H440 Fan Control

[Gallarian]

Hey guys,

Just transferred my system into a new H440 (matte black 2015 edition).

This case comes with a fan hub attached the back of the motherboard tray, and has 4 case fans preinstalled and connected to this hub.

On the hub, there is also a 'PWM' cable. I assume this is supposed to allow for the controlling of the fan speeds?

However, I've tried plugging this cable into both the 4pin CPU_Fan header and 4pin Sys_Fan headers on my motherboard, and neither allow me to change the fan speeds in the BIOS.

They run at 100% most of the time, but occasionally go down and back up on their own, so something is obviously able to control them.

I cannot stand the noise of this thing at 100% when Im not doing anything demanding, but when they go down its perfect.

Has anyone any information than can enlighten me here?

Cheers,
Joe

________
Useful info:

Case: NZXT H440 2015 Edition (Matte Black)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A Krait ATX
CPU: I5-6600k @4.5ghz
Cooler: Corsair H100i (with 2x Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition fans)

 

[Multipack]

Do you have any fan control software installed? I found that things like MSI Command Center interfered with them. I eventually got rid of the hub altogether, as the fans are 3 pin, the output to the board is 4 pin, and they are also powered by Molex. Basically a mess up by NZXT. No idea what they were thinking. Se so many threads on here with the same problem its ridiculous.

I think I did have some control of them via COmmand Center at one point, with fan tune etc, but they are v unpredictable because of the setup. You do need to attach them to a cpu_fan/cpu_opt header on the board. The 4 pin sys_fans headers are usually voltage controlled despite the 4th pin.

 

[Gallarian]

Yeah, Ive got all sorts installed.

MSI Afterburner
Corsair LINK
NZXT CAM

But none of them actually pick up the fans at all, and the BIOS doesn't find them either.

The BIOS finds 'CPU Fan 1' which is my H100i, but nothing else, even when the hub is connected to 'CPU_Fan2' on the board.

 

[Multipack]

Corsair Link or some software could be stopping the BIOS read them maybe? I know, it's a joke.

Have you tried it in a CHA_FAN/SYS_FAN header?

 

[Gallarian]

Yeah Ive tried it in a 4 Pin PWM enabled SYS_FAN header - still no detection.

Am I supposed to use ONLY the PWM cable? Or should I still be using the Molex power as well?

 

[Multipack]

Don't think it worked without Molex. Can't remember now. Worth a try, but the headers on that board are supposedly Smart Fan so meant to detect the type automatically. Someone at NZXT was pretty dumb though.

 

[Gallarian]

Currently I have the hub set up like this:

IN
1x Corsair 120 AF (exhaust)
3x Stock NZXT 120 (intake)
1x Molex Power

Out:
PWM Cable to SYS_FAN3 PWM header on the Motherboard

So confused right now.. Its really not nice being deafened by 4 120 fans running at 100% RPM, only to have them power down to 20% for a few seconds every now and then. Its so irritating.

 

[Multipack]

Ok, try putting the exhaust in its own header if no Molex power makes no difference. I think when you have two models it'll probably confuse the system more. I know they are all 3 pin but still. You have it all connected up right.

I would recommend only using the hub to power the case lights though.

 

[Gallarian]

Im going to keep the Hub set up the same, but Im going to plug the PWM cable back into the CPU_FAN2 header. Im then going to unplug the Corsair LINK cable and try using MSI Command Center to control them.

Ill report back in a few mins.

 

[Multipack]

You control your cooler via USB. The Corsair fan cable only has a sense wire (3rd of the four wires) to let the board know there's a fan attached. You can't control Corsair cooler fans with anything but Corsair Link.

Also, if your CPU cooler does fail you want your board to know about it so it can protect your system and shut down. I'd leave the cooler wire attached.

 

[Gallarian]

Ok, so interestingly that worked.

Removing the LINK USB cable allowed me to control the case fans using MSI Command Center, but obviously removes my ability to adjust the radiator fans (which run at 100% no matter I do anyway, even when LINK is running).

So this 'fixes' my issue of not being able to control my case fans - which is great as its saved me £30 on not buying the Grid.

Now to figure out how to get MSI CC and LINK to work alongside each other...

 

[Multipack]

Yeah thought it might. The sense wire from cooler is confusing it. Like I say, you can only control cooler fans via USB unless you just plug them into a regular splitter though, but they are responding to the pump liquid temp not the cpu temp. If you remove them from the cooler loop they wont know what cooler temps are. You need a v narrow curve on your cooler fans, between maybe 30 and 35c, as the variation isnt as great as the cpu.

Ironically we have to fix things that the professional manufacturers couldnt work out themselves lol

 

[Gallarian]

I never removed the sense wire, that always stayed plugged into the CPU_FAN1.

What I removed is the USB LINK cable that allows me to use the LINK software.

I don't need to use LINK for anything but customising the fan curve and colour of the LED logo on the pump, as the cooler still operates fine without it.

The case fan hub is plugged into CPU_FAN2.

It seems that when the LINK USB cable is plugged in (and therefore the LINK software is running), it stops Command Center from controlling the fans....

I'll see if I can find any sort of fix or workaround to get them to work alongside eachother.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Multipack]

Surely the cooler fans at 100% are louder than the case fans? But yeah if you're happy with it like that it seems an ok workaround. I'd def look into getting a fan hub though.

 

[Gallarian]

Its 2x 120 'quiet' edition fans at 100% or 4x 120 airflow fans at 100%... Trust me the difference is huge haha

Can't say Im 'happy' with it just yet, but its a much nicer thing to sit next to now.

Hopefully I can figure out a way for both to work.

 

[Gallarian]

Got it to work - just needed to stop LINK from starting with Windows. After that they both work fine together.

All's well that ends well.

 

[Multipack]

It's the time of year for happy endings!