GA-990FXA-UD3 - fan control - applies to any new board really

[sully]

Greetings.

I am an old school user. I have always like gigabyte boards, always had great luck with them. I was an adopter of AMD when they were using K6s and then K7s. Athlons to FX. When Core2Duo came out, I hopped over to Intel for a few years. Not a fanboy, I just like to get the best bang for what $$ I have.

Anyway, it is time to upgrade again. I have been watching the roadmaps, and I feel the best $$ I can spend will be on the AMD platform, primarily because they seem to keep the same socket, whereas Intel seems to want to change sockets every couple years. I don't have the cash to keep up with that. I am hoping to buy an AM3 board this fall, and depending on what happens with the bulldozer cores, possibly get one of those, or one of the current offerings. I do this not becuase I think AMD will top Intel (I don't believe they will yet), but becuase they offer upgradability. It all comes down to $$.

Anyway, now that you know that, I am looking for boards that allow the most in way of fan control. I don't care to OC any more. I don't care to use every new feature that comes along. I simply want a stable board. But I do want great fan control. In the past, especially with my A64/FX cpus, I had to use Speedfan to manage a sound to cooling ratio. With my current setup (core2duo e6750 and intel 975xbx2 mobo) I don't have to use any software. I modded my nvidia GPU BIOS to get the fan speed algorithm just where I want it, and I used a piece of software from Intel to set my "zones" up where I want them. The end result is that my BIOS handles my fan speeds, ramping them up or down as needed, with no software. It is very important to me to have my rig be quiet until I put on my headphones and play a game, in which case I don't care because I can't hear it anyway.

Therefore, I am seeking information, specifically on the GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard, but really on any new version. I want to know the following:

1. can you set speed control in BIOS
2. can you set temp control in BIOS
3. can you control each fan header
4. are any fan headers slaved together
5. can you set the frequency of PWM headers (need 20khz + for my fans)
6. is there a utility for the boards which you can use to "program" your fan settings in the BIOS, and then save them so you no longer need the software

Not too hard I suppose. I downloaded the manual and looked, but did not see enough good data to make a judgement.

Is there anyone who is into fan control who might be able to shed some light on the current offerings from gigabyte? I am not stuck on getting a gigabyte board. I haven't had the best of luck with Asus at all, and MSI has been so-so. I have had or worked on most of the older brands, but a few of the new ones I haven't had experience with.

Any help for a salty old dog like myself?

Sully.

[Dark Mantis]

Personally I wopuldn't even try to set all the fans up using the motherboard. It is much more controllable to use a dedicated fan controller that is motherboard independant and will allow you to do all the things you are asking and more. It will also give you readouts of the present temps and fan speeds etc. Check this out as it is the one I use:

http://www.candccentral.co.uk/lamptron-fan-controller-touch-black-anodized-fc0092h.html

[absic]

I'm with DM on this one. If you want to control the fans you are better off using a dedicated fan controller.

Basically the answer to all your questions is no. The only real control of the fans via the BIOS is AUTO (enabled), where the BIOS controls everything or Disabled where the fans run at full speed. The EasyTune6 software can control the fans a little but is not something that is very effective and I wouldn't recommend it and you can't save the settings to BIOS for the fans.

[sully]

Thank you for the time to reply, and for the link.

I have used fan controllers, and I have made my own. I have had ones that use thermistors to help automate it, and those with just pots to control speed. They work if that is what you need.

I don't want to control the speed manually most of the time though. I want the BIOS to control it. I want to set the algorithm that matches my setup, and when I turn the computer on, prior to the OS loading, I want the BIOS to raise fans if needed. Software will not do this. In the case of a power outage, and the computer reboots, but might sit at a prompt (like if a bootable dvd is in the optical drive), only BIOS or smart fan control will still maintain fan/temps. Thermistors are not that great IMO, as you have to figure your offset, and that can change with ambient temps.

Sounds like gigabyte doesn't offer much for what I want. There are not many choises for what I want I think. I might have to look at collaborating with some others to build my own circuit. Bummer I guess.

thanks. Anyone else is welcome to comment, the more data the better.

Sully.

[Dark Mantis]

I understand what you are saying and obviously anything short of a custom built job isn't going to tick all the boxes. However I don't know if you bothered reading the link I posted but this controller is slightly more sophisticated than your normal run of the mill type.  You can set it all up to come on automatically, at certain temperatures , in fact to fit all sorts of different scenarios. It is far more than your usual thermistor/thyristor control circuit.

[sully]

I understand what you are saying and obviously anything short of a custom built job isn't going to tick all the boxes. However I don't know if you bothered reading the link I posted but this controller is slightly more sophisticated than your normal run of the mill type.  You can set it all up to come on automatically, at certain temperatures , in fact to fit all sorts of different scenarios. It is far more than your usual thermistor/thyristor control circuit.

I did look at that link. I have used similar type controls, maybe not quite as "smart". But I don't see how it knows what to do. I assume it uses a thermistor. I guess I will have to find the manual and check it out in more detail. At first glance it looks like a dozen other fancy fan controllers.

Do you have one? How have you used it? I have a couple controllers that I thought would do the job, that now are in someone elses machine. I am interested to find out more since it seems you think highly of it.

Thanks again.

Sully.