Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

[jsofsky]

I'm planning a new core I7 system using a EX58a UD5 motherboard if it is released in a reasonable period of time, and will settle for an EX58 if there will be a prolonged wait.

I intend to use an after market tall CPU cooler that will need 2-3 fans. After a bit of research, it appears to me the most reasonable choice for this is a PWM fan that can be controlled by the motherboard instead of fixed speed or manually adjustable fans. I am considering the Arctic Cooling 120 mm daisy-chainable PWM fans.

I've looked at the Manual for the UD5 and cannot find any data about the number of amps available on the CPU_FAN header. Will I be able to connect the three fans without something going POOF?

Jack

[Psycho101]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Personally I wouldn't risk it. Depending on how much the fans draw, I wouldn't want to put more than 0.75 amp through a fan header.

Maybe consider a front bay fan controller instead. You can pick up some pretty cool retro looking ones with chrome knobs or there are sleek touch screen models depending on your style choice and current case looks.

Unfortunately if the X58 is anything like my UD3P, the second PWM header is limited to a stupidly low 5V. The only other headers capable of giving 12V are both 3 pin.

What I'd do, and it's just an opinion, is get hold of three Noctua Fans and run them all from Molex to 3 pin adapters. You can choose to use the LNA (7V) or ULNA (5V) to regulate noise. They're thet quiet you may as well leave them on full all the time. You won't notice them even while watching a DVD or web surfing. If you do, using the 7V adapter will remedy that (as there are three of them I suppose) and not effect cooling by much if at all.

Before buying that cooler, compare the cooling results to oither easier to manage 120mm fan coolers like the TRUE, Prolimatech Megahalems, Noctua and the new Corsair H50 sealed H2O cooler (which is actually very good, especially on a Core i7, surprisingly so).

[jsofsky]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Psycho101,

Thanks for your reply.

>I wouldn't want to put more than 0.75 amp through a fan header.

The Arctic Cooling AF 12025 PWM draws .13 Amps at 12 Volts.

http://tinyurl.com/azxlv4

> if the X58 is anything like my UD3P, the second PWM header is limited to
>a stupidly low 5V

The UD5 manual lists the CPU_FAN as 4 pin and supplying 12 volts. SYS_FAN1, NB_FAN,PWR_FAN supply 12 volts and are 3 pin. SYS_FAN3 is 3 pin, but the voltage is not mentioned. SYS_FAN2, the only other 4 pin fan is 5 volt.

Since I posted here I did get lucky with a Google search and found a post that mentioned each fan header can handle 3 amps at 12 volts.

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=132554

Can anyone confirm this?

>Before buying that cooler, compare the cooling results to oither easier
>to manage 120mm fan coolers like the TRUE, Prolimatech Megahalems,
>Noctua and the new Corsair H50 sealed H2O cooler (which is actually
>very good, especially on a Core i7, surprisingly so).

Here is a link to the xbitlabs study comparing various supercoolers with a core I7 920 at 3.76GHz/1.275V

http://tinyurl.com/l9kh4w

The Thermalright IFX-14 is currently at the top of my list.

The Corsair H50 was a consideration and I looked at several reviews. My impression was that although a good choice in certain situations, it is inferior to the better air coolers in a well ventilated case - I already have an Antec P193 sitting here in my room. There is also the additional mechanical complexity.

The important criticism of the P193 is the tallest tower coolers won't fit. I can tell you with a small hex wrench and 4 flat washers the P193 can be quickly, easily and reversibly modified to handle the tallest coolers (of course, the case may appear to be badly in need of a support bra).

Jack

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

I agree, I think they are rated to 1 amp but I would not push it though. I do think you may be ok with 3 x .13 though

As for Sys_Fan 2, many issues on various boards/BIOS with this setting, so do not be assured of anything until you have your board and tested it with a few BIOSes.

Here is a quote from one of our members svcglobal on Sys_Fan 2 header testing

We did a lot of tests here with our board and found the following:

CPU_FAN connector needs a CPU cooler with four wires were the PWM modulator is included in the cooler. The mobo senses the CPU temperature and managing the pin 4 signal, the cooler's fan will automatically be increased or decreased, following the CPU temp. Fan's rotation feedback returns via pin 3 for BIOS alarm feature.

SYS_FAN2 connector needs any fan, with three or four wires (don't care) since the speed is controlled via on-board PWM controller that supply pulse-width-modulated 12v for the fan via pin 2.
So, if using a four wire fan, its internal PWM is locked to full speed (this explain that fixed 5v on pin 4).
This time, the mobo senses the North Bridge (in my case the P35) temperature and will increase or decrease the speed of the fan connected in this socket. Feedback is sent to pin 3 for BIOS alarm purposes.

SYS_FAN1 and PWR_FAN are three pin socket with fixed full speed fan. No controlled rotation at all from the mobo. Rotation feedback also monitored via pin 3 only for BIOS alarm purpose.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/x45-dq6-fan-header-question-27799/#post260901

[jsofsky]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Thanks Ldsmeasap,

I will order the 3 Arctic Cooler PWM fans today.

However, I must admit to a bit of confusion. The only 'sense' I can make out of this is Gigabyte expects all fans attached to motherboard to run at a constant (and full) speed except for the bios controlled CPU_FAN. IOW, am I correct in assuming that although the Manual lists SYS_FAN2 pin 2 as speed control, it is actually a +12 V pin? Is CPU_FAN pin 2 which is confusingly listed as "+12V/Speed Control" actually just a 12 volt pin? This would make the purpose of the SYS_FAN2 to allow hooking up a full speed case fan even if it is a PWM fan designed to be variable speed.

The manual does not mention "Speed Control" working on anything besides the CPU fan, so this may be why SYS_FAN2 is designed to always run at full blast.

Would someone please correct me if I'm wrong? Are there any EE's out there with the ability to interpret this document?

http://tinyurl.com/l4bgsn


Jack

[Gokuboo]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

I had the same question with my mobo and this is the question and answer sent back to me by gigabyte. I know we have different mobo's but I don't think its really that much of a difference from what I've seen. Hope this helps.

<table class="Block_Main" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#edf3fd"><td>6/24/2009 12:34</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#edf3fd"><td valign="top">Question : </td><td>I have two system fans connected via Y splitter to one system fan header (3pin) fan one specs are rated current 0.15~0.48A Power input 1.80~5.76W. Fan two specs are rated current 0.12~0.48A Power input 2.4~5.7W. My question is what are the specs for each header and is this a safe option as to not burn out a header. Does the system go by total amps to the fan or per header? Just don't want to Damage my equipment and hoping this is safe to do with running two fans on one header. Thank you in advance.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table class="Block_Main" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#edf3fd"><td width="100" valign="top">Answer : </td><td>Hello,
Each Fan connector on mother board out put 12v up to 3amp, please make sure power not draw over 12v 3amp should be safe. </td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" background="images/pop-bgtitle.jpg">
</td></tr></tbody></table>

[jsofsky]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Gokuboo,

Confirmation!! Great! I guess, theoretically, I could safely use 3amps/.13 amps or 23 Arctic AF 12025 PWM fans daisy chained to the CPU_FAN header.

I wonder if the low current draw is due to the Fluid Dynamic Bearing.

Jack

[wazza300]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Psycho101,

Thanks for your reply.

>I wouldn't want to put more than 0.75 amp through a fan header.

The Arctic Cooling AF 12025 PWM draws .13 Amps at 12 Volts.

Arctic Cooling

> if the X58 is anything like my UD3P, the second PWM header is limited to
>a stupidly low 5V

The UD5 manual lists the CPU_FAN as 4 pin and supplying 12 volts. SYS_FAN1, NB_FAN,PWR_FAN supply 12 volts and are 3 pin. SYS_FAN3 is 3 pin, but the voltage is not mentioned. SYS_FAN2, the only other 4 pin fan is 5 volt.

Since I posted here I did get lucky with a Google search and found a post that mentioned each fan header can handle 3 amps at 12 volts.

Gigabyte EX58-UD5 Fan headers - nV News Forums

Can anyone confirm this?

>Before buying that cooler, compare the cooling results to oither easier
>to manage 120mm fan coolers like the TRUE, Prolimatech Megahalems,
>Noctua and the new Corsair H50 sealed H2O cooler (which is actually
>very good, especially on a Core i7, surprisingly so).

Here is a link to the xbitlabs study comparing various supercoolers with a core I7 920 at 3.76GHz/1.275V

Prolimatech Megahalems and 12 Other Coolers for Intel Core i7 Overclocking (page 18) - X-bit labs

The Thermalright IFX-14 is currently at the top of my list.

The Corsair H50 was a consideration and I looked at several reviews. My impression was that although a good choice in certain situations, it is inferior to the better air coolers in a well ventilated case - I already have an Antec P193 sitting here in my room. There is also the additional mechanical complexity.

The important criticism of the P193 is the tallest tower coolers won't fit. I can tell you with a small hex wrench and 4 flat washers the P193 can be quickly, easily and reversibly modified to handle the tallest coolers (of course, the case may appear to be badly in need of a support bra).

Jack

the corsair h50 is better than the coolit domino for cooling and quietness ....dont get a domino i got one and the cpu hose snapped off(common problem) as the barbs are plastic unlike the corsair which are metal

[Gokuboo]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Not sure about your lower current flow question sorry. As far as the CPU fan header I've tried to put less burden on it myself by only hooking one PWM heat sink fan to it. I do have experience in running multiple fans on the system fan headers. I have four 120mm running on two system fan headers and have had zero issues and I've been doing it for quite some time.

[jsofsky]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

I just received the following email from Gigabyte Suport

Hello,
CPU fan connector provide 12v up to 3 amps current.

[MagicFire]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

I have three .41 amp 92mm 68 CFM fans on my EP45-UD3P's CPU fan header using two 3-pin Y splitter cables. I set the header to "Voltage" instead of Auto or PWM.

The only drawback is that the rpm monitor gets confused sometimes so I had to turn off the fans speed alarm in the BIOS because sometimes the RPM sensor would read zero when reported.

Otherwise all is well.

The fans run slow until real work is being done. It's just the way I like it.

[kenestra1]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

So if I understand this right, My setup should be OK. I have this posted in another thread also, I have just installed a Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU cooler on my i7 920 running both fans(3-pin) via a Y-connector(3-pin) off of the CPU-fan header(4-pin) on my EX-58 Extreme MOBO. The System Fan header is real close to the CPU-Fan header,could I have just used that for the 2nd fan?

[MagicFire]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

The System Fan header is real close to the CPU-Fan header,could I have just used that for the 2nd fan?

The System fan 2 header (SYS_FAN2) on my EP45-UD3P motherboard seems to be controlled by the temperature around the Southbridge. Heat seems to rarely be a problem in that location for my motherboard. With that in mind, any fan attached to it would never or at least rarely get to a temperature high enough to be spinning at full speed (or even half speed) unlike the CPU header.

When I've got a heat issue, I want all my fans on the job doing all they can to protect my overclock.

I just found a great cable which allows me to control 3 PWM fans (like the kind used in most CPU heatsinks.) These are 4 pin fans just like the CPU header. I can't wait for my cable to arrive.

[Psycho101]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

The Sys_fan_1 header is a full 12V header. As long as you turn BIOS temp control off, you will get a full 12V all the time. Until recently I had a thermalright T-Rad 2 with a 120mm fan attached to that header. I used a Zalman fan mate to control speeds and can confirm the fan was always at full speed when the fan mate was set to max. This is the header near the HD audio for the front of the case, just to be 100% clear on its location.

Personally I like to regulate my case fans manually. I use the maximal speed for the temps I need. With my Noctua and Enermax fans that just means a max 12V as they're already ~19dB at full voltage. I also keep my CPU fan on full, as it's also a silent Noctua.

I certainly wouldn't have my case fans dependant on CPU temp, as there's much more in the case than just the CPU. All components rely on ambient case temps for cooling, and I like to keep it as low as possible. Just my opinion though, ofc people are free to do what they want.

[kenestra1]

Re: Can CPU_FAN header on EX58 handle 3 fans?

Thats the info. I was looking for! Thanks, Also,excuse my ignorance but what is PWM? And what does that mean then that I have the Y-connector not using the 4-Pin on the CPU-Fan Header?