Question First PC Build! Montech Air 903 Max Fan Speed

Jun 18, 2024
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Hey everyone!

I just completed my first PC build. I'm excited how it turned out. The only issue is the case fans are very loud at the moment. It seems they're always at 100% speed.

Case - Montech Air 903 MAX
MB - ASUS PRIME Z790

I've gone into BIOS to adjust the fan speed per other posts. The 3 chassis fans show up as N/A in the bottom left of the BIOS screen. It allows me to set them to PMW, but that doesn't affect the fan speed at all.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.
 
So this is a shot of my own fan hub, you may have something similar:

View: https://imgur.com/uJQfuou


I've also included the spec sheet for the case. Typically the chssis fan ports on the mobo are on the bottom edge running horizonatally. It could be in the mobo. Some times for tidyness, the fan hub can be placed on the right side. So you would take off the right panel, which normally houses the wiring to keep it all tidy. My case, Lian Li 215 has it's orginal hub there.

It might just be case of the wrong connector in the wrong socket.

Your chassis fan connectors are outlined here: https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...26_PRIME_Z790-P_UM_WEB.pdf?model=PRIME Z790-P

In chapter 1, 1-8.
Check them to make sure they are all in okay, and to the right hub.
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
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The web page for that case says it comes with FOUR fans pre-installed: 3 at the front with ARGB lights in their frames, and one at the rear with no lights. It also says the case contains a Fan Hub. Actually, this is two Hubs in one board - a Hub for fan MOTORS, and another for fan LIGHTS.

Most fans with lights come with TWO cables from each fan. One ends in a smaller connector about 3/8" (1 cm) wide with FOUR holes and that's for the motor. The other cable ends in a wider connector with THREE holes - looks like it had 4 but one is blocked off. HOWEVER, the case manual has no details, so it is POSSIBLE that each of your fans has only ONE cable from it in a non-standard configuration. Either way, trace these cables from the fans back to that central board where I bet all four are plugged in.

Now, that board itself VERY likely has FOUR cables of its own attached to connect elsewhere. One has a very wide connector that is plugged into a power output from the PSU (either a SATA or a 4-pin Molex output). This provides power to all the fans. One cable will end in a 4-hole FAN MOTOR cable and that plugs into a mobo CHA_FAN header. (Use a CHA_FAN header for this, not the CPU_FAN or CPU_OPT headers.) This will get from that header the fan speed control signal PROVIDED that you set the mobo header used to the PWM Mode of signals. It also will carry the speed signal of ONE of the case fans to that header so you can see it, but the speeds of the other fans will NOT be seen anywhere. If this cable is NOT connected, the mobo header can NOT control the fan speeds (so they run always full speed), and it cannot tell you the speed of any fan.

A third cable ending in a 3-hole connector is to go to a mobo 3-pin Aura Addressable Gen2 RGB header. Do NOT try to plug this into a 4-pin Aura RGB header. This cable can bring the lighting display control signals from that header to the Hub and thence to the three front fans. A fourth cable from the Hub will go to the top panel to connect to the button labelled "LED". The default method of lighting display control is that you push that top panel button repeatedly to cycle through a set of display patterns. The case manual does NOT tell you this, but the VERY common way these units work IF you have connected the cable from the Hub to a mobo Aura Addressable Gen2 RGB header is you hold that top button down for at least 5 sec, and then it changes to let the MOBO system take control of the lights. From then on you use the software utility ASUS Aura Sync supplied with your mobo to control lights.

There may be a small initial setting you need for mobo lighting control. The mobo headers are able to use the more advanced Gen2 version of ARGB lights which your fans do not have. In that mode the header cannot control that light type. HOWEVER, look in Aura Sync for an option to change the way the lighting controls work to using the Original Mode, rather than the Gen2 new mode. This WILL control your lights if you use that long-push trick on the top panel button.
 
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