# Fan Control at 0% ... ever?



## jackmonkey (Apr 5, 2006)

I am new to the forum so excuse me if this has already been discussed.

I just recently put the Arctic Cooler ATI 5 on my X850 XT. I checked the "do not change PWM base frequency setting" and rebooted. The "horrible" sound associated with this setting went away.

However, I can still hear a very slight high-pitched sound that annoys the hell out of me when the fan is running at <100%. I assume this would blend in with other case noise for most people, but the rest of my components are running very quiet so this is quite noticeable to me.

I record music so my goal is keep the PC as quiet as possible whenever I am not playing a game. However, I still love my games and don't want to have to settle for a crappy vid card with a passive heat sink just to stay quiet.

Two things seem to fix this:

1) Run at 100% constantly. The downside here is that the fan noise (even with the Silencer 5) is louder than the rest of my PC but there is no annoying "whine". My idle temp stays around 37 and my peak is around 55.

2) Run at 0%, but ramp up to 100% when temp hits 52. At idle (0%), I enjoy sweet sweet serenity and stay right around 48 degrees. If I launch some 3D, the fan pretty much immediately kicks on. This seems very ideal for me. No noise unless I am running 3D.

So, I guess I have two main questions:

1. Has anyone else ever noticed this noise and is there any way to fix this (other than checking the PWM box as I already have)?

2. Is a constant temp of 48-54 degress bad? My CPU runs around this range (a little lower at idle and a little higher at peak) and seems to have no problem. My GPU could be ~10 degress cooler at idle with the standard fan throttling, but is this really a big deal?

I have not been running like this for very long (only a few hours), but presumably as summer approaches and room temperature rises, my idle temp at 0% will also rise. Let's say my new idle temp is right around 52 and my fan shuts on and off from time to time. I assume this not a good thing but I'm not sure how much I should worry. Any thoughts on this?

One last quick question (as long as I am already asking them): Does anyone know of a similar app that will let me control my Asus P4P800SE mobo CPU fan throttling? I love the way I can mega-tweak fan settings in ATITool. I just wish I could do the same for my CPU. The only thing I can do now is set "Q-fan control" in the BIOS. It works decently, but there is very little than can be done to tweak it.

Thanks in advance for any replies!


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## POGE (Apr 5, 2006)

A constant temp of 48-54 is great.  Maybe even below average.  For fan throttling on your motherboard try downloading speedfan (google it).


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## jackmonkey (Apr 5, 2006)

Thanks Poge. Speedfan looks pretty cool. I wish I had just a little better tweaking control but this is still a huge improvement. I am actually surprised there aren't more apps like this out there.


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## markkleb (Apr 5, 2006)

I love ACcoolers and use 7 in my comp. Including the ATI5.

I read a review that it is not necessary to run it 100%.(its very effecient)

I have my X800GTO OC'd to 550'1350 and run my fan at 75%( for over a year). No noise.

Also remember the price (pretty low for what you get) Im sure a HydroWave or ball bearing fan would be quieter but add to the cost.


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## jackmonkey (Apr 5, 2006)

markkleb - I read several similar reviews, expecting that I too would hear no noise at reduced speeds. The more I listen the high-pitched whine from the fan at <100%, the more I am starting to think maybe I got a dud. 

Unfortunately, AC doesn't do direct replacements. You have to go through the vendor. I bought from Zipzoomfly. They have a 15% restocking fee plus I have to pay for return shipping. I almost wonder if I shouldn't just buy another one. I am just afraid that the next one will have the same issue.

As a side question, do you notice ANY audible difference when going from 100% to something lower? You should hear the fan noise drop, but do hear (even a slight) high-pitched sound also become more noticeable as the fan speed drops? What about at a really low speed like 10%?

It may be necessary to open your case and reduce your other fans if you have a lot of ambient noise already. I just wonder if anyone else notices anything like this (even if it is more subtle for them).


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## markkleb (Apr 5, 2006)

To tell u the truth my comp with 7 AC fans is quieter than my Lego comp with 1. Check this out though..

http://svc.com/avc-at4-r1.html



I bought 3 of em...


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## ryboto (Apr 5, 2006)

my ac silencer sounded like crap running off of the vga header.  I spliced the fan into a standard 3 pin header, and plugged that into a fanmate2.  I can keep the fanmate2 at full, as it reduces fan speed just by being plugged in, and then control the speed from my motherboards on board fan controller.  it stays around 1200rpm, and is inaudible unless i stick my head next to it.  The GPU stays around 33C at idle, and ~52C under load, sometimes higher depending on room temp.


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## jackmonkey (Apr 5, 2006)

Ryboto - how hard is it to splice into a standard 3-pin header... do you know of any web resources detailing how to do this (I don't want to screw up my hardware)? If not, any details you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...


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## ryboto (Apr 5, 2006)

it was easy.  I assume our boards have similar pcb's, as the x800xl my friend had was similar, and used the same fan header.  I think the color code is red-positive, black-ground, yellow-rpm.  I didn't get it right the first time.  What I did, was cut the 3-pin connector, and about 5 inches of wire off of a nearly dead fan.  I then used a pin/needle and removed the female ends of the ATI silencer from the plastic housing.  It's really simple, if I had a camera, I'd show you.  I did this, rather than cut the wire, because I didn't know if it would work, and I wanted to be able to use the cards fan header if it didn't.  

from here I just stripped the insulation from the wire connected to the standard 3-pin, and twisted them all together, and then used electrical tape to seal the deal.  If i had a heat gun, i'd have used shrink tube.  I don't remember which color wire corresponded to posotive potential, and rpm monitoring.  All I know is that the first time I tried it, I got it wrong.  But no worries, it wont hurt the fan.  

I'm sorry if this is hard to image, I've had a hard time articulating this week.


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## jackmonkey (Apr 5, 2006)

Thanks again Ryboto. After quite a bit of digging, I found another thread with this link:

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/p_vga2.php?idx=61&data=6

This not only explains why this is happending, but also clarifies which wires to connect.

I also found quite a few acounts of this ATI voltage spike frying people's Silencer 5s. 

It seems very risky if you have the Silencer 5 and DON'T make this change (you could fry your fan):

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=4012


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## ryboto (Apr 5, 2006)

yea, that sounds about right...my fan does sound a little horrid when I get up close, good thing I made the change when I did.


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## jackmonkey (Apr 6, 2006)

FYI...

I re-attached the wires as indicated on the Arctic Cooling website and connected the new cable to my motherboard:

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/p_vga2.php?idx=61&data=6

i.e. black-to-black & red-to-yellow

This did NOT work correctly. Ironically, attaching black-to-black, red-to-red, & yellow-to-yellow did the trick... not sure why they indicated otherwise on the site.


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## ryboto (Apr 6, 2006)

jackmonkey said:
			
		

> FYI...
> 
> I re-attached the wires as indicated on the Arctic Cooling website and connected the new cable to my motherboard:
> 
> ...


well, it would depend on the color coding scheme that the makers of the larger 3-pin decided to use, wouldn't it?  The one i'm using has a black ground, an orange, and an orange with a dark orange stripe on it.


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## markkleb (Apr 6, 2006)

i hope Im not sounding like a jerk but the colors on the Powersupply are yellow=12v, red=5v and orange =3.3v  Black=ground.

so by hooking the power wire of the AC cooler to red would make it slow, and hooking the power wire of the ACcooler to the PS yellow would make it spin fast.


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## ryboto (Apr 6, 2006)

markkleb said:
			
		

> i hope Im not sounding like a jerk but the colors on the Powersupply are yellow=12v, red=5v and orange =3.3v  Black=ground.
> 
> so by hooking the power wire of the AC cooler to red would make it slow, and hooking the power wire of the ACcooler to the PS yellow would make it spin fast.


He's not talking about using the power supply, he's talking about using a 3-pin connector to plug the  ac silencer into his motherboards fan header.


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## markkleb (Apr 6, 2006)

When you get older they say ur mindis the second thing to go...

Thanks for clearing it up.


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## jackmonkey (Apr 6, 2006)

In re-reading the site, they actually had it all explained correctly. I just misread it the first time. Thanks all for your input!

After connecting to the motherboard header, I couldn't get SpeedFan to regulate the speed at all. I ended up just attaching it to one of those 3.5" bays that control fan speeds and it works fine.

I just wish there was a way to automatically monitor the GPU temperature and control the fan speed accordingly. Even if speedfan could control speed, it has no idea what the GPU temperature is.

It's a shame the graphics card header sucks. Any other ideas for how this can be done without using the graphics header?


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## markkleb (Apr 6, 2006)

On my mobo some of the headers on the mobo are rpm monitored and some arent. 

how many wires are on ur gpu fan? and what mobo are u using?


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## jackmonkey (Apr 7, 2006)

I have the Asus P4P800 SE. I have three 3-pin fan headers (all of which are RPM-monitored). In speedfan though, I only have three options for them under Advanced: 
"Manual PWM Control", "Thermal Cruise", & "Fan Speed Cruise".

I set my CPU fan to "Manual PWM Control", as the other two don't seem to vary the speed at all.

My GPU fan has a three-pin connector (of course, I just spliced it on). When I connect it to the mobo, I can see the RPM in Motherboard Monitor & SpeedFan. I just can't get SpeedFan to change them.


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