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.
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 wrote: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.
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?
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 wrote:Read ASUS Z87-Deluxe fake 4-pin headers & other fan control info
I don't understand, what is the point of making a 4pin fan header if its not PWM?
shakaw wrote: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.
Are the OC panel headers true PWM?
shakaw wrote: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).
I doubt i can return these fans, and frankly - i don't want to.
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 wrote: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,
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
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:Seems like good option that would not cost you anything, but up to you if they are good enough for your setup.
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
shakaw wrote: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.
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.
