ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

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disperse
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:19 pm

ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by disperse » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:36 pm

Hi all,

I recently built a system using the SilverStone GD05B case and the ASRock Pro3-M motherboard.

The build went smoothly except I can't figure out how to control the case fan connected to the 3-pin PWR_FAN1 header on the motherboard. SpeedFan controls the speed of the two case fans connected to the 3-pin headers labeled CHA_FAN1 and CHA_FAN2 without any trouble.

SpeedFan reports the speed of all three case fans but only controls two out of the three.

Any SpeedFan experts or Z68 Pro3-M owners here who could shed some light on the issue?

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Notice Aux1 Fan is running much faster than Sys Fan and Aux2 Fan. (P.S. Should I be concerned about the reported hard drive temperature?)

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The case fan connected to the PWR_FAN1 header shows up as "Aux1 Fan" here.

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But only two case fans, the CPU fan, and the GPU fan show up on the Speed tab.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Mark.

disperse
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:19 pm

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by disperse » Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:43 am

So, I remembered I have a Zalman Fanmate fan speed controller (this one: http://zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product ... sp?idx=206) so I simply attached it to the fan and brought the speed down to match the other case fans.

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SpeedFan doesn't seem to be controlling the CPU fan speed at all. I don't think that is an issue because the loudest thing in my case is my GPU fan (Powercolor 6870). Until I deal with that I don't think lowering the RPM of the CPU fan is going to do much. It's quiet enough now that I think it will be inaudible once I move it beneath my desk.

Arbutus
Posts: 234
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:15 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by Arbutus » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:09 pm

The PWR_FAN1 header does not support Multi-Speed Control. Why are you using the flaky hackware SpeedFan program instead of the Asrock All-in-1 Tuning Software?

loimlo
Posts: 762
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 3:58 am
Location: Formosa

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by loimlo » Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:19 am

Just use ASRock's UEFI fan control to control your fans. I've done similar things on my 970 Extreme3.
Truth be told, ASRock's fan control in UEFI did improve greatly compared to their past offerings.
You can control 5 out of 6 fans in UEFI and software..... :lol:

disperse
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:19 pm

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by disperse » Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:18 am

Thanks for the replies Arbutus and loimlo!

The AXTU allows me to control 2 out of 3 case fans and the CPU fan but not the GPU fan.

SpeedFan allows me to control the GPU fan and I'd prefer not to run two different pieces of software for fan control.

Does anyone have any experience using the Catalyst Control Center to control the fan speed on an ATI card? Does the "Manual" setting allow the fan to increase speeds under load?

Thanks,

Mark.

loimlo
Posts: 762
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 3:58 am
Location: Formosa

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by loimlo » Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:56 am

Manual control will lose auto-control based on temp. In other words, GPU fan RPM won't be changed in accordance with temp and be fixed at a static speed.

I suggest you using fan control in UEFI.

disperse
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:19 pm

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by disperse » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:55 am

loimlo wrote:Manual control will lose auto-control based on temp. In other words, GPU fan RPM won't be changed in accordance with temp and be fixed at a static speed.

I suggest you using fan control in UEFI.
Do you mean use a utility like this to set the fan speed in the bios? http://www.techpowerup.com/rbe/

Arbutus
Posts: 234
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:15 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by Arbutus » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:29 pm

disperse wrote:I can't figure out how to control the case fan connected to the 3-pin PWR_FAN1 header on the motherboard.
You could try a Y-adapter but I wonder if you really need 2 fans on the CPU side?
disperse wrote:...the loudest thing in my case is my GPU fan...
I suspect that you will need a retrofit cooler for the GPU. But before spending any money perhaps you could get more air flowing past the GPU and thus the fan speed will automatically slow and quieten. With the case you have perhaps you could try blocking 50% of the exit area in the CPU area and thus persuade more air to exit at the GPU area.

You can quickly try various setups as approximations.
- Fans can be temporarily unplugged.
- Chassis vents can be temporarily taped over.

loimlo
Posts: 762
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 3:58 am
Location: Formosa

Re: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M and SpeedFan

Post by loimlo » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:05 am

disperse wrote:
loimlo wrote:Manual control will lose auto-control based on temp. In other words, GPU fan RPM won't be changed in accordance with temp and be fixed at a static speed.

I suggest you using fan control in UEFI.
Do you mean use a utility like this to set the fan speed in the bios? http://www.techpowerup.com/rbe/
Sorry for my late reply. I've been busy at work and lacking of time to look at this thread during past days.

1. What I meant fan control in UEFI is using fan control mechanism of UEFI of ASRock's motherboard. No need to fuss over software in the background.
2. Yes. I've had success in modifying ATI 4670 fan control policy by Radeon BIOS Editor.
3. I don't run any fan control software in the background. Just use UEFI/BIOS fan control mechanism being deployed in motherboard/GPU card.

Just my 2 cents~

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