[SOLVED] Aorus Z490 elite with CM Materfan hub problem

Jan 23, 2021
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Hello and greeting from Bulgaria ! :)
Recently I bought
Z490 Aorus elite ac MB
I also have 6 pcs ot Zalman ZM-RFD120A fans with 3 pin connectors.
Today I bought a Cooler Master Masterfan ARGB and PWM hub, but cant make it work... :(
I try several different connections but whe I plug some fan in this hub they all work at 100%
I try to change different settings in BIOS but nothing...
Now i Connected the hub 4pins to my CPU Opt , connect sata to hub and 3 fans into the hub.
I also tryed to connect the hub to cpu, cpu cooler to the hub and other 3 fans also in the hub. The cpu cooler is with 4 pins and works with arround 1000-1100 rpms, but other 3 fans spins with 1400 rpms and it is very loud... :)
So I think that this hub works only with 4pins fans or im wrong ?
Can you please share your opinions and told me is it possible to use properly this hub with my setup?
Thank you in advance
Kamen Todorov !

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z490-AORUS-ELITE-AC-rev-10
 
Solution
You are right. you cannot control the speed of a 3-pin fan from a 4-pin Hub that uses only the PWM Mode of control. As Karadjgne says, you only get full speed.

So, you cannot use that Hub to control the six fans' MOTOR Speeds, but you can continue to use for connecting their ARGB lighting cables to your mobo D_LED headers so you can control the light using the Zsync software.

To control the fan motor speeds, you must be using the older Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode), and all three of your mobo SYS_FAN headers can do this. To connect two or more fans to one header, you need a Splitter, a simpler device. Here is an example of a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with three output connections. You CAN use these with 3-pin fans...

Paperdoc

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You are right. you cannot control the speed of a 3-pin fan from a 4-pin Hub that uses only the PWM Mode of control. As Karadjgne says, you only get full speed.

So, you cannot use that Hub to control the six fans' MOTOR Speeds, but you can continue to use for connecting their ARGB lighting cables to your mobo D_LED headers so you can control the light using the Zsync software.

To control the fan motor speeds, you must be using the older Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode), and all three of your mobo SYS_FAN headers can do this. To connect two or more fans to one header, you need a Splitter, a simpler device. Here is an example of a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with three output connections. You CAN use these with 3-pin fans.

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Com...1&keywords=fan+splitter&qid=1611455352&sr=8-4

I am not saying get those ones - that's an example, and I expect you can find splitters where you buy computer parts. NOTE that these items do NOT have any extra cable "arm" that plugs into a power output from the PSU. IF you get three-output models like that, you can connect three fans' motor power cables to each of two of your SYS_FAN headers. IF you can only get the more common ones with two outputs, just get three of those and use them on all three headers. Connecting two or three of the fans you have to a single splitter IS OK, and will not exceed the power limit of the header.

Now see p. 36 of your mobo manual for configuration settings. You must make these settings separately for EACH of the SYS_FAN headers you are using, and set them all the same. One at a time, choose one SYS_FANn to work on. Set it as follows:
Fan Speed Control Normal
Fan Control Use Temperature Input to Motherboard (MB)
Fan Control Mode Voltage (not Auto or PWM)
Fan Stop Disabled
Fan Fail Warning Enabled
Temperature Warning Control 70 C (IF you want this)

Do this for each header, then back out using Esc to Main Menu, then F10 to get to the Exit Menu (p. 41). There choose Save and Exit to save your settings and reboot.

This will have your mobo SYS_FAN headers control the speed of all the fan motors using the correct Voltage Control Mode for 3-pin fans. Control is based on a temperature sensor on the mobo using pre-set values for speed versus temp, and will not allow the fans to stop at low temperatures (they are hard to re-start). If one fan in any group fails, that will generate a small warning on screen you lets you know. IF you choose to set that last item, the Temperature Warning (you can just disable that), you will get a warning if the mobo temp sensor it is using detects a temperature over the limit you set.

Fan failure detection does not work for all your fans this way, so from time to time you should just check to be sure they all are working.
 
Solution