Reducing fan speed with the help of a resistor
Another motherboard with 775 socket was very hot on the South Bridge. The size of the YUM heatsink is less than 40x40mm and the plastic mounts stick out above its plane. So it’s not possible to attach the standard 40mm fan directly to the heatsink. I had to secure 40mm fan to the case with home-made fan mounts made of tin plugs.
The problem is that the cheap hub fan, although brand new, was humming a lot. The reason was the vibration that the fan sent to the feet of the bracket. To make the fan hum less, I slowed it down with a resistor:
It helped: the RPM is less, the vibration is lowered and the hum is gone. Of course, the air flow to the radiator has also decreased, but it is still enough for normal cooling. the radiator is a little warm during operation.
The recommended way to decrease the fan speed in PC is PWM regulation, when constant 12V voltage is fed to the fan not constantly, but by pulses. Turning the fan down with a resistor is not the recommended way, but it is much easier and works. When you turn on the fan with the resistor, unlike with PWM, instead of the standard 12V it gets a lower voltage. Decrease the voltage. the rotation speed decreases.
Let’s first make sure that this voltage drop is acceptable for our model. For example my SENSDAR SD4010M1S fan runs at 6-13.8 В:
So I have experimentally found a 56 Ohm, 1 watt resistor:
With this resistor resistance the voltage to the fan is not 12.3 V (this is what the 12 V line gives out when the motherboard is on), and 8.3 В. The voltage turned out to be enough to reduce the fan speed at the required level of cooling the radiator YM. I choose a resistor with a power dissipation of 1 watt, i.e.к. the fan consumes 12 V 0.08 А= 0.96 W. If I choose a less powerful resistor for my fan, the resistor will simply burn out. While your computer is running, the resistor is warm, but not too warm. So it’s OK. But I recommend to put a 2W resistor, just in case.
Do not forget to isolate reliably soldering wire and resistor (in the photo. white rubber tubes), otherwise it will short-circuit the case and there will be a fire. Ceramic case of the resistor itself is insulator and does not conduct electricity, you do not have to be afraid of it.
How to adjust the fan speed in a PC
Modern computer equipment regulates fans speed to cool the system by itself. However, in most cases, in order to achieve a comfortable ratio of efficiency to noise, it is better to do it in manual mode.
Today we are going to talk about how to control the speed of case fans and CPU cooling.
Why do you need to adjust the fans?
Initially, the parameters of the fans are set by the motherboard, depending on the temperature sensors and BIOS settings.
But not always the automatic system copes with its functions effectively. Most often it is one of the following scenarios:
- Overclocking system components.
- Keeping your computer on high load all the time.
- Cooling system might need to be replaced with a more powerful cooler.
- Changing the room climate.
- Outdated cooling system.
- The computer has not been cleaned recently.
If the cause of the excessive operation of the coolers is overheating of the system due to heat or contamination of the system with dust, you cannot manually reduce the fan speeds. Start by cleaning and maintaining your computer. You may need to replace the thermal paste on your CPU. If the device has not been serviced for a long time, these manipulations will reduce the temperature of the working nodes by 10. 15 ° C.
In the case of a burst, increased attention should be paid to the operating temperatures of the system components and timely action should be taken to adjust them. Excessive overheating is fraught with failure of overclocked components. If overheating is not detected and the fans are running at maximum speed, it will result in unnecessary power consumption and noise.
In other cases if the system does not overheat and the fans are operating at full power, performing more than 2000-3000 rpm, you should change their settings manually.
Setting in the BIOS
You can enter the BIOS by pressing the corresponding key on the keyboard when starting your computer. Depending on the model of the motherboard it may be F2 or Del.
Usually the fan configuration section is on the start page and is called “Fan Control”. In the section you can find 3 types of devices:
- CPU FAN. CPU fan.
- Chassis FAN or CHA FAN. case fans.
- AUX FAN. ports for connection of additional fans. They are controlled by external regulators, and the motherboard only provides power.
RPMs are indicated next to each fan name. To proceed to the adjustment you need to select the device.
Usually the adjustment of the CPU fan is implemented in the form of a graph, which offers basic modes: Silent, Standart, Turbo, or others, at the discretion of the manufacturer. And also manual mode. Manual or Custom.
To adjust, move the control points on the graph. However, it is not recommended to set the fan performance to the minimum values, especially when configuring the CPU cooling. The graph should have the form of a smooth curve, in which at 30 ° C should correspond to the minimum fan speed, and 80 ° C. the maximum. If possible check cooling efficiency at maximum load. Due to the peculiarities of both fans and radiators, there may be no difference in cooling efficiency between 85% speed and 100%, but the noise will be noticeable. The test should be carried out at least 10 minutes in duration. during this time the system will reach the temperature stability level. I am of course talking about air and 240mm liquid systems. Can take up to half an hour to reach equilibrium when using 360 or larger radiators.Intermediate values should be chosen based on system parameters, evaluating each figure and selecting the necessary value by practical means under load.
Adjustment of case fans is rarely implemented visually. It is usually suggested to enter the power as a percentage for each of the three modes of operation: Min, Middle, and Max.
Adjustment by SpeedFan utility
SpeedFan. the most popular free app with a Russian-language interface. Among its functions:
- Determining the utilization of the processor and each core.
- Checking temperatures of major PC components.
- System performance monitoring.
- Fan Speed Control.
The program allows you to adjust the speed of each fan connected to the motherboard, while assessing how the temperature changes on the sensors. You can set the necessary temperature levels, and the system will automatically adjust the speed of the coolers. You can also set the automatic mode. To do so you should put a tick in the Automatic fan speed line.
In most cases, if the fans are connected directly to the power supply, they can only be adjusted physically.
Physical adjustment
To control fan speeds a special multi-channel speed controller. reobassembly is used. It is mounted into the system unit or on the front panel. You can also find external devices that are attached to the case with magnets or Velcro.
Depending on the configuration, a reboost can perform several functions at once:
- Increase the number of slots to connect coolers.
- Adjust operating parameters of fans: rotation speed, energy consumption.
- Control the system temperature.
- Visualize cooler and system readings.
- Type of control: manual or automatic.
- Functionality.
- How many fans to connect.
- Number of Thermal Sensors.
- Display.
The simplest re-boards will show the speed of only one cooler, by sending the values to the motherboard sensor. No readings are taken from other fans.
Some top models can be equipped with microphones and are able to automatically adjust the operation of the cooling system in accordance with the noise background of the room.
How to Increase or Decrease Cooler Speed with AMD OverDrive
The software is only suitable for air cooling systems that work together with AMD hardware. This utility is totally free and allows you to overclock your hardware. This will significantly increase the temperature, so you need to increase the efficiency of the cooling system accordingly. In order to increase the fan speed in the utility, you will need:
- Open the application and go to the Performance Control tab in the main menu. Most versions are on the upper left side of the interface.
- Go to the section Fan Control.
- Switch the fan speed to manual mode, then use the sliders to adjust the fan speed. This way you can increase or decrease the speed, resulting in a lower temperature or noise level.
How to reduce fan speed or “Silent Cooler
How to disassemble, lubricate and then reassemble the fan (Fan) if it starts making more noise than usual. The article mainly deals with preventive maintenance of fans assembled with plain bearings.
If one of the fans located in your system unit starts to make more noise or rumble than usual, the cause is usually either a worn bearing or a lack of lubrication.
The fans used to cool the case, the processor, the graphics card, the hard disk drive and the RAM differ in size, construction and the type of bearing used.
Only two types of bearings are used in fans: friction bearings, including hydraulic bearings, and antifriction bearings. ball bearings. However, there are also variants, e.g. when the fan shaft is additionally supported by a magnetic field, etc.д., but this does not affect the preventive maintenance and repair of the fans.
all the fans used in pC have no manifold and use an electronic commutator of the windings. Therefore, the main parts subject to mechanical wear are the bearings.
In these fans, wear can be subjected as ball bearings themselves in a number of two pieces, and seats in which they are installed, but the latter occurs less frequently.
First of all the ball bearings at the impeller side are subject to wear, because they are subjected to high loads.
In most fans deep groove ball bearings are used, and, moreover, in the construction of low-cost fans the possibility of radial and axial clearance sampling is not provided. This leads to premature wear of ball bearings and increases the noise of the entire fan.
Repair of a ball bearing fan only makes sense if no suitable replacement can be found. Such a fan, for example, may be an unusually designed fan for a laptop or graphics card. In these cases you can find a new fan of similar size and replace the worn ball bearings, if they fit there of course.
The drawing shows a fan on a slide bearing in section.
printed circuit board with control elements,
Here the motor shaft and the bearing bush are subject to wear. over, in most fans, only one sleeve is used, which covers the entire free length of the shaft. However, unlike miniature ball bearings, in plain bearings the load is distributed over a large area of the bearing surface, which, if lubricated, makes these devices quite reliable in operation.
Causes of the noise, which begins not exhausted their resources fans assembled on slide bearings, the following: drying out of grease, grease leakage, use of substandard grease and lack of lubrication (it also happens).
An ordinary budget fan that runs for 12 or more hours a day should preferably be lubricated at least once a year at the first revision, and after six months at every regular revision. The more often this preventive maintenance is done, the less bearing wear and corresponding fan noise.
Fans running on low voltage power can be lubricated a little less frequently. High-speed small fans should be lubricated twice as often as large case and CPU fans.
Tools you may need when assembling or disassembling a fan and cleaning it. [img]http://oldoctober.com/pics/fan/fan-2.jpg To disassemble the fan first remove the type plate. Then remove the rubber plug. (In case of small fans the label can be used as a label).
Now use a brush to dust the fan casing and impeller and a piece of cotton cloth to rid all the bearing parts of any traces of old grease.
Stale organic grease can be removed with gasoline, and silicone grease with acetone, but you must be careful with it, because such solvents can spoil the appearance of plastic products of some fans. Alcohol is the most innocuous solvent, but it does not dissolve grease well.
Apply a few drops of grease to the bearing and shaft area, first putting on the first little rubber ring. It’s easy to measure the amount of oil with an appropriately sized small screwdriver. The wider the screwdriver tip, the larger the drop of oil.
Oil for greasing friction bearings.
Professor Preobrazhensky: “and secondly, God knows what they put in. You can tell them what they can think of?”
Never use cooking oil, lard or petroleum jelly for the lubrication of fans!
You can use, machine oil, spindle oil, silicone oil, synthetic oil, mineral oil, household and other oils sold in retail. If you know more than just the name of the oil, we can use an oil designed for the lubrication of high-speed sliding bearings.
Lubricants differ in a bunch of different parameters, but most of them we can not check.
However, there is one important parameter that is easy to determine by eye, and that is viscosity. Even by dabbing bubbles with oils of different viscosities you can determine which is more viscous. An indirect confirmation can be the size of the drop that is held on the working surface of the screwdriver.
Low viscosity oil can leak from a bearing that does not have oil seals (and most low cost fans do not have them), and very high viscosity oil can make it difficult to rotate the rotor of the motor.
However, any grease is better than no grease at all.
2) A new brand-name cooler is chosen with a higher RPM than necessary. The way out of this situation is simple. reduce the speed of the cooler.
So, you and I found out that by reducing the number of revolutions of the cooler, we will reduce the noise it makes. Of course the productivity will drop a bit, but let’s assume that in some “nodes” of your computer it won’t make a difference in cooling. For example, fans that are installed in cases and power supplies are high-speed, and the noise/performance ratio is not always at an optimal level. There are several ways to reduce the noise and keep the cooling at an acceptable level. So to say, to find the “golden mean” in the noise/performance ratio.
Let’s start with the easiest and cheapest ways:
Turning on the function which controls the fan speed automatically in the BIOS. According to the principle, the more the computer load, the faster the fans rotate. This function is supported by some motherboards, such as Asus (Q-Fan control), Abit (Smart fan control), etc. Consider Q-Fan Control, with Silent/Optimal/Perfomans presets.
1) Go into BIOS (Just before you start booting press [DELETE] button repeatedly) 2) From Main section go to Power section
Important! Only the CHA_FAN and CPU_FAN connectors will have automatic fan regulation. And PWR_FAN is not regulated by Q-Fan Control.
Similar control systems also exist on other motherboards from other manufacturers. If your board does not support this feature, then I recommend looking at other ways.
Decrease of cooler revolution by switching method.
To reduce the fan speed, you can switch the fan to a lower voltage. The voltage rating for your fan is 12 volts. And all the specifications (RPM, noise level, current consumption, etc) are.д.) is given for the rated voltage.
Adjusting the fan speed with the help of a reboost.
To be able to adjust the fan continuously, you can use a device called a REOBAS. Reobas. is a device that allows you to continuously adjust the voltage that is applied to the fan. The fan speed can be steplessly adjusted as a consequence. Reobas can be made by yourself using the diagram below:
The first scheme is similar to the FanMate controller from Zalman, which is used on CPU coolers:
Adjustment range from 5 Volt to 12 Volt. But the chip gets a little warm.
The second circuit is a little more complicated, but it has a wider regulation range: from 1.5V to 11V.8 В. And also it is possible to set threshold lower voltage, as starting voltage for the fan is 3.5 В.
Advantages of this way. cheap and accessible, it just takes a little effort. You can buy ready-made REOBAs of well-known companies in the compartment 5.25″.
These reobases are produced by ZALMAN, SKYTHE, AeroCOOL, Akasa, etc. Advantages of. Very nice and without effort. Disadvantage. expensive!
Which of the following methods to choose. It’s up to you. ©
It is not a secret that all electronic components of a computer become warm when it is running. Some of them burn quite noticeably. Processor, graphic card, motherboard north and south bridges are the most warm elements of the system unit. Even when the computer is idle, their temperature can reach 50-60 degrees Celsius. But if the system unit is not periodically cleaned of dust, the heating of the main components of the computer becomes even more. The increased heat causes the computer to constantly freeze, the fans are running at high speed, resulting in an annoying noise. Overheating in general is dangerous and causes the computer to crash.
Therefore, the main problem with all electronics in computing technology is proper cooling and efficient heat dissipation. The vast majority of computers, both industrial and home, use air cooling to dissipate heat. It is popular due to its simplicity and low cost. The principle behind this type of cooling is. All heat from heated components is dissipated to the ambient air, and the hot air is in turn dissipated from the system unit using fans. To improve heat transfer and cooling efficiency, the most heated components are equipped with copper or aluminum radiators with fans mounted on them.
But the fact that the heat is removed by air movement does not mean that the more fans installed, the better cooling in general. Several incorrectly installed fans can do much more harm than solve the overheating problem, when a single fan, properly installed, solves the problem very effectively.
Choosing the extra fans.
Before buying and installing extra fans, carefully examine your computer. Open the lid of the case and calculate the size of the spots for installation of additional case coolers. Look closely at the motherboard to see what connectors there are for additional fans.
Fans should be of the largest size that will work for you. Standard cases are 80x80mm. But quite often (especially lately) you can install 92×92 and 120×120 mm fans into cases. With the same electrical rating, a larger fan will be much quieter.
Try to buy fans with more blades, they are also quieter. Pay attention to the stickers, they indicate the noise level. If your motherboard has 4-pin cooler power connections then buy 4-wire fans. They are very quiet and have a wide auto speed control range.
Between fans that are powered by the Molex connector on the power supply and those that are powered by the motherboard, the second choice is definitely a good option.
Real ball bearing fans are available and are the best in terms of durability.
Installing additional fans.
Let’s look at the basics of proper case fan installation for most system designs. Here we will give you tips exactly for standard cases, because non-standard ones have such a wide variety of fan layouts that there is no point in describing them. they are all individual. over, non-standard cases can have fan sizes up to 30cm in diameter. But still some points of cooling non-standard PC cases are considered in the following article on the proper cooling of computers.
No extra fans in the case.
This is a standard layout for almost all computers sold in stores. All of the hot air rises to the top of the computer and is forced by the fan in the power supply to the outside.
The big disadvantage of this type of cooling is that all the heated air goes through the power supply, making it even hotter. And that is why these computers power supply breaks most often. Also all the cold air is sucked in not controlled, but from all the slots in the case, which only reduces the efficiency of heat transfer. Another disadvantage is the thin air resulting from this type of cooling, which leads to dust accumulation inside the case. Still, this is better than installing additional fans incorrectly.
One fan on the back of the case.
This method is used more out of futility, as there is only one place in the case to install an additional cooler. on the back wall under the power supply. To reduce the amount of hot air blowing through the power supply, you install one fan that blows air out of the case.
Most of the heated air from the motherboard, CPU, graphics cards, hard drives comes out through an extra fan. And the power supply gets significantly less warm. Also the overall airflow increases. But the vacuum increases, so dust will collect even more.
An extra front fan in the case.
When there is only one mounting location on the front of the housing or when there is no possibility to plug two fans at once (no place to connect), then this is the most ideal option for you. One fan should be installed “blowing” in the front of the case.
A fan should be installed in front of the hard drives. Or should I say that you should put the hard drives in front of the fan. So cool, incoming air immediately blows over the drives. This installation is much more efficient than the previous one. Directional airflow is created. Reduces the vacuum inside your computer so dust is not trapped. Powering additional coolers from the motherboard lowers overall noise because it lowers fan speeds.
Installing Two Fans into a Case.
The most effective method to install fans for additional cooling of the system unit. An intake fan on the front of the case and an exhaust fan on the back of the case:
Powerful, steady airflow and directional flow is created. The power supply works without overheating because the heated air is expelled by the fan installed underneath. If you install a power supply with adjustable fan speed the overall noise is noticeably less and more importantly the pressure inside the case is equalized. Dust is not allowed to settle.
Incorrect fan installation.
Here are some examples of unacceptable additional PC case coolers.
One rear fan is installed on “blowing” side.
A closed air loop is created between the power supply and the extra fan. Part of the hot air from the power supply is immediately sucked back inside. There is no air movement in the bottom of the case and cooling is therefore ineffective.
One front fan is set on “blowing”.
If you install only one front blowing cooler you end up with very depressurized inside your case, and with less efficient cooling. And because of the reduced pressure the fans themselves will be overloaded, because they will have to overcome the reverse air pressure. Computer components will heat up, resulting in increased operating noise, as fan speeds will increase.
The rear fan is “blowing in”, and the front fan is “blowing out”. Blowing” fans.
The simplest way to reduce fan speed
Creation of air short circuit between power supply and rear fan. Airflow around the CPU is circulating.
The front fan, on the other hand, tries to “deflate” the hot air against the natural convection lift, working under increased load and creating vacuum inside the case.
Two additional cooling fans will be blowing in.
Creates an air short-circuit at the top of the case.
In this case the effect of incoming cold air is felt only for hard drives, because further it falls on the counter flow from the rear fan. Creates excessive pressure inside the case making it more difficult for the extra fans to.
Two extra fans are blowing in.
The heaviest mode of operation of the cooling system.
Inside the case there is reduced air pressure, all case fans and inside the power supply are running under reverse suction pressure. There is not enough air movement inside, and therefore all components are running overheated.
Here are basically all the basics that will help you in organizing a proper ventilation system for your personal computer. If you have a special plastic bellows on the side of the case, use it to blow cool air to the CPU. All other installation issues depend on the structure of your case. ©
Three-wire: 1. “-” power supply 2. “-” power supply 3. speed sensor
Four-wire: 1. “-” power supply 2. “-” power supply 3. RPM sensor 4. RPM control = I should have added it a long time ago but I forgot
Fan 0,1A, 16w, 220v. how to lower the RPM.
There is a fan like this one.vents.ua/index.php?page=catalogID=1sub_id=pid=1detail (VENTS 125 VKO) Already installed and ducts made as an extractor for the toilet-bath. It blows noiselessly and the airflow is too much HOW TO SET THE RPMS OF THE FANS AND IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THIS TYPE OF FAN. PS: I tried to connect a dimmer for continuously adjusting the level of light. just a little bit decreases and shuts down and specific crackle (brushes probably burning). True, the dimmer is designed to regulate from 50 watts., and here 16 watt.
It would be a shame if you can not. all that is already done, screwed, glued.
Step by step instruction on how to adjust the fan speed in SpeedFan
SpeedFan is a popular utility to control fan speeds in your computer. It is needed to ensure comfortable work with a computer at a minimum noise level, if the system is not loaded, or, conversely, to minimize PC temperature at high loads, if there is a danger of overheating. Below we describe how to adjust the coolers in a PC or laptop, as well as give recommendations for fixing common problems.
speed controller
into the 12v circuit breaker as shown in the picture. Warning! If your fan has 4 terminals, and their color: black, yellow, green and blue (such plus power supplied by the yellow wire), the regulator is included in the gap yellow wire.
Finished, assembled fan speed regulator is installed in any convenient place in the system unit, for example, in the front of the plug, five-inch compartment, or in the back of the plug of expansion boards. To do this drill a hole of the required diameter for the variable resistor you are using, then it is inserted into it and tightened by the special nut that comes with it. You can put a suitable handle on the axis of the variable resistor, for example, from old Soviet equipment.
Note that if the transistor in your regulator will get very hot (for example if the power consumption of the cooler fan is high or if you have several fans connected through it) it should be put on a small heatsink. The heatsink can be a piece of aluminum or copper plate that is 2 3 mm thick, 3 cm long and 2 cm wide. But as practice has shown, if a normal computer fan with a current draw of 0.1 0.2 A, then a heatsink is not necessary, because the transistor heats up only very little.
Let’s look at the top 3 working fan speed regulator circuits. Each circuit is not only verified, but also perfectly suitable for implementation by novice radio amateurs. Each circuit is accompanied by a list of necessary components for installation with your own hands and step-by-step recommendations.
Cool’n’Quiet Technology by AMD
Cool’n’Quiet technology developed by AMD is Intel’s answer to the old problems with heating and noise produced by cooling system. The new technology designed to reduce power consumption and thus the noise produced by the cooling system, is used in all modern motherboard chipsets for AMD processors. CPU fan and other fans connected to the motherboard will increase the fan speed only when the temperature rises, and when there is no load they can turn off at all.
As a reminder, AMD platforms are usually also equipped with D.O.T. (Dynamic Overclocking Technology with maximum automated overclocking of up to 10%.
Note also that each chipset and motherboard vendor for a particular platform brings its own additional technologies to support such noise reduction solutions for computers.
What to do if the computer is very noisy
If you can’t hear yourself think about the noise of the fans in your computer system unit, it’s time to address it. You need to find out why they are so noisy and what to do about it. Noisy fans can be very disturbing, slightly disturbing, or anything in between. There are several methods of dealing with noise.
