[SOLVED] Recommended software for controlling PWM case fans connected to MB?

[MadsModsat]

Hello. I'm looking for a piece of software to control my case fans. I only need it every now and again, for when I'm stresstesting / benchmarking and for trying to find the best settings between case fans and the fans on my AiO, and pump RPM of the AiO.
It is not something I do too often, but often enough to find it annoying to enter UEFI everytime I want different settings for the case fans. For general use, the UEFI has plenty of options, but I'd like to have control from Windows once in a while.

The case fans are three 140mm Noctua NF-P14s Redux 1200 PWM fans, connected by 4-pin cable to three separate 4-pin headers on the motherboard. (CHA_FAN1, CHA_FAN2 and CHA_FAN3)

The motherboard is an ASUS RoG Maximus XI Hero (WiFi) - BIOS 1401

The AiO is controlled by the NZXT Cam software, so I only need to control the 3 Noctua case fans

OS is Win 10 Pro x64 - fully updated.

I would prefer to stay away from ASUS AI Suite.

Many, many years ago, more than 10 years ago, I used SpeedFan to control my case fans. I don't remember in detail why I stopped using it, but I do remember it going from being a great (free) tool to a horrible piece of software with a lot of unnecessary additions, almost like spyware/malware. This happened to a lot of popular free tools at the time.

-But I still see it mentioned from time to time, is that the way to go? Or can anyone recommend a preferably free or inexpensive program to control my fans, not all the time, but once in a while. It doesn't have to be very advanced.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

what options do you want for the fans?

you can set the fan curve profile that you want from the BIOS and just leave that. this way no 3rd party fan software will be running in the background the majority of the time.
then when you want to do something outside of the set profile start up the ASUS control software or SpeedFan to accomplish it. just don't have them start up with Windows and disable any unneeded Windows Processes related to them.
i have never come across any other generic system fan control software other than SpeedFan. maybe check xda-developers site for something.

 

[MadsModsat]

That is exactly what I'm looking for. A program where I don't have to enter BIOS on certain ocations, just to rev the fans to their max setting or something like that, and then not use it otherwise.

BIOS setttings are great, and I have found a setup I like for everyday use. But I want to be able to set the fans to max RPM without having to boot into BIOS and adjust settings, only to reboot 15 minutes later to adjust everything back. I use saved BIOS profiles to speed up the process, but I would like to make it a bit easier, than booting and rebooting constantly.

I only need to use it between benchmark runs to clear hot air from the case and speed up the time it takes for the components to return to normal temps. I don't even need it to be running during benchmarks, as I want results that translates to my general use, this includes temperatures of every component as good as possible. This is also why I don't remove the case side panel for instance, which could have been another option.

I don't want a program running in the background all the time, since I need it only a few times, and then maybe not use it for a month. ASUS AI Suite is not a very good program, the few upsides don't make up for all the less desirable "features" it has.

In a way the program only needs a 100% setting and "Auto", but I doubt I would come across anything like that 😛

I'll have to look closely at SpeedFan again, I guess. I haven't used since around the early or mid 2000s I think, but that left bad memories althought it used to be an excellent program up to that point.
There were other alternatives back them, but I can't remember any of the names.

But if SpeedFan is a decent program now, that would be great.

I'll have a look at the site you suggested.

Thanks a lot for your reply, it is much appreciated.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Speed fan is a decent program, but bios is always the recommend way to go.

For the aio pump it should always be set to 100% .

I'd set the fans how you want for general use. Then just wait a few minutes in between benchmark runs to clear the hot air. Shouldn't take to long.

 

[MadsModsat]

Thanks a lot for your reply, I really appreciate it. My intention is of course to use BIOS settings 99.9% of the time, and never mess with it. I prefer having BIOS setup for as many things as possible, instead of running software in Windows for example.

But every once in a while, this results in a lot of extra time spent fiddling and tweaking, and rebooting, so it would be extremely convenient if I could find a simple piece of software that would allow me to adjust case fans on the fly.

It is not just clearing the hot air, it also helps getting VRM temps back to normal along with the complete system in general, which takes a little while.

If I can't find such a program, I'll just continue doing what I do now, but I would much prefer to spend a lot of that time on something else and more productive.

However, it isn't important enought that I would go out and buy a fan controller for instance, or some other peice of hardware to connect, I'm not that unhappy.
But if I didn't ask, I would never know - maybe something perfect for my specific use exists, if not, I'm glad most UEFI/BIOS has a tonne of options, both manual and auto settings of all sorts.

But I'm still very interested if anyone can think of a software solution that would work. Thanks in advance for any input

 

[MadsModsat]

I tried SpeedFan and it didn't work. It hasn't been updated since 2016 and unfortunately my motherboard wasn't supoorted. Some recent motherboards are still supported though, according to various forums I came across.

But when trying to troubleshoot SpeedFan's lack of fan support for my MB, I came across "Argus Monitor". It does exactly what I need. It isn't freeware, but a 1 year license is around USD $9, which is fine for me.

LINK : Argus Monitor

Thanks a lot for your time and replies