Fan and Pump control.

uscav82

Commendable
Dec 21, 2016
5
0
1,510
My head is hurting on this one. Not sure how I want to go about controlling everything.

2 Separate loops.

On the CPU side of things I'm running 4 Noctua NF-A14 fans on a Monsta 560 Radiator and the D5 PWM pump to drive it.

On the GPU side, same cooling hardware.

Case fans are the same and x5

Motherboard is a Gigabyte Aorus Gaming Wifi (Had it layin around already)

My thoughts are Control the CPU off the MB. Easy.

GPU side, run the 4x fans off the gpu fan header. Aorus 1080Ti Waterforce WB.
Split the CPU pump signal and run the same pump setting for the GPU. (Constant not variable).


I considered running a Fan Controller but to be honest I have never set one up before. If I did it would be 6 channels.

1- CPU Rad fans (x4)
2- CPU Pump (1)
3- GPU Rad fans (x4)
4- GPU Pump (1)
5- PSU/Rad compartment fans (x3)
6- MB/Display side fans (x2)

I'm not sure if I really feel like going this route, I would have to order in a few temp sensors for #2,4,5,6 because a dead temp reading on the display would drive me insane.

As for the rest of channels do they pull temp from the MB? I have tried to google this for the past hour and cant seem to find how all this would work with the separate controller.

Thanks!

 
Solution
I can suggest some answers, but a couple of things will require more info.

First, you need to recognize that any "normal" fan header on a mobo can supply power up to 1.0 Amp total load on that one header. If you need more than that, a different power source is required.

You will have two liquid cooling loops, each with its own Alphacool VPP755PWM pump. Did I get that model number exactly right? Its specs say it draws 14W max; at 12 VDC supply, that is just over 1 amp PER PUMP. You cannot supply that power from any mobo fan header. However, you do not need to. You say you plan NOT to control its speeds, but let it run constant speed. It has one very good way to do that. It has three connectors on its wiring. One is a male 4-pin Molex...
I can suggest some answers, but a couple of things will require more info.

First, you need to recognize that any "normal" fan header on a mobo can supply power up to 1.0 Amp total load on that one header. If you need more than that, a different power source is required.

You will have two liquid cooling loops, each with its own Alphacool VPP755PWM pump. Did I get that model number exactly right? Its specs say it draws 14W max; at 12 VDC supply, that is just over 1 amp PER PUMP. You cannot supply that power from any mobo fan header. However, you do not need to. You say you plan NOT to control its speeds, but let it run constant speed. It has one very good way to do that. It has three connectors on its wiring. One is a male 4-pin Molex connector (with only 2 pins) that plugs into a PSU Molex female output to give it a fixed 12 VDC supply with no significant limit on amperage drawn. Then it has a small knob you can adjust with a screwdriver to set its speed at one of five settings, whichever you choose. One of its other connectors is a female 3-pin fan connector with only one yellow wire to its Pin #3 position. This is intended to feed the pump motor speed signal only to a mobo header so that it can show you the speed and can monitor the signal for pump failure, which is a good idea. Do NOT use the third connector, a standard 4-pin fan connector. It would fit a mobo fan header, but would overload the current limit there. You should use the Molex connection ONLY for the pump's power supply.

To use TWO of these pumps you will need to connect them to two Molex output connectors from the PSU, OR use a Molex splitter to connect them both to a single output connector - makes no difference which way. Then I suggest you connect the two pumps' speed leads (yellow wire to 3-pin connector) to two of your mobo headers so that each can monitor the speed of the pumps. For these I suggest you use the CPU_OPT header for the one on the CPU cooling loop, and the SYS_FAN3 header for the one running the GPU cooling loop. In BIOS Setup for each of these two headers (see manual p. 29), I suggest it does not really matter how you configure them because your pumps will NOT be drawing their power from the headers, so whatever they try to do by way of control will actually do nothing to the pumps. The only function of these two headers will be to monitor the pumps for failure, so be sure on each to Enable the Pump/Fan Fail Warning feature.

Now, actual control of the CPU chip temperature will be done by manipulating the speed of the four Noctua NF-A14 PWM fans on the Monsta radiator. I assume you are getting the PWM models of those fans. Their specs show max current draw of 0.13 A per fan, so four of them together produce a max load of 0.52A, quite within the limit of the CPU_FAN header. To connect all four of them to that single header, get one of this simple type of 4-output 4-pin fan SPLITTER

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882422016&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-82-422-016-_-Product

Alternatively you can get three of these 2-output Splitters

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423160&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-12-423-160-_-Product

You plug two of these into the outputs of the third to make a "stack" that creates 4 outputs from a single input.

In either case, these are SPLITTERS which have only a single input arm and two output arms (or 4 output headers), and no other connections. A HUB is a different device type that also has a third arm that must connect to a PSU power output, but you do NOT need one of those. NOTE when using splitters that they can only send back to the mobo header for failure monitoring the speed signal from ONE of the fans - the others are ignored completely. So it will be your responsibility from time to time to check that all the fans are working.

When these are set up, go into BIOS Setup (p. 29 again) and configure the CPU_FAN header they are plugged into this way. It should use the "Normal" Fan Speed Control (automatic) and "PWM" Fan/Pump Control Mode. For "Fan Control Use Temperature Input" ensure that it is using the sensor inside the CPU chip, and not one of the others around the mobo. Finally, Enable the fan failure alarm.

A similar arrangement can be made for the five NF-A14 PWM fans you will use for case ventilation. For that you can connect them all to a single SYS_FAN1 header using the "stacking" idea for Splitters. But this time, get ONE of those previous 2-ouput units, and TWO of these 3-output units

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423163&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-12-423-163-_-Product

Plug the two latter into the outputs of the first one and get six outputs for fans. Five of those Noctuas still come to max 0.65 A, so still acceptable on a single header. With these fans connected to SYS_FAN1, configure it in BIOS Setup to "Normal" and "PWM" with fan failure Enabled, but set the Temperature Sensor to one of the five that are built into the mobo. My guess is that the one in the VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) area might be suitable, but maybe ask Gigabyte Tech Support for which sensor they recommend to guide the case ventilation.

Now comes the unanswered part - how to control the fans on the GPU cooling loop radiator. One way is to use the same concept as the CPU radiator fans, except plug the Splitter system into the SYS_FAN2 header and configure it to use the mobo temp sensor closest to the physical location of the video card and GPU chip. The other which MIGHT be better is to use a control system on the video card itself. SOME video cards have "standard" connectors on them that power and control their own cooling fans based on a temperature sensor and automatic control system on the video card itself. The mobo does not have access to that information normally, so you can't use it to control a mobo fan header. But check with Tech Support of the maker of your video card. Ask specifically whether the card does have a standard cooling fan header you can plug a fan into, AND whether it can supply up to 1 amp, as normal mobo headers can. If you're planning on mounting a liquid cooling system to the GPU chip on the card, you may be consulting them, anyway. If that facility exists on your card, you can connect the GPU radiator cooling fans to the video card header via a four-output Splitter system, just as the CPU rad fans were. But for configuration of this cooling system, you will be using the utility that comes with the video card, and not the BIOS Setup system.

A last note. Remember after making setting changes in BIOS Setup to use the SAVE and EXIT choice on the top right of the main screen (see manual p. 24) to save the new settings permanently and reboot.
 
Solution
Just thought of a small wrinkle IF you can connect the fans on the GPU cooler radiator to a header on the video card. The connectors for 3- and 4-pin fans are designed to be compatible. So, you can plug either type into either type. (What you get in fan performance is not always what you want, but that does not matter here.) The key point is this. Some fan male output 3-pin headers (with pins) have so little space near them that a 4-pin female connector might not fit on, even though the pins alone would allow it. That particularly might happen on a crowded video card. IF there is a such a connector on the video card to use, you might need as the first-level Splitter one with only 3 pins like this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423168&cm_re=3-pin_fan_splitter-_-12-423-168-_-Product

Then you can plug other Splitters (either 3- pr 4-pin) into the outputs of that one.
 
Appreciate the comments. Yes, the fan will power off the PSU. I managed to find some video's of my mobo's fan control and its looking like this right now.

x4 fans off CPU fan header for cpu rad
CPU pump CPU opt

Gigabyte has Sys Fan 3 also listed as a pump control so that will control the gpu pump.

SYS1 and 2 are still open for the case fans.

All that leaves is what the fan header looks like on the GPU and I wont know what that looks like until i get it here.

Thanks again
 


I found a photo a couple days ago of the GPU fan header and if my memory is correct I didn't see anything I thought would be an issue.

That's ok though, I'm still pulling my hair out lol. Cant find a 5.25 2 bay cage to add into the case. I want to use the xspc lcd temp panel. I really bit off more than I intended lol.

I decided with everything going into it I wasn't happy with the MB and jumped it up to the Aorus Gaming 7, it just had a a few features I really wanted. I would have had everything by the end of this week but Fedex managed to drive something through the shipping box and half way through one of the radiators.... Nice huh.