Cant control ML120Pro RGB fan speed

Hello dear Corsair users,

I have Corsair Obsidian 500d RGB SE Premium Case (https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Software-Control-and-Monitoring-Cases/Obsidian-Series-500D-RGB-SE-Premium-Mid-Tower-Case/p/CC-9011139-WW)

There are 3 default LL120RGB 120mm fans(or QL120 120mm im not sure) on the front side, mounted by the manufacturer.

And i got H115i RGB Platinum 280mm Liquid CPU Cooler, mounted on the upper side.

Finally i got one ML120 Pro RGB 120mm fan, mounted on the back side.

Connection schema is here: https://imgur.com/a/hDIEERf

But the problem is i cant control speed of ML120 Pro (the fan on the back side).

Actually i wasnt able to control any of them, but then i made some researches and forced icue to update and from device settings i changed all pin out types to 3-pin. Thus i can control fan speeds now, except the fan#4 the one mounted on the back side. Thats the fan port #4 and if i try to change its pin out from auto to 3pin it stops working.

Here is my icue settings;

1- https://imgur.com/a/SWGm5rU

2- https://imgur.com/a/rhJFvl3

As you can see, fan#4 works at at 1500 RPM, and changing its performance setting doesnt work. No matter what it always works around 1500 RPM. How can i fix that?

And one more thing; default fans of the case (fan#1,2,3) work around 700 RPM at quiet performance setting. But i wonder if the quiet performance means 700 rpm. It should be lower then 700 imo.

Thanks for your help.

The fans that came with the case should be LL120 (according to Corsair website).

The strange thing is you are forced to set the "3-pin" in CoPro tab... I have 9 LL fans and they work flawlessy with "Auto" setting... and they have 4-pin connectors!!

But following this odd configuration, what happens if you also set channel 4 to 3-pin? Do you gain control on the ML fan?

Have you tried to set a custom curve for fan 4? You should be able to drop RPM to a minimum of 400.

LL120 fans have a minimum RPM of 300, even if CoPro detection varies from 320 to 360 RPM.

Baio

what happens if you also set channel 4 to 3-pin? Do you gain control on the ML fan?

If i do that, fan#4 stops working.doesnt whirl at all.

Have you tried to set a custom curve for fan 4? You should be able to drop RPM to a minimum of 400.

I just tried and set it to 700 custom rpm for fan#4 and now it works.

But this doesnt look like a proper solution:) thanks anyway, at least i dont hear annoying sound of high speed fan anymore.

If i do that, fan#4 stops working.doesnt whirl at all.

Ok, that's a proper behavior... the strange one is forcing the LL to the 3-pin state.

I just tried and set it to 700 custom rpm for fan#4 and now it works.

 

But this doesnt look like a proper solution:) thanks anyway, at least i dont hear annoying sound of high speed fan anymore.

The situation has infact improved but I can't say it's normal, as you should be able to lower the ML fan to 400RPM.

Have you tried to reflash the CoPro firmware?

Have you tried a repair installation of iCUE?

Baio

You need to set all of those to 4 pin or leave it on Auto. They are all PWM fans and their motors designed to have a constant 12v signal. I prefer the 4 pin setting because it won't do the 100% power on test like Auto to detect the fan type.

If the ML in the back is not responding, physically disconnect it from the Commander and reconnect. If it is still misbehaving, try header #5 or 6.

Make sure you are applying the fan curve to the fan. This is common starter mistake and both the fan curve and fan should turn yellow when the curve is selected. I also would get off those Quiet/Balanced/Extreme presets. Those run from CPU temp and the fans will never be steady. You need a different control variable, whether it is GPU temperature, the coolant temp from the H115i, or one of the ambient air temp sensors for the Commander Pro. Letting them ramp up and down with CPU temp will be maddening.

You need to set all of those to 4 pin or leave it on Auto. They are all PWM fans and their motors designed to have a constant 12v signal. I prefer the 4 pin setting because it won't do the 100% power on test like Auto to detect the fan type.

 

[CUT]

 

That’s a great hint!

I think you mean on system power on, when all the fans run full RPM for a second, don’t you?

I’m gonna test it as soon as I power the pc on.

Baio

I left all of those fans ports to auto. I changed them at once because otherwise i wasnt able to change their speed so this was the solution i found on corsair forums.

Anyway i left them to auto and made a custom curve, applied them to all fans and h115i.

They are very quiet now as they should be.

This is the custom profile i made; https://imgur.com/a/Y1mE1i2 I think ramp points are okey for a gaming pc. Can you check them pls id like to know if make smt bad for my pcs health

Hard to say, every pc is a stand alone story.

I don’t think you are going to ruin something, CPUs nowadays have good thermal protections.

Just test your system the way you use it everyday and check often temperatures to avoid thermal throttling.

Baio

I think you are going to give yourself a headache making your case fans rev up and down every time you open a folder or launch a program. Your case fans regulate the exchange of air in and out of the case and thus the internal air temperature. They have no effect or relation to your CPU package temp. However, this is your choice.

On the other hand, you do need to put the H115i curve back on the coolant temperature and use an appropriate curve for that. The fans dissipate heat from coolant (thus coolant temperature) and the entire operation is based on that value. The cooler may not operate as intended if you decide to use the wrong control variable.

Your case fans regulate the exchange of air in and out of the case and thus the internal air temperature. They have no effect or relation to your CPU package temp. However, this is your choice.

 

On the other hand, you do need to put the H115i curve back on the coolant temperature and use an appropriate curve for that. The fans dissipate heat from coolant (thus coolant temperature) and the entire operation is based on that value. The cooler may not operate as intended if you decide to use the wrong control variable.

So you say i need to set H115i itself as sensor instead of cpu?

I recommend that you do and that is the default setting. It's how the cooling process really works. When the voltage comes on, it creates heat underneath the CPU at the pins. The only way to get rid of this heat is to physically transfer it through the CPU and into something else. The something else is the coolant stream and the AIO. No matter what you do with fans, pump, radiator size or anything else, that physical transfer rate is fixed and based on the materials and CPU construction. This also becomes the limit for all of us, no matter how large your cooling loop. Too much voltage and the CPU gets too hot before the heat can transfer out.

The radiator, fans, and pump are part of the secondary stage of cooling. Once the heat is dumped into the coolant stream, these work together to dump it somewhere else. If you dump more heat in than you expel out, the coolant temperature rises. The relationship is +1C coolant temp increase = +1C CPU temp increase and that is not a lot compared to what the voltage adds. Coolant temperature is the minimum possible CPU temp with zero voltage and acts as the baseline, plus whatever the voltage temp increase which varies from +20-50C depending on CPU, voltage, and load. Air coolers work this way too, but the difference is the small air pipes can only hold heat for so long before it starts to add up. If you did nothing with your fans, it would still take several minutes for a meaningful change in coolant temp when under load. They don't need to be responsive in the same way a tiny horizontal CPU cooler must be.

To be clear, you will not harm the CPU by running the fans from CPU temperature. However, in order for the AIO to get CPU data, you must be running iCUE at all times. If you quit iCUE and at boot/restart, you have severed the link and the cooler will use the last known settings and the coolant temp as the only native control source. I am not sure if it will recognize your temp scale is set for a different variable and revert to stock settings or if will apply them as you set it. With coolant temp usually maxing out around 40C, it puts you in a the wrong range. But much like the case fans, the normal result all the time is going to be fans jumping up and down when they don't need to. This is the equivalent of running your air conditioning based on the outside temperature vs the room temperature you are really trying to control. Yes, there is a relationship between how hot it is outside to how hot it will be inside, but you don't the air conditioning to kick on or off as clouds pass by or the breeze blows. You only need to run when the room temp changes from what you have set.