Question CPU fan appearing as 0RPM in the CAM software

May 28, 2019
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Hey guys, so I recently built my PC I'm loving it overclocked my I7-9700k to 5.1ghz. The day after building it I checked the Cam software from NZXT since my CPU cooler is a NZXT x72 and it says my CPU fan speed is at 0 RPM but my CPU seems to be cooled on idle its at 35ish to 40 sometime 50 depending on what task I'm doing or what I'm watching and when gameing it's at 70-80 on Rainbow six siege a CPU intensive game. Would this be a cause for concern. Did I do something wrong or am I just paranoid?
 

Paperdoc

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Info above is a bit confusing. The NZXT X72 system comes with three AER P120 fans of the PWM type optimized for high backpressure on a radiator, but OP says he is using a (only one??) 3-pin fan transplanted from the case front. Why?

Check to make sure the connections have been done according to instructions. The system comes with a 3-headed cable from the PUMP unit. One of these plugs into the mobo CPU_FAN header, and it MUST plug in there so that the speed of the PUMP can be sent to the header. There's a wide connector to get power from a SATA output connector from the PSU, and I suspect that IS connected or the entire system would have no power. Then there is a single output connector for the rad fans, plus a 4-output Splitter so you can connect all three supplied fans. BUT that needs attention. Of those four outputs, only ONE of them will have all four of its pins, the other three will be missing Pin #3. At least one rad fan MUST be plugged into the only output connector with all four pins, because only that output can return the fan's speed signal to the pump unit. My guess is that is where your problem is. And finally, of course, there's a separate cable that connects from a pump socket to a mobo USB2 header so that CAM can communicate with the pump and its subsidiaries.
 
May 28, 2019
13
0
10
Info above is a bit confusing. The NZXT X72 system comes with three AER P120 fans of the PWM type optimized for high backpressure on a radiator, but OP says he is using a (only one??) 3-pin fan transplanted from the case front. Why?

Check to make sure the connections have been done according to instructions. The system comes with a 3-headed cable from the PUMP unit. One of these plugs into the mobo CPU_FAN header, and it MUST plug in there so that the speed of the PUMP can be sent to the header. There's a wide connector to get power from a SATA output connector from the PSU, and I suspect that IS connected or the entire system would have no power. Then there is a single output connector for the rad fans, plus a 4-output Splitter so you can connect all three supplied fans. BUT that needs attention. Of those four outputs, only ONE of them will have all four of its pins, the other three will be missing Pin #3. At least one rad fan MUST be plugged into the only output connector with all four pins, because only that output can return the fan's speed signal to the pump unit. My guess is that is where your problem is. And finally, of course, there's a separate cable that connects from a pump socket to a mobo USB2 header so that CAM can communicate with the pump and its subsidiaries.
Would the cause be that i took a lazy way out and didn’t take out the fans it came with and this was my first build I’m not sure why it still reads as 0 RPM even doe the fan is spinning fine
 

Paperdoc

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Not sure what you mean about not taking out those fans. Do you mean that the system came with three fans for the rad, but you did not install them at all? Instead you installed only one old fan? If that is what you did, I REALLY think you need to use all three of the fans supplied with the X72 system. It needs all three for good cooling, and those fans are designed for use on a radiator.

However, I suspect the real problem about 0 RPM speed display is that the fan you do have working is NOT plugged into the ONLY output of the Splitter that has all four of its pins. Check that.
 
May 28, 2019
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Not sure what you mean about not taking out those fans. Do you mean that the system came with three fans for the rad, but you did not install them at all? Instead you installed only one old fan? If that is what you did, I REALLY think you need to use all three of the fans supplied with the X72 system. It needs all three for good cooling, and those fans are designed for use on a radiator.

However, I suspect the real problem about 0 RPM speed display is that the fan you do have working is NOT plugged into the ONLY output of the Splitter that has all four of its pins. Check that.
So my case came with 3 fans already connect to the hue thing the case came with I connected them to the rad. The cooler came with 3 fans but I didn’t attach them. I have 3 fans connected to the rad
 

Paperdoc

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I see. The only weak point there is that the three case fans you transplanted may not have been designed to work well against a higher backpressure - that is, to force air through the restricted passages of a radiator. But if it works OK for you, that's a smallish point.

Back to the real reason for your question - why CAM insists the "CPU Fan" has no speed. Two options.
  1. The "CPU Fan" is really the PUMP of the X72 system, and for some reason its speed signal is not reaching the CPU_FAN header. Did you plug the pump fan cable into that header? If not, move it to there. If yes, try disconnecting it and re-connecting it, in case there is a poor contact at the connection. However, I do NOT suspect this. I would expect that the CAM software should know that the item plugged into the CPU_FAN header is the PUMP, and label it so in its output displays.
  2. Again, look closely at the way the three transplanted fans are plugged into the Splitter cable coming out of the pump unit. ONE of them MUST be plugged into the Splitter's only output connector that can send back the fan's speed signal, and that is most likely the one output that has all four of its pins.
 
May 28, 2019
13
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I see. The only weak point there is that the three case fans you transplanted may not have been designed to work well against a higher backpressure - that is, to force air through the restricted passages of a radiator. But if it works OK for you, that's a smallish point.

Back to the real reason for your question - why CAM insists the "CPU Fan" has no speed. Two options.
  1. The "CPU Fan" is really the PUMP of the X72 system, and for some reason its speed signal is not reaching the CPU_FAN header. Did you plug the pump fan cable into that header? If not, move it to there. If yes, try disconnecting it and re-connecting it, in case there is a poor contact at the connection. However, I do NOT suspect this. I would expect that the CAM software should know that the item plugged into the CPU_FAN header is the PUMP, and label it so in its output displays.
  2. Again, look closely at the way the three transplanted fans are plugged into the Splitter cable coming out of the pump unit. ONE of them MUST be plugged into the Splitter's only output connector that can send back the fan's speed signal, and that is most likely the one output that has all four of its pins.
So I tried unplugging and plugging back in the 3 pin connector from the pump to the cpu fan header on the motherboard and it still only reads cpu fan nothing else I have all my fans plugged in to my fan connectors the case came with but only 2/6 are showing what speed they are running 1 doesn’t show the RPM and the other 3 just don’t appear on the cam software. I’m very confused and frustrated as my team goes to 85 when gaming...
 

Paperdoc

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You say, "else I have all my fans plugged in to my fan connectors the case came with". Now, you have moved to the radiator of the NXZT Kraken X72 CPU cooling system three fans originally mounted in the case front and connected to a central control board called the NZXT "Smart Device". You did not install the fans that came with the X72. That leaves me wondering WHERE those radiator fans are plugged in. As they arrived originally they were connected to the Smart Device because they were being used to cool the case. But NOW you have them cooling the radiator instead, and those fans on the rad should NOT be connected to that Smart Device as they were to start. Are they still plugged into that Smart Device board in the case, just as they came? If so, that is the source of your trouble.

To get a complete picture, tell us exactly how many fans you have, where they are, and where each is plugged in.
  1. You do not have any fan for the CPU directly, and so no fan is connected to the CPU_FAN header of the mobo. I believe the item that IS plugged into the CPU_FAN mobo header is the cable from the PUMP unit of the X72 system. Is that correct?
  2. You DO have three fans on the Radiator of the X72 system - those are the ones that originally were supplied in the case front and plugged into the Smart Device board. Where are those three fans plugged in NOW?
  3. If you moved the three fans from the case front for that, do you have any fans in the case front now? If yes, what are they, and where are they plugged in? MAYBE you removed them so you could mount the RADIATOR of the X72 system in the case front in their place. Is that correct?
  4. You say you have six fans in total. Obviously three are on the radiator. Where are the other three, and where are they plugged in? At the Smart Device board, perhaps?
 
May 28, 2019
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All fans are plugged into fan cables coming from the smart device except for the on cable that comes from the cpu pump. 3 fans that came with the cpu cooler on the radiator in the front 3 that came with the case on the top and obviously the one in the back so 7 fans total sorry about the 6
 

Paperdoc

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OK, now I know why you have this problem. The NZXT CAM software knows which fan is doing what by where it is plugged in. As far as it is concerned, any fan connected to the Smart Device board is just a case ventilation fan. The three fans on the radiator need to be plugged into the PUMP unit of the X72 system, using the 4-oputput Splitter that came with that system. Then CAM will find fans connected through that pump and know that THEY are the "CPU Fans".Now, it may only be able to tell you the speed of ONE of those three because normally only one fan on a Splitter can send its speed signal back to the source. But that makes NO difference to the ability to control the fan speeds, and anyway all of them will do exactly the same thing.

When you disconnect those fans from the Smart device board, you MAY have to re-arrange the ones still plugged in there to be sure to use the first four output ports.
 

Paperdoc

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It is much better to do that because of how the control systems work. The X72 system is used to cool the CPU, and its target for that is to keep the temperature inside the CPU chip at the right point. It does that by changing the speed of the fans on the radiator to remove heat. The control system is the CAM software that communicates with the X72 system via the cable connection between the pump and a mobo USB2 header. CAM gets the CPU internal temperature from the mobo (which gets that from a pin of the CPU chip) and sends out fan speed control signals to the pump, to be sent further from that pump's output socket to the radiator fans on the Splitter. BUT you do NOT have the fans connected there, so CAM can do NOTHING to control CPU temperatures, it's just wasting its time sending signals nowhere.

Quite separately from that, CAM also does a similar job for cooling of the entire case with the case ventilation fans, and for that is uses a different temperature sensor on the mobo. The fan speed control signals for that system are sent through the Smart Device board to all its fans. The way you have it now, the three radiator fans are being controlled according to the temperature of the MOTHERBOARD, and have no relation to the cooling needs of the CPU chip.

If you change the connections of those three fans as I said, that will make sure the cooling system for the CPU can actually do its job properly. That becomes really important when you use your system heavily, like in gaming.
 
May 28, 2019
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Wish i knew how really I had all my fans plugged into connectors from the NZXT thing but not all fans were being read so now i have all case fans connected to my MB and all fans on the rad are connected to the fan connectors are plugged into the nzxt thing and now only 1 fan is being read and then my cpu pump is being read
 

Karadjgne

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All fans do not get readings. Just 1 fan per header. If the hue is plugged to cpu_fan, it'll read just 1 fan speed and adjust all fans connected as a single unit.

Cpu_fan goes to pump. Pump goes to 3 fans on rad.
Sys_fan goes to hue, hue goes to case fans.
The cpu_fan/pump/fans are a totally seperate system than the sys_fan/hue/case fans. CAM just has the ability to read both sets and control both sets.
The cpu_fan header only reads pump speeds since the x72 has a variable speed pump. The fan speeds and control are setup by the usb cable attached to the mobo. As is any rgb for the pump head.
 
May 28, 2019
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All fans do not get readings. Just 1 fan per header. If the hue is plugged to cpu_fan, it'll read just 1 fan speed and adjust all fans connected as a single unit.

Cpu_fan goes to pump. Pump goes to 3 fans on rad.
Sys_fan goes to hue, hue goes to case fans.
The cpu_fan/pump/fans are a totally seperate system than the sys_fan/hue/case fans. CAM just has the ability to read both sets and control both sets.
The cpu_fan header only reads pump speeds since the x72 has a variable speed pump. The fan speeds and control are setup by the usb cable attached to the mobo. As is any rgb for the pump head.
So the wire from the pump connector connects to the cpu_fan on MB Fans on the rad go to the fan connectors coming from the hue thing and then case fans go to sys_fan on the MB?
 

Paperdoc

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No. As I said in my post 2 days ago above, "The system comes with a 3-headed cable from the PUMP unit. One of these plugs into the mobo CPU_FAN header, and it MUST plug in there so that the speed of the PUMP can be sent to the header. There's a wide connector to get power from a SATA output connector from the PSU, and I suspect that IS connected or the entire system would have no power. Then there is a single output connector for the rad fans, plus a 4-output Splitter so you can connect all three supplied fans. BUT that needs attention. Of those four outputs, only ONE of them will have all four of its pins, the other three will be missing Pin #3. At least one rad fan MUST be plugged into the only output connector with all four pins, because only that output can return the fan's speed signal to the pump unit."

That is how you get the X72 system connected and working properly. OP, you have used three different fans that came pre-installed in your case, rather than the three included with the X7's system. However, that STILL means those three fans on the rad need to be connected to the fan output of the PUMP unit, using the four-output Splitter supplied.

On a mobo, each fan header can only deal with the speed signal coming back to it from ONE fan. So IF you have more than one connected via a Splitter or Hub, that device will only send back to the mobo host header ONE fans speed, and all the others will be ignored. In the case of the three fans you have on your X72 system, the Splitter used appears to impose the same limit, so no matter how you try to "see" those radiator fans, you can only see ONE fan's speed and assume the others are the same.

The speed display capabilities of the Smart Device board are not explained in the web pages. It MAY send only one of its fan's speeds to a mobo header, where the CAM software can read that info only. OR, the board may have been designed so that it collects fan speed info from each of its output ports separately and sends that NOT to the mobo header but to the CAM software using the USB2 cable connection. Then maybe CAM can actually show you all those fan's speeds separately. Or, maybe not. MAYBE CAM can only show you the speed of ONE of the fans connected to that board, and you have to assume, again, that the others are the same. If both those systems are capable of displaying only one fan speed each, then both CAM and the BIOS systems will show you ONE fan speed from the X7s system called "CPU Fan Speed", and ONE called "Case Fan Speed" representing all the fans connected to the Smart Device card. CAM MAY also show you a separate PUMP speed.

OP, you have told us you moved all the case fan motor cables from the Smart Device to mobo headers That MAY allow you to see more individual case fan speeds, since each such header can display one speed. So if you have 4 case fans, and each is plugged into its own separate mobo fan header, you may be able to "see" all their speeds. If that leaves the Smart Device doing nothing, I don't know whether you have to tell CAM to ignore it.