knathani Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Corsair responded to me a couple of days after and sent me a new fan. It arrived today so I will test it out and see if that solves the problem. Delivery took only 3 business days from the time I filed the request, so I'm pretty impressed with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted April 13, 2012 Corsair Employee Share Posted April 13, 2012 I have the same problem with my H60: always at 1900+ RPM. But it's on a Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 motherboard. Playing with the BIOS settings had no effect. Where do you have the fan connected? and what is your CPU temp on idle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsec Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 There is no reason to plug the pump into the CPU FAN header. The pump requires a constant 12v. (And in fact if the fan speed is not set on full, if you have a fan on that header, the pump won't operate properly.) When I used an H60 w/ a P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 board, I plugged the pump into a PWR FAN header and the fan into the CPU FAN header. The fan was regulated just fine by the Asus Suite II software. I later changed to different fans in push-pull with one in the CPU FAN header and the other in the CPU FAN OPT header, and they were BOTH regulated simultaneously by the Asus Suite II software via the CPU FAN settings. I can't imagine that the fan regulation software or hardware would be much different for your board. Interesting about the CPU OPT fan header, I've always wondered what the purpose of that is, since the manual is worthless for describing it's function. I asked about it in their mobo forum, and no one had an answer. I'm using an ASUS P67 board, and am using a PWM fan splitter cable for two PWM fans, which works fine, but I should try the CPU OPT header and see if it works as yours does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sickfiddydee Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Interesting about the CPU OPT fan header, I've always wondered what the purpose of that is, since the manual is worthless for describing it's function. I asked about it in their mobo forum, and no one had an answer. I'm using an ASUS P67 board, and am using a PWM fan splitter cable for two PWM fans, which works fine, but I should try the CPU OPT header and see if it works as yours does. The CHASSIS FAN 1 header on my mobo has a useless 4th pin: constant +5v, instead of PWM control. I've spoken to numerous support people at various levels, and the best answer I can get is that the 5v is for "fan regulation," but nobody there can tell me of any fan ever made that is regulated by a constant 5v on a 4th pin. The CPU OPT header should work fine for the second of your your two PWM fans. It did for me when I ran two fans w/ an H60, and it is doing the same for the second group of 4 fans w/ my H100. (I have 4 fans on the rad. in push-pull, controlled by the CPU FAN header, and the 4 fans in the side panel of my case controlled by the CPU OPT header, so that they'll spin up simultaneously w/ the rad. fans to maintain positive case pressure. Each group of 4 fans in this setup is powered by a 4 way splitter that takes power directly from the PSU via a molex, and only uses the mobo header for control signals, but the effect is the same as having a pair of fans regulated simultaneously by the CPU FAN and CPU OPT headers.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsec Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 On my P67 board, I just noticed that in the manual, what ought to be the CPU OPT Fan header is labeled "Chassis 1", while located directly next to the CPU Fan header. But the pins are labeled "CPU Power In", etc. Must be a translation error. ;): Lucky me, no four pin chassis fan header with a 5V fourth pin on this board, by my X58 board does have one of those. I noticed that the single CPU Fan header on that board (no CPU OPT header) is rated at two amps/24 Watts... wonder if I can trust that? That molex to PWM fan power/splitter is an interesting contraption I've never seen before, where did you find that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sickfiddydee Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 I'd be a little hesitant in putting a 2A draw on any MB fan header... It's more capacity than I'd expect. The manual for the P8Z68 has the CPU FAN header rated at 1A, which is a pretty common rating for a fan header, from what I've seen. (And I can imagine what it would be like trying to sort that out with their warranty dept., having seen their tech department in action.) Chances are, if you're putting a 2A draw on that header, you're running a lot more than one pair of fans. In that case, I'd definitely use a powered splitter (as long as they're PWM fans.) The cleanest pre-made, powered, 1-4 PWM splitter I've come across is this part number: Gelid CA-PWM-03. I didn't want to be bothered wiring up my own, but it's a simple concept: 12v and gnd via a molex from the PSU to all the fans, PWM signal from the mobo header to all fans, and RPM signal from just one fan, back to the mobo header. Edit: Actually, the splitters I'm using are made by Gelid (and come in their packaging, if I remember correctly) but they are sold as: EK 4-Pin PWM 4-Way Splitter Cable. I'm using them because the branches that go to the CPU FAN headers are extra long, and my CPU FAN headers are at the top of the mobo. Again a quick google ought to bring them up. (I think I got them from the "sub 0C CPU" place.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsec Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 The two amp spec for that CPU Fan header is something I would never try to use anyway, I just thought it was an interesting spec, given the CPU Fan/CPU OPT pair are one amp each, two amps total. There are several good PWM fans that are rated around 0.30A, so using two with a one to two splitter is not over doing it. Your comments about the engineering of that fan header are echoing my thoughts regarding the engineering of the entire board, a scary thought. But I try to keep an open mind, if I simply don't understand why something is the way it is, does not necessarily mean it is a mistake or worthless. So that four pin fan header with 5V on one pin may make sense in some obscure way. Found that product, thanks, although it was out of stock at the egg, and may not be restocked. But I'll look around and find the other(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sickfiddydee Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 The two amp spec for that CPU Fan header is something I would never try to use anyway, I just thought it was an interesting spec, given the CPU Fan/CPU OPT pair are one amp each, two amps total. There are several good PWM fans that are rated around 0.30A, so using two with a one to two splitter is not over doing it. I'm with you on that. A pair of fans on one header via a splitter is fine (unless they're some sort of inordinately high-amp fan.) I'd just be a little hesitant to power 2 amps worth of fans off a single mobo header, no matter how high it was supposedly rated. Your comments about the engineering of that fan header are echoing my thoughts regarding the engineering of the entire board, a scary thought. But I try to keep an open mind, if I simply don't understand why something is the way it is, does not necessarily mean it is a mistake or worthless. So that four pin fan header with 5V on one pin may make sense in some obscure way. I'm OK with not understanding why something is the way it is, but when the manufacturer's own tech support can't even explain it adequately (and seems not to understand it themselves....) I begin to wonder. Found that product, thanks, although it was out of stock at the egg, and may not be restocked. But I'll look around and find the other(s). They have it in stock at the other place I mentioned. ("sub 0C" = "Frozen") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Guys, I've nuked the side conversation about other companies' below average support. This isn't the place for it, sorry. I've said it before and I'll say it again - if for whatever reason people don't want to go to one of the hundreds of neutral forums out there, I can always resurrect the spinoff site the House of Help had - houseofmobos.com and set up a neutral forum there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlw_wl Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 The CPU_FAN header could have a 2A current rating, because PWM header doesn't need a power transistor like 3-pin ones do, so you just need to run a wider trace to the VCC and GND pins and that's all. Chances are there already is a mighty +12V pathway in the area (VRM) no that wouldn't be a problem. The limitation could actually be the thickness (or lack thereof) of the fan header pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsec Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 The CPU_FAN header could have a 2A current rating, because PWM header doesn't need a power transistor like 3-pin ones do, so you just need to run a wider trace to the VCC and GND pins and that's all. Chances are there already is a mighty +12V pathway in the area (VRM) no that wouldn't be a problem. The limitation could actually be the thickness (or lack thereof) of the fan header pins. I'm surprised you're saying a circuit board trace would have more material/metal than a fan header pin. Even if the trace was wide, they are usually so thin, I think it's a miracle they work at all. A one ounce copper circuit board, which would be the thickness of one ounce of copper flattened out into one square foot (I'm sure you know this, just stating it for those that don't.) That results in a thickness of 0.0014 inch, or 14/10,000 of an inch. One half ounce copper board traces are 0.0007 inch thick, and two ounce copper traces are 0.0028 inch thick. No offense, just something that has always surprised me, how thin circuit board traces are. They obviously work, and for low current applications it doesn't matter. Fortunately (hopefully) the traces are short, and the resistance is not as bad as you might think. Now don't get me started on the 24 or 26 gauge wire in Cat 5 or Cat 6 cables... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babdi Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I suppose many know how electronic circuits work and is on current more than voltage and therefore it is current draw rather than the voltage that really matters and obviously MBs are designed to take the current especially fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsec Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Of course, AC power cords use larger gauge wire to allow higher current draw. Impedance (for AC) is also a factor. The 12 Watt power flow (one Amp at 12V) through a circuit board trace is much lower than the potentially hundreds of Watts through an AC power cord. Circuit board traces are usually short, a few inches/cm, so resistance (for DC) is minimal. I'm just obsessing over something that is really not an issue. I won't use less than 16 gauge power cords on a PC, although the power draw of my PCs is not more than two Amps at 120V, or 240 Watts, since I'm not a gamer. I also restrict my CPU OC to Sandy Bridge CPUs, which are less power hungry than say i7-900 series CPUs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlw_wl Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 The traces are thin, true, but that doesn't stop them from transferring tens of Amperes to the CPU for example. But a trace is solid copper. Both the trace and the thin wire used for fans (AWG 24 or whatever it is) have, I think, lower resistance and greater surface, than the contact area that the pin on the fan header is making with the pin on the wire. That's why I said it. But where are we going with this? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsec Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Nowhere... As I said, the thickness of circuit board traces, or really how thin they are, has always surprised me. That's a remnant of my days as a high-end audiophile, an affliction known as audiophile-nervosa, where you worry about tiny things that really don't matter. I'm still a recovering audiophile... ;): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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