Gigabyte Z68A-D3-B3 Fan speeds.

[crazypearce]

Have had this motherboard in my system for a while now and it's been running like clockwork with a 2500k @ 4.5ghz, but there is something that has been bothering me for quite a while now.

In easytune there is an option for smartfan, but I cannot get it to change CPU fan speeds at all. I have tried everything I can think of. I don't really know much about fan configurations but is it even possible to reduce fan speeds with this motherboard? If it is, is there some special bios options I need to change? Or is there a specific fan port I need to plug them into? I have two 1600 RPM fans plugged into a splitter which is then plugged into one of the fan ports at the top of my mobo. I did have a look through the manual but couldn't really find anything regarding fans.

Don't know how active these forums are but any help would be awesome!

[Citizen Crazed]

Are your fans three pin or four pin units?

Don't have the UD3-B3, but if its configuration is the same as the other boards, have a look in the PCHealth section of the BIOS (or the PC Status section of TouchBIOS) for a parameter called CPU Smart Fan Mode. If you find it, and you have three pin fans, try setting it to Voltage instead of Auto (or PWM). If you have four pin fans (and a four pin splitter), set it to PWM - although I wouldn't be surprised to find that two four wire fans twinned together like that won't play nice.

When you do get the speed control working, btw, SpeedFan offers far more useful and configurable smart fan control than the BIOS's own fan control algorithm. It should also allow you to control the speed of at least one of the other fan headers independently of CPUFAN1.

[crazypearce]

Yes, they are 3 pin fans, and are actually connected to a 10v reducer cable (into a splitter if that makes a difference) to make then 1600 RPM from the default 2000 RPM. my temps are really low already though so looking to go further.

And yes, that option is in my Bios. it's currently either on auto or pwm though, definitely not via voltage! and yeah, I have speedfan too, it looks really good but I thought I'd start with getting smartfan working first, so I know I can actually alter the speeds.

Out of curiosity does it matter which three of the four pins in the CPU fan header I plug my three pin cables into? Currently have them in the last three, rather the first three.

Thanks for the help, I'll set it to voltage mode and hopefully it'll let me slow things down. My CPU and rear exhaust fan are pretty loud and it'd be nice to slow them down!

[Citizen Crazed]

Out of curiosity does it matter which three of the four pins in the CPU fan header I plug my three pin cables into? Currently have them in the last three, rather the first three.

It matters only in as much as if you plug them in incorrectly, the fans won't work, or you could fry the motherboard's fan supply headers, or similar. That's why the connectors are keyed to prevent incorrect insertion. The fourth wire is the PWM control line, and isn't utilised on three pin devices.

Did setting the control method to Voltage get you where you wanted to be then?

[Gloup_Gloup]

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