Gigabyte Z-170X Gaming 7 Mobo and system fans

[xc4628]

I will be building my first PC this summer and I need some clarification regarding regulating system fans. Hopefully someone who has one of the Gigabyte's Z170X Gaming mobo can answer my questions.

According to the manual, there are 5 fan headers on the mobo. One labelled CPU_fan, one as CPU_OPT and three more as Sys_Fan. Even though all 5 headers are 4-pin, from what I can tell, only the CPU_fan header is true PWM header. The other 4 system headers probably can regulate fan rpm by varying voltage. Can someone confirm this?

CPU_FAN:
Pin 1 = GND
Pin 2 = +12V
Pin 3 = Sense
Pin 4 = Speed Control

CPU_OPT and Sys_Fan:
Pin 1 = GND
Pin 2 = Speed Control
Pin 3 = Sense
Pin 4 = VCC

The case I am looking at for my PC build can handle 6 case fans. I plan to use a splitter on some of the fan headers to accomodate all of the fans. Does anyone know how many watt/amp each header can handle? Fans that I am thinking of are the 140mm Corsair SP140/AF140.

Since I don't plan to use water-cooling, I will just use the CPU-OPT header which is labelled for water-cooling as one of my system fan header instead. Gigabyte say it is okay to do so but it would be a relief is someone can confirm this too.

Finally I am undecided about installing a fan controller as of yet. It seems if I want, I can control fan speed through either the Gigabyte BIOS or the Gigabyte Software App Center. Or perhaps with Speedfan. My question is, if I install a 3-pin Corsair AF140 Quiet Edition Fans (non-pwm fan) into the sys_fan/ CPU_OPT fan headers, would I be able to alter voltage through the above-mentioned method in order to rough-control the speed of the fan? Or do I need to install PWM fans into those headers to do so? Assuming I setup 2 configurations, 50% RPM for light usage, 100% under load?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer my questions.

 

[Lutfij]

This should take out all the guess work and mathematics out of the adding-a-fan equation. You can hook it up to any fan header and the rest of the fans on it will regulate at speed with which one fan should be working off of. The power necessary for the fans comes from the SATA power input. Regarding the fans, I'd suggest you stay away from Corsair fans since they tend to break in spectacular fashion(based off most user experience's here) and instead look towards Swiftech Helix's and if you're looking for bling with LED's then go for the individually illuminated Riing fans by Thermaltake(the RGB versions needs a proprietary controller to operate the fans.

 

[Grimwar]

Hi,
3 or 4 pin allow for voltage control of a fan, 4 pin has an added pulse control, which via software control, or on board Bios allow the the fan to have full voltage. This pulse can lower fan speeds as full voltage is applied, but regulated in pulses rather than voltage control.
Thus if a fan needs 50% voltage to start, this fan will only allow to have 50% to 100% speed control.
From Wiki
Control input – a pulse-width modulation (PWM) input signal, which gives the ability to adjust the rotation speed on the fly without changing the input voltage delivered to the cooling fan.
So full voltage but pulse controlled, which will allow lower fan speeds.

The CPU-OPT i used as a pull fan on a Noctua NH-U12S Tower cooler.
Stock (as came with the cooler) PMW 120mm fan as a push on the CPU_FAN header and the pull fan, which i bought extra on the CPU-OPT.

So a 3 wire fan is only voltage control, adjusting the 12v supply, which some fans may not start at lower voltages. The PWM 4 wire has full 12 volt supply and is pulse controlled and will allow lower fan speeds, due to full voltage applied, allow the fan to start, run up to a speed and then the fan control regulates the speed.

Any Fan header that has a 4 pin connector is PWM or also 3 pin voltage controlled.
If a 3 pin fan, if set for low noise or silent run, that you in bios or 3rd party app, can start at lower voltage.

I use SpeedFan to fine control my fan speeds and temps. It is great (once you identify all your fans and temps)
I like to have a positive air in-take trough my filters and exhaust slightly lower.

In my system i have 7 fans.
2 Fans are CPU heat air sink. A Noctua NH-U12S Tower with 2 120 mm fans. Number one on push (CPU_FAN header) and 2nd fan a pull on CPU_OPT.
These 2 fans are PWM and i control by the OS {windows 10} using the Gigabyte App Center.

Word of Warning the Gigabyte App Center in Windows 10 is buggy, best if you follow these steps
left click start (windows icon)
left click All apps
Gigabyte, right click on App center/ More/ Open file location/ Right click on APP Center,/select proprieties/compatibility/ run in Windows 8 mode/ apply.
Now next time you want to run App Center also right click and run as administrator. Windows 10 is brilliant but it still has backward comparability even to Dos 1.0, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES VISTA CRAP.

SpeedFan is great, Allows total control of all fans if you wish. I use 5 case fans all are Noctua NF-A14 PWM

 

[xc4628]

Thanks. Very useful information. You mentioned you have a total of 7 fans. The push/pull fans goes into the CPU headers which leaves 3 sys_fan headers for you to plug in the remaining 5 fans. I assume you used splitters on these headers, correct?

Hi,
3 or 4 pin allow for voltage control of a fan, 4 pin has an added pulse control, which via software control, or on board Bios allow the the fan to have full voltage. This pulse can lower fan speeds as full voltage is applied, but regulated in pulses rather than voltage control.
Thus if a fan needs 50% voltage to start, this fan will only allow to have 50% to 100% speed control.
From Wiki
Control input – a pulse-width modulation (PWM) input signal, which gives the ability to adjust the rotation speed on the fly without changing the input voltage delivered to the cooling fan.
So full voltage but pulse controlled, which will allow lower fan speeds.

The CPU-OPT i used as a pull fan on a Noctua NH-U12S Tower cooler.
Stock (as came with the cooler) PMW 120mm fan as a push on the CPU_FAN header and the pull fan, which i bought extra on the CPU-OPT.

So a 3 wire fan is only voltage control, adjusting the 12v supply, which some fans may not start at lower voltages. The PWM 4 wire has full 12 volt supply and is pulse controlled and will allow lower fan speeds, due to full voltage applied, allow the fan to start, run up to a speed and then the fan control regulates the speed.

Any Fan header that has a 4 pin connector is PWM or also 3 pin voltage controlled.
If a 3 pin fan, if set for low noise or silent run, that you in bios or 3rd party app, can start at lower voltage.

I use SpeedFan to fine control my fan speeds and temps. It is great (once you identify all your fans and temps)
I like to have a positive air in-take trough my filters and exhaust slightly lower.

In my system i have 7 fans.
2 Fans are CPU heat air sink. A Noctua NH-U12S Tower with 2 120 mm fans. Number one on push (CPU_FAN header) and 2nd fan a pull on CPU_OPT.
These 2 fans are PWM and i control by the OS {windows 10} using the Gigabyte App Center.

Word of Warning the Gigabyte App Center in Windows 10 is buggy, best if you follow these steps
left click start (windows icon)
left click All apps
Gigabyte, right click on App center/ More/ Open file location/ Right click on APP Center,/select proprieties/compatibility/ run in Windows 8 mode/ apply.
Now next time you want to run App Center also right click and run as administrator. Windows 10 is brilliant but it still has backward comparability even to Dos 1.0, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES VISTA CRAP.

SpeedFan is great, Allows total control of all fans if you wish. I use 5 case fans all are Noctua NF-A14 PWM

 

[Grimwar]

Hi, xc4628
Fan setup is 2x front intake on the Fractal Define R5 case. I removed the middle 5 bay frame to allow free air flow to the cpu and gpu.
Bottom fan as intake blowing up to wards the GPU, a back exaust fan and i also removed the rear top panel and installed an exhaust fan.
I super glued 4 of the rubber 3.5 hdd washers to top cover and rested it back in place, this allows a few mill gap for exhaust, but no dust falling in.

cpu and opt fan headers to push pull,
sys-fan 1 header on the rear exhaust fan.
sys-fan 2 header on the center fan.
sys-fan 3 header on the top front fan.

The bottom front intake fan and top exhaust fan(i also used the supplied low noise adaptor on the top fan)
are controlled by the Fractal Define case 3 speed fan switch.
While both fans can only run at the same speed, the low noise adaptor on the top exhaust fan, reduces the exhaust fan speed over the front intake fan,
so i get a positive air intake. This works great but probably not ideal.
So next time i do a internal dust clean, i'll set up the rear exhaust fan and the top front fan on sys-fan 1 header using the y splitter.
I'll put a low noise adaptor on the rear exhaust fan, so it will run slower.
The bottom intake and the top exhaust fans off another sys-fan header, using a low noise adaptor on the exhaust fan.
The last sys-fan header to control the front bottom fan.

The reason i have alot more air been pushed in to the case, than pulled out, is the PC is in the living room and i rather have that intake air pulled through the dust filters.
You be surprised whit how much dust builds up on the case filters, 3 cats and a few humans don't help
I think i have cleaned the case filters 15-20 times, over the last year, i popped the side panel today and took a peek inside, very little to non dust on internal components, but some dust on the inside of the 3 intake fan blades.
So in the next week, i'll get a can of air, a small paint brush, the vacuum cleaner and give it a good clean.
After one year of heavy use, some times over 14 hours a day, i am more than happy with cooling and dust control.