bode well for the NF-A14 PWM i have being delivered this coming week.

Any ideas / people who have used this range of MSI Z97 boards for pwm control with success? It seems like I can only use one or the other but not both simultaneously at the moment!

[Krydel]

Noctua A14 PWM arrived today - works fine on CPU_FAN2 - can drop it all the way down to 300rpm from 1500rpm. Something must be up with the viper fan / it doesn't play nice with my motherboard as my friend insists he used PWM to control it on his asus board.

Oh well!

[Abula]

Noctua A14 PWM arrived today - works fine on CPU_FAN2 - can drop it all the way down to 300rpm from 1500rpm. Something must be up with the viper fan / it doesn't play nice with my motherboard as my friend insists he used PWM to control it on his asus board.

Your friend has an Asus and probably is using FanXpert to control the fans, the thing here is that even if the fan is 4pin pwm, it can be undervolted like any other fan (not recommended, but it can be done), so in essence you friend might be thinking he is controlling the 4pin via PWM, when in reality he is only undervolting.

Now on your case, MSI is more strict on their fan control and header design, CPU_FAN1 and 2 will only be able to control 4pin PWM fans, if you place a 3pin fan it will run at max rpms always no matter what you do. SYS_FAN1, 2, 3 are voltage controlled and cant do PWM control, in here you can place 3pin fans and undervolt them from 50% (like 6V) to 100% (12V).