Case fans running at 100% in windows

xavdav09

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Dec 30, 2017
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Just upgraded my CPU and motherboard and booted up the system today. I have a custom water-cooling loop installed and two case fans that are not on radiators. Both of those fans are connected to motherboard headers and I would like the two to be running pretty slow due to wind hitting tubing and making a lot of noise. Well now that I have upgraded, both of these fans are running at 100% while in Windows. I have used Smart fan 5 in the bios to try to slow down the voltage on the fans (since they are not PWM) but at any fan setting i put it to, it reverts it back to 100% when i launch windows. Any ideas?



Motherboard is Gigabyte Z370 Aorus ultra gaming
 
Solution
Then you need to start with a clean install. There is very seldom much success to be had when re-using an older installation on a new system that has entirely different CPU and storage controller chipsets/drivers. Unless you are making a change within the same gen/family, a clean install is recommended for any major change of hardware. I've literally seen two or three hundred cases exactly the same as yours where there were undefinable issues resulting from using the old Windows installation even though nothing tangible could be found wrong with the configuration. I have little doubt that yours is the same.

I'd do the clean install and if that fails to correct the issue, then I'd worry about looking in other areas.

*How to do...
Yeah, actually. Have you bothered to check your thermal sensor readings to make sure there isn't a really good reason why those are going to 100%, like, it's overheating because there's a problem with your loop? Have you identified the core, package, VRM, chipset and memory thermal sensor readings to see if everything is actually within spec?

I'd download HWinfo and take a look to be sure. I would NOT trust any other utility. HWmonitor and Open hardware monitor, as well as most of the motherboard bundled utilities, are pretty sketchy and are often laughably inaccurate. Take a look in HWinfo. Maybe there's a good reason why those fans are running so fast. Otherwise, there may be an issue with your motherboard or your bios settings. Does your board have the latest bios installed?

In order to help you, it's often necessary to SEE what's going on, in the event one of us can pick something out that seems out of place, or other indicators that just can't be communicated via a text only post. In these cases, posting an image of the HWinfo sensors or something else can be extremely helpful. Here's how:

*How to post images in Tom's hardware forums



Run HWinfo and look at system voltages and other sensor readings.

Monitoring temperatures, core speeds, voltages, clock ratios and other reported sensor data can often help to pick out an issue right off the bat. HWinfo is a good way to get that data and in my experience tends to be more accurate than some of the other utilities available. CPU-Z, GPU-Z and Core Temp all have their uses but HWinfo tends to have it all laid out in a more convenient fashion so you can usually see what one sensor is reporting while looking at another instead of having to flip through various tabs that have specific groupings.

After installation, run the utility and when asked, choose "sensors only". The other window options have some use but in most cases everything you need will be located in the sensors window. If you're taking screenshots to post for troubleshooting, it will most likely require taking three screenshots and scrolling down the sensors window between screenshots in order to capture them all.

*Download HWinfo
 

xavdav09

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Dec 30, 2017
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While in the bios there looks to be no thermal issues that i can see. CPU running at around 29 degrees. My BIOS is currently at version F4 and the latest version is at F6. I'll be able to get my hands on a flash drive in the morning to update them.

HWinfo has been Analyzing my Devices for a while now and is not responding after i hit sensors only and run.
 

xavdav09

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Dec 30, 2017
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Yes. The same windows that i was running with my old system. Same hardrive.

 
Then you need to start with a clean install. There is very seldom much success to be had when re-using an older installation on a new system that has entirely different CPU and storage controller chipsets/drivers. Unless you are making a change within the same gen/family, a clean install is recommended for any major change of hardware. I've literally seen two or three hundred cases exactly the same as yours where there were undefinable issues resulting from using the old Windows installation even though nothing tangible could be found wrong with the configuration. I have little doubt that yours is the same.

I'd do the clean install and if that fails to correct the issue, then I'd worry about looking in other areas.

*How to do a CLEAN install of Windows 10
 
Solution

xavdav09

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Dec 30, 2017
4
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510
It worked thank you! It initially didn't slow down the RPM but after a few restarts from installing drivers again, it stayed at the RPM I assigned in the bios.