[SOLVED] GPU Fan Speed control

[greatguitartist]

Hi All,

I have an Asus ROG Zenith Extreme with a Ryzen 1950X and an EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 GPU. Both the CPU and GPU are in a single water cooled loop, but I am planning to split them into separate loops.

My question is, how do I control the fan speeds on the GPU water cooled loop based on the GPU temps? Speedfan is not compatible with Ryzen motherboards (yet) and I don't think QFan reads GPU temps.

I read in the Asus forum that placing a temp probe on the backplate of the GPU could help, but I'd like that to be my last resort. Honestly, the GPU has 9 temp sensors and not being able to use even one of them to control fan speeds seems silly.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Barty1884]

Unfortunately, a lot of the time you're still going to be bound by the CPU temperature for fan speeds/curves.

What kind of headers are on the 1080TI? Are they still accessible with your choice of block? If so, those headers could be controlled with MSI Afterburner to tie directly to CPU temp.... probably only CPU die temp, but still better than running from CPU...

 

[greatguitartist]

Unfortunately, a lot of the time you're still going to be bound by the CPU temperature for fan speeds/curves.

What kind of headers are on the 1080TI? Are they still accessible with your choice of block? If so, those headers could be controlled with MSI Afterburner to tie directly to CPU temp.... probably only CPU die temp, but still better than running from CPU...

My initial thought was to connect the rad fans to the GPU fan headers and use a custom GPU fan curve on the EVGA XOC App, but:
1. I have the EK Waterblock (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1080-gtx-ti-ftw3-rgb-nickel) on the GPU and can't access the fan headers as they are covered by the acrylic.
2. Even if by some method I could access the headers (like drilling through the acrylic to access them), the connectors for the headers are different than the PWN connectors that come with the fans I have (Noctua 120 mm) - I think they are mini 4-pin connectors

 

[Barty1884]

Unfortunately then, I think you're out of luck.

The headers from the GPU are the only outright way to control fan speed based on GPU temps. SpeedFan in certain circumstances can do it, but it's not guaranteed (and the limitation is Threadripper AFAIK, not Ryzen as a whole).

 

[greatguitartist]

I found an adapter that converts the GPU Fan header pin to the standard 4 pin connector on PC fans (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ZKZEQA/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Going to give this a try - Will have to drill holes on the plexi top of the GPU waterblock to connect them. Wish me luck!

 

[Barty1884]

Good luck!

 

[greatguitartist]

Time for an update: I didn't have to drill any holes in the plexi and was able to connect pins to 2 out of the 3 fan headers on the card. Now all GPU fans are controlled based on GPU temps. Temp now idles at 17C and maxes out at 39C when running Heaven Benchmark at Ultra settings.

 

[Barty1884]

Awesome.

How were you able to access the headers, out of curiosity?
Might be worthwhile elaborating &/or posting pics to help the next person with the question?

 

[greatguitartist]

Good point Barty1884! The GPU is already back in the case and hard lined to the cooling rig, but I'll try to get some pics and post it with instructions shortly.