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Maximus VI Extreme -Should Fan Xpert2 properly control my PWM fans

shakaw
Level 7
I've spent a few days trying to research this on google, but after reading about a 100 conflicting posts I am giving up and posting the question here.

I have Noctua NF-A14 and NF-S12A PWM fans and corsair H110

The Corsair H110 pump is plugged into OPT_3 and is completely happy there. The Corsair fans are in the garbage bin.

I've got 2 A14s plugged (via Y-cable) into CPU_FAN, and 2 more in CPU_Opt (push/pull) - that's fine as well. Detected range is 343-1446 (which is close enough) and controllable range is from 15% - actually a bit too low, at minimum fans spin bellow min RPM.

My problem is the rest of the fans. I've read a few places that with Fan Xpert2 I should be able to configure the fans to run at lower settings then I can in UEFI, however that is not the case.
The S12As are plugged into CHA_1 - the detected range is 578-1212 (should be 300-1200) with minimum selectable duty 40%
The remaining A14 is connected to CHA_3 - detected range 721-1519 (should be 300-1500) with minimum duty 50% - 877 RPM - this is far too high


Why is Fan Xpert2 detecting RPM ranges incorrectly?
Why am I prevented from choosing minimum detected RPM?

I have uninstalled, cleaned and reinstalled several times. This and PCI-E problems are making me really unhappy with the board.

----

One more thing, naming the Chassis fans in FanXpert2 work fine however when I look at the fan list in AI suite (Bottom right) - it is not the chassis fans that is renamed but Opt fans.
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
Intel i7 4770k @ x45 + Corsair H110 (Push/Pull)
16gb Corsair Vengeance @1866
XFX Pro 1250 PSU
2x EVGA GTX 780ti
SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX & Corsair Force GT
Corsair 900D Case
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6 REPLIES 6

Abula
Level 10
One thing that you need to understand before chosing fans on Asus motherboards is that the only true PWM fan header is CPU_FAN (CPU_OPT is just a mirror of CPU_FAN), the rest are voltage controlled even though they are 4pin fiscally they are like 3pin headers.

shakaw wrote:
My problem is the rest of the fans. I've read a few places that with Fan Xpert2 I should be able to configure the fans to run at lower settings then I can in UEFI, however that is not the case.
The S12As are plugged into CHA_1 - the detected range is 578-1212 (should be 300-1200) with minimum selectable duty 40%
The remaining A14 is connected to CHA_3 - detected range 721-1519 (should be 300-1500) with minimum duty 50% - 877 RPM - this is far too high


Why is Fan Xpert2 detecting RPM ranges incorrectly?
This is because you are using PWM fan on a none true PWM fan header. In other words, what happening is that a fan design to work on PWM signal is being manage as 3pin voltage controlled fan, or being undervolted when its meant to be run at 12V and be regulated by the PWM signal.

If you wished to use none true PWM headers just get 3pin fans, in your case there are NF-A12 FLX and NF-A14 FLX, those will work better on a voltage controlled header (CHA_FAN).

Another issue that might happen to you, is what happen to me, my Noctua NF-A14 PWM became unstable using it on CHA_FAN headers, FanXpert2 would test them and give a range, even if it was lower than on PWM, but running them on the lowest setting that fanxpert2 test gave, sometimes the fan stops, like the fans are not meant to be run at such low voltage, but the same fan on a true PWM header can fun even lower and never stopping. I'll leave you a couple of screeshots of my fans to illustrate whats happening,

shakaw
Level 7
I don't understand, what is the point of making a 4pin fan header if its not PWM?
I doubt i can return these fans, and frankly - i don't want to. I had ordered 3-pin fans before I got the board and sent them back because I discovered that the board had only 4-pint headers. Thank you ASUS.

Are the OC panel headers true PWM?
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
Intel i7 4770k @ x45 + Corsair H110 (Push/Pull)
16gb Corsair Vengeance @1866
XFX Pro 1250 PSU
2x EVGA GTX 780ti
SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX & Corsair Force GT
Corsair 900D Case

shakaw wrote:
I don't understand, what is the point of making a 4pin fan header if its not PWM?
Read ASUS Z87-Deluxe fake 4-pin headers & other fan control info


shakaw wrote:
Are the OC panel headers true PWM?
Sorry cant help you there, dont own an Extreme version nor i bought the panel. But this is easy for you to do, just plug it and plug the fans on it and run fanXpert2 testing and see if you get more in line to CPU_FAN behavior or the CHA_FAN.

shakaw wrote:
I doubt i can return these fans, and frankly - i don't want to.
If you were willing to give up individually controlling each of the fans you have trouble (1x NF-A14PWM and 1x NF-S12PWM) then buy a Swiftech 8-Way PWM Cable Splitter - SATA Power (8W-PWM-SPL-ST), and connect the swiftech PWM splitter to the CPU_FAN header, connect the NF-S12 PWM to the red connector on the swiftech and all your NF-A14PWM to the black connectors on the swiftech, you can leave one on CPU_OPT if you wish to read the RPMS of the NF-A14PWM, but more important is to use the NF-S12 as the main, because it has slightly higher PWM minimum (13% vs 15%), so to avoid it stopping then makes this the ruller of all, this will bump very slightly the NF-A14, maybe 10 rpms or so (on the lowest settings), check the pics below and you can see what i mean (and you can test this on your own as you have fanXpert2 and all the fans, in case you dont want to take my word for it).



Personally i gave up on Asus/FanXpert2 on my main gaming pc, but i do like a lot fanXpert2 specially the easy way it test the fans and displays its min rpms, max rpms, ranges of operation, graphs, etc, so i build a fan testing station with it =). But the thing that i dislike the most was the way AI SUITE measures CPU temps.... and that fanXpert2 uses that temp to manage the fans.

shakaw
Level 7
I would love to get rid of AI suite and Fan Xpert2, but I first need to find a solution that will keep my fans quiet.
I've got the 4 radiator fans plugged into CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT, and I would like to control that group independently from the case intake/exhaust fans.

The way I see it, I have 3 options now
1. Send back that PWM fans and get voltage controlled ones - This will allow me to push minimum rpm 300-500 down. Downside is that if I find a decent PWM control system I would then need to buy new fans

2. Get the Corsair 3-pin fans that came with the case out of the garbage bin - downside is they make a lot more noise at lower RPMs then noctuas

3. With my current setup, the exhaust fan is the fastest, and is barely audible. I suppose I can live with this while i wait for a proper PWM controller to surface.

The temperature detection in AI suite is completely retarded. When CPU goes from idle to full load the detected temperature for some reason spikes to over 50C and then immediately drops. The fact is that even when the CPU is at over 75% non synthetic load it doesn't come anywhere near the spike temperature - this makes the fan auto-stop function completely useless. Fans turn off and on for every little action.

I guess I will be keeping my fingers crossed for Corsair to get it right with the next version of Link. I would really like to be able to control the fans from 1 - radiator temperature, and 2 - GPU temperature (or perhaps ambient in-case temperature).
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
Intel i7 4770k @ x45 + Corsair H110 (Push/Pull)
16gb Corsair Vengeance @1866
XFX Pro 1250 PSU
2x EVGA GTX 780ti
SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX & Corsair Force GT
Corsair 900D Case

shakaw wrote:
1. Send back that PWM fans and get voltage controlled ones - This will allow me to push minimum rpm 300-500 down. Downside is that if I find a decent PWM control system I would then need to buy new fans
I cant help you much here as i dont own any noctua none pwm fan, so i cant give a fan curve to know how they will behave on FanXpert2. But check coolingtechnique review on the Noctua NF-S12, the S12 ULNA has the following table with pure voltage control, so it should drop to 400rpms or so,



And coolingtechnique also reviewed the NF-A14,



If you scroll both reviews, you will he also tested the PWM version (the ones you own), and he also had the high rpm on trying to control PWM fans on pure voltage, similar to yours. But no trouble dipping down on 3pin noctua versions on pure voltage control (not as low as 200rpm like fanXpert2 though, but 400-500rpms).

shakaw wrote:
2. Get the Corsair 3-pin fans that came with the case out of the garbage bin - downside is they make a lot more noise at lower RPMs then noctuas
Seems like good option that would not cost you anything, but up to you if they are good enough for your setup.

shakaw wrote:
3. With my current setup, the exhaust fan is the fastest, and is barely audible. I suppose I can live with this while i wait for a proper PWM controller to surface.
As long as it doesnt stop, i dont think you should have trouble, in my case it did stop over time. But you could also bump the graph to not allow it to go into where its unstable, this is what i would do if cant return them or want to use the corsair.

shakaw
Level 7
Thank you Abula for some really good answers. Got a few solutions to consider now.

And now, a message to ASUS:
Having "fake" 4-pin fan headers on a premium board is just silly. You might have saved a few cents, but your end users feel cheated. God is in the detail - when I buy a premium item, I expect to be satisfied. When I see a 4-pin fan header, i expect it to be PWM. If I wanted to deal with problems and use workaround I could have gotten a MUCH cheaper board. Having your customers feel cheated - that's just bad for business.

The last good ASUS product I bought was a Rampage II Extreme board. It has served me well, and worked flawlessly for 4 years. It was the sole reason I bought Maximus VI Extreme. I like buying top shelf items, and I don't mind paying the premium, but when I do, I have certain expectations. You have failed to deliver.

During the last 2 years, I've bought 4 ASUS items, and every single one has had problems:
1. A little over a year ago I bought ASUS GTX 680 TOP - The fan in the Direct CU has now failed and makes a horrible noise whenever it hits over 60% duty cycle.

2. A few months ago I got an ASUS GTX 680 OC - It was probably DOA, but i didn't notice the error until a week ago when I swapped card positions in SLI. Whenever the card hits 70C degrees it starts artifacting like crazy running at factory settings.

3. A few months ago I got an ASUS ultra-book - Was DOA, the discreet graphics card didn't work properly. It took over a month for me to get a replacement

4. ASUS Maximus VI Extreme - The board does not function with 2-way SLI. Chassis fan headers don't function as expected. (No, I don't care you haven't said they were PWM. 4-pins = PWM, 3-pins = Voltage control. You win nothing by muddying the waters)

Maybe you have over-extended, got too many product and model lines. The quality has suffered. I am certainly not getting the "wow" feeling I used to get from your products.

Now I am stuck with a board with a dis-functioning SLI, and problems with both GTX 680s. Probably gonna dump SLI altogether and pick me up a TITAN II once it's released. With your track record, I very much doubt that it will be an ASUS Titan.

When the quality across your entire product line is suffering, it is a really bad idea to be cutting corners on such simple things as fan headers on a premium boards. We can forgive mistakes, but we don't forgive deception. You need to spend a little less time making up funky names for capacitors and more time delivering on what you promise.

/end rant
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
Intel i7 4770k @ x45 + Corsair H110 (Push/Pull)
16gb Corsair Vengeance @1866
XFX Pro 1250 PSU
2x EVGA GTX 780ti
SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX & Corsair Force GT
Corsair 900D Case