[chrisexv6]

Per the ASRock Xtreme Tuning Utility thing.....chassis fan 1 (my Cougar fan) is running at 1K RPM. I have it set to level 1 with a target chassis temp of 50. The current chassis temp is 30 so it shouldnt be ramped up at all.

Is this a function of the mobo not letting it go that low? or is the fan the culprit?

I plan on running these off a Giled splitter, which will be hooked to the CPU1 fan header (the CPU fans have no problem running at 7-something RPM right now.....Silver Arrow cooler so TY-140 and TY-150). I suppose I could connect them to a lower voltage side of a Molex, but I wanted to see if the fan is the issue or if the mobo will never let the fan run at lowest RPM.

Any ideas? The only reason Im asking is because the Cougar seems to be the loudest fan in my case......its mounted in front intake position of my HAF-912, and I think Im just hearing it pull air thru the mesh on the case. Lowering the RPM should lower that noise (for normal use, anyway).

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

 

[Saurian]

Hmm..It seems it could be a bit of both, though ultimately I would actually say the fan. I wonder if having a voltage reducer in between the fan and the motherboard header would bump it down just a little bit. I might have a spare lying around here somewhere... Also, the splitter may pose a problem as if plugged into a Molex connector the power output will remain constant (or so I think).

 

[chrisexv6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saurian

Hmm..It seems it could be a bit of both, though ultimately I would actually say the fan. I wonder if having a voltage reducer in between the fan and the motherboard header would bump it down just a little bit. I might have a spare lying around here somewhere... Also, the splitter may pose a problem as if plugged into a Molex connector the power output will remain constant (or so I think).

I bought two of these, Ill try the other to see if I get the same results.

I have my Silver Arrow using the included PWM splitter to get both fans running off the CPU1 fan header. I might try plugging one of the Cougars into CPU2 fan header and see if it follows the same RPM as CPU1.

Im wondering if there is just something in the ASRock BIOS that is forcing the minimum RPM of the fan to be 1K (although I did catch it dropping slightly below 1K last night [980 or so], per the onboard RPM sensors)

 

[chrisexv6]

I hooked the 2nd of these to the CPU2 fan header. The slowest it ran was still 950 to 1000RPM or so. Must be how the fan is reading the PWM signal from the board.

Now the question is, do I fight for that last 150-200RPM (I think yes, Im guessing it would drop noise dramatically)? Is there a way to reduce the PWM signal somehow?

I have a couple of the Gelid splitters coming but Im not sure that will help....it looks like what the TY fans are interpreting as 750RPM the Cougar fans are seeing it as 1K RPM.

Havent seen much on the internet about this...I did see one posting that mentioned this issue but never a fix. I also couldnt find any specs on the motherboard's minimum PWM signal.

 

[inVain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisexv6

I hooked the 2nd of these to the CPU2 fan header. The slowest it ran was still 950 to 1000RPM or so. Must be how the fan is reading the PWM signal from the board.
Now the question is, do I fight for that last 150-200RPM (I think yes, Im guessing it would drop noise dramatically)? Is there a way to reduce the PWM signal somehow?
I have a couple of the Gelid splitters coming but Im not sure that will help....it looks like what the TY fans are interpreting as 750RPM the Cougar fans are seeing it as 1K RPM.
Havent seen much on the internet about this...I did see one posting that mentioned this issue but never a fix. I also couldnt find any specs on the motherboard's minimum PWM signal.

you can hook up the #4 (PWM) wire to the ground (black wire), to set it up to its lowest RPM

 

[doyll]

Quote:

Originally Posted by inVain

you can hook up the #4 (PWM) wire to the ground (black wire), to set it up to its lowest RPM

How does that work?

As I understand it (could be wrong.. was once before

)
Ground out the PWM signal from mobois a nono and could do possible, but not probable damage..
And on fan if PWM wire is not connected to to signal it does nothing.

 

[inVain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyll

How does that work?
As I understand it (could be wrong.. was once before

)
Ground out the PWM signal from mobois a nono and could do possible, but not probable damage..
And on fan if PWM wire is not connected to to signal it does nothing.

PWM = pulse width modulation,

so, zero volt is equal to zero duty cycle / it means no pulse (lowest possible RPM that programmed to the fan; only if the fan was not on inverted mode, on the other words the fan was programmed to be run at their full speed at zero duty cycle. these type of fans are typically found on industrial grade fans, to meet the industrial environment need; but were also appear to be common on server grade fans)

while as the opposite, short the #4 wire to 5v will be equal to 100% duty cycle

 

[gEEKaDE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisexv6

Per the ASRock Xtreme Tuning Utility thing.....chassis fan 1 (my Cougar fan) is running at 1K RPM. I have it set to level 1 with a target chassis temp of 50. The current chassis temp is 30 so it shouldnt be ramped up at all.
Is this a function of the mobo not letting it go that low? or is the fan the culprit?
I plan on running these off a Giled splitter, which will be hooked to the CPU1 fan header (the CPU fans have no problem running at 7-something RPM right now.....Silver Arrow cooler so TY-140 and TY-150). I suppose I could connect them to a lower voltage side of a Molex, but I wanted to see if the fan is the issue or if the mobo will never let the fan run at lowest RPM.
Any ideas? The only reason Im asking is because the Cougar seems to be the loudest fan in my case......its mounted in front intake position of my HAF-912, and I think Im just hearing it pull air thru the mesh on the case. Lowering the RPM should lower that noise (for normal use, anyway).
Thanks in advance.
-Chris

I have 2 of these fans in my case.

These fans where made for PWM, not voltage control. When you use these fans on a voltage control header on your mobo I think 1000rpm is the lowest it can go.

You need to get the Gelid PWM 1-to-4 Splitter and use the fans in PWM mode instead.

 

[chrisexv6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gEEKaDE

I have 2 of these fans in my case.
These fans where made for PWM, not voltage control. When you use these fans on a voltage control header on your mobo I think 1000rpm is the lowest it can go.
You need to get the Gelid PWM 1-to-4 Splitter and use the fans in PWM mode instead.

One of the chassis fan headers on the mobo is PWM, at least its setup the same way in the tuning utility as the CPU fan1/fan2: you can set a level and a target temp and it will vary the RPMs accordingly. To me that means PWM (but maybe Im wrong?) It does vary the speed but never gets below the 1K RPM mark.

I also hooked one directly to CPU fan2 (which *should* be PWM) and same thing....never under ~1K RPM.

 

[gEEKaDE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisexv6

One of the chassis fan headers on the mobo is PWM, at least its setup the same way in the tuning utility as the CPU fan1/fan2: you can set a level and a target temp and it will vary the RPMs accordingly. To me that means PWM (but maybe Im wrong?) It does vary the speed but never gets below the 1K RPM mark.
I also hooked one directly to CPU fan2 (which *should* be PWM) and same thing....never under ~1K RPM.

How low or high the fans will spin depends on your temperature.

I have two GELID 120mm PWM fans on my CPU cooler and they almost never spin at their lowest or highest RPM (actually I can get it to spin at it's highest RPM by running a IntelBurn Test).

 

[chrisexv6]

Agreed, but my CPU fans spin down to 750RPM without issue. I have the target temp set to the lowest possible and they still run at lowest RPM. To rule out the target temp causing an issue with the Cougar fans I set the case target temp to the HIGHEST allowed, which should run the fans down to min RPM just sitting there at idle, but again never below 1000RPM.

Maybe its not a big deal, but I was just asking. As I mentioned before I saw someone refer to this same issue but never came back with (if there was one) a resolution.

Id be interested to see what (if anything) the Gelid splitter does.

 

[gEEKaDE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisexv6

Agreed, but my CPU fans spin down to 750RPM without issue. I have the target temp set to the lowest possible and they still run at lowest RPM. To rule out the target temp causing an issue with the Cougar fans I set the case target temp to the HIGHEST allowed, which should run the fans down to min RPM just sitting there at idle, but again never below 1000RPM.
Maybe its not a big deal, but I was just asking. As I mentioned before I saw someone refer to this same issue but never came back with (if there was one) a resolution.
Id be interested to see what (if anything) the Gelid splitter does.

I'm not familiar with ASRock Xtreme Tuning Utility but does it interfere with how your fans operate?

I personally do not recommend using software fan controllers if you want to control fan speed.

The Gelid PWM 1-to-4 Splitter is self explanatory. It's a splitter. Most mobos have only 1 PWM header, the splitter splits the lone PWM header into 4 because if you daisy chain 4 PWM fans to a single header it run the risk of shorting the header. The Gelid PWM 1-to-4 Splitter uses power from your PSU instead and gets the PWM reading from the mobo. Only 1 of the 3 headers are equipped with fan speed information.

PerformancePCs.com

 

[chrisexv6]

I actually thought it was just tweaking the BIOS values (the actual BIOS screen has the same setting.....target temp and fan level). I dont have the s/w loading when Windows starts but the settings are retained (fans start at the last level I set in the app)

What Im seeing is the fan level defines what it will normally run at. As you reach the target temp it will ramp up the RPM of the fans to compensate.

I have both CPU and chassis fans set to Level 1, target temp for CPU set to 45 and target temp for Chassis set to 50. All the fans seem to act as expected....as CPU temps rise so do the RPMs on the CPU fans (can hear it and see the RPM change in hardware monitor). Chassis fan header works the same way.

I might email Cougar support, even though any support related stuff on their website is geared towards their PSUs

 

[chrisexv6]

Got the Giled PWM splitters today.

When using the CPU fan as the master, the Cougars must be running at some slow PWM signal because they make a whining noise. If I run one of them as master, with the splitter connected to Chassis Fan 1, they run without noise but are still at 1K RPM.

On the flip side, it looks like the *real* source of noise might be my exhaust fan (I used one of the included CoolerMaster fans) and/or the PSU fan in my ToughPower XT. I read how silent the ToughPower was supposed to be, but now Im not so sure! I dont wanna open it up and lose the warranty to replace the fan with something quieter, so I might be stuck (not sure I can resell it, and I think Im past return window)

 

[gEEKaDE]

I have 3 PWM fans connected to the Gelid 1 to 4 splitter, one Cougar PWM and two Gelid (1800rpm) PWM and one more PWM Cougar connected to a fan controller. Both Cougars make no abnormal noise at all (that's with my ear 1inch away from the fans).

How are your Cougars mounted? I've read that the Cougars make weird noises when mounted horizontally, though I never tried testing it myself.

 

[edsai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gEEKaDE

I have 3 PWM fans connected to the Gelid 1 to 4 splitter, one Cougar PWM and two Gelid (1800rpm) PWM and one more PWM Cougar connected to a fan controller. Both Cougars make no abnormal noise at all (that's with my ear 1inch away from the fans).
How are your Cougars mounted? I've read that the Cougars make weird noises when mounted horizontally, though I never tried testing it myself.

I have a Asus motherboard and the Akasa 1 to 5 PWM cable splitter.

The cable don't work hooked in the Chassis Fan header. All fans run at max speed using this cable.
This cable only work hooked in the CPU Fan header. The fan must be PWM otherwise will run at max speed.

I have the Cougar Vortex 140mm (CF-V14H) fan and makes somewhat a weird noise that my other NZXT FZ-140mm fan doesn't have.
The Cougar fan is still quiet and seems a good fan for me but not better than my other NZXT fan.

 

[gEEKaDE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edsai

I have a Asus motherboard and the Akasa 1 to 5 PWM cable splitter.
The cable don't work hooked in the Chassis Fan header. All fans run at max speed using this cable.
This cable only work hooked in the CPU Fan header. The fan must be PWM otherwise will run at max speed.
I have the Cougar Vortex 140mm (CF-V14H) fan and makes somewhat a weird noise that my other NZXT FZ-140mm fan doesn't have.
The Cougar fan is still quiet and seems a good fan for me but not better than my other NZXT fan.

What is your Cougar CF-V14H hooked up to? The Cougar fan is much better than the NZXT in terms of static pressure and NZXT is known to exaggerate their CFM claims.

 

[edsai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gEEKaDE

What is your Cougar CF-V14H hooked up to? The Cougar fan is much better than the NZXT in terms of static pressure and NZXT is known to exaggerate their CFM claims.

Both the Cougar 140mm and NZXT FZ-140mm fans are hooked up the Chassis Fan headers.

Yes, I know that the Cougar is specified with higher static pressure than NZXT Fan.
I can't really tell who has better CFM, but both at max rpm seems to have the same air flow.
Despite of that the NZXT spins at max 1000rpm and the Cougar spins between 1200rpm - 1300rpm.

The Cougar is quiet, but have somewhat a weirding noise and is not quiet than the NZXT Fan at the same rpm.

I'm really no need a fan with high CFM and high static pressure being louder.

I just purchased the Cougar and the NZXT fan to replace the Akasa Viper 140mm (AK-FN063).
The Viper 140mm has more impressive CFM and static pressure than the Cougar and NZXT fans.
Also I found one review showing that It really has high CFM.

But the Viper 140mm is loud at 60% speed. Even at 40% the noise is annoying for me.
It isn't quiet like the Akasa 120mm (AK-FN059).

So I decided to purchase only one Cougar 140mm.
It's seems nice and quiet, but It not impressed me to purchase another one.

Then I just purchased one NZXT FZ-140mm because I heard It's the new series fan and has a new design.
The NZXT fan is very quiet at 800/900 rpm and is still quiet or has minimal noise at max 1000rpm.
It's not disappointed me.

 

[gEEKaDE]

My bad, I was thinking about the 120mm PWM model CF-V12HP. I don't have experience with Cougar's 140mm fans. However I used the NZXT FZ-140mm LED for awhile and felt it didn't push as much air as I wanted. I settled on Gelid's 140mm fan as it was just as quiet as NZXT's 140mm offering but pushes much more air at low speeds.

 

[edsai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gEEKaDE

My bad, I was thinking about the 120mm PWM model CF-V12HP. I don't have experience with Cougar's 140mm fans. However I used the NZXT FZ-140mm LED for awhile and felt it didn't push as much air as I wanted. I settled on Gelid's 140mm fan as it was just as quiet as NZXT's 140mm offering but pushes much more air at low speeds.

No need to worry. Your suggestions are welcome.
I am using the Cougar 140mm at my side panel, never tested yet as front or top fan.
I heard good recommendations about the Cougar by other guys too.

I agree that the Cougar is a great fan and It's a good fan at (60% - 950rpm).
But at 70% - 1070rpm It's more noticeable for me.
So my only cons It's not quiet at full speed (1200rpm).