Pico-Itx ... noisy fan...

[patrick bachelier]

Hello,

The fan of the pico-itx is really noisy. Can I test something to reduce the speed... or simply to disconnect the fan. If i disconnect the fan, risk I of overheating ???

Thanks for your help
... and excuse-me for my english language

[Mr. Chris]

There is a program called Speed Fan that may be able to control the fan speed, but I am not sure if it supports the Pico ITX. It is a free program so it won't cost you to try it to test.

If this is the fan on the CPU heat sink, then you cannot disconnect it. The board monitors the RPM of this fan and will shut off the PC if there is not a fan connected. And also there would be a heat problem, the CPU would get very hot and possibly it would damage the CPU.

If this is just a fan inside the case of the PC, then you might be able to disconnect it, but the heat may still be a problem.

I hope this helps you. Chris.

[patrick bachelier]

Originally Posted by Mr. Chris

There is a program called Speed Fan that may be able to control the fan speed, but I am not sure if it supports the Pico ITX. It is a free program so it won't cost you to try it to test.

If this is the fan on the CPU heat sink, then you cannot disconnect it. The board monitors the RPM of this fan and will shut off the PC if there is not a fan connected. And also there would be a heat problem, the CPU would get very hot and possibly it would damage the CPU.

If this is just a fan inside the case of the PC, then you might be able to disconnect it, but the heat may still be a problem.

I hope this helps you. Chris.

Thanks for your help, Chris. I will test Speed Fan.

[patrick bachelier]

Hi Chris,

SpeedFan can not do anything because the fan is not managed on the motherboard (pico-itx).
I have found nothing in the BIOS to manage the fan.
However in the documentation of the chart it is possible. But I did not find anything in the Bios.

So, i'll put cotton in my ears

See you...

Regards

[Gpullen]

Hi,

With my Pico ITX board I just put a resistor on the red wire to the fan. makes it much quieter... cant remember the size of resistor you will have to experiment...

All I remember is that the first 10 or so resistors I tried were to much, and the fan starts to spin but doesn't manage to move... It is much quieter now running at a slower speed.

Gareth

[Domestic Zymurger]

Originally Posted by Gpullen

Hi,

With my Pico ITX board I just put a resistor on the red wire to the fan. makes it much quieter... cant remember the size of resistor you will have to experiment...

Gareth

A 12 Ohm resistor will reduce the Volts and hence speed to about 3/4, 20 Ohms to about 2/3 and 39 Ohms to 1/2. Take your pick but I would start at the lower value (12 Ohms) and work up. In all cases a 1/4 Watt resistor should suffice. Solder it into the red wire and INSULATE expose wires. Take note that this WILL reduce the cooling capacity of the fan and you risk over heating in warm/enclosed environments.

The documentation DOES suggest fan speed monitoring is possible, and so maybe also speed control, but the fitted fan is only a two wire fan. You could try using a three wire fan mounted on top of the heatsink but you lose the low profile and I don't know how you could easily connect it.

One final suggestion - The original fan is screwed directly to the heatsink which will amplify vibration through resonance. Maybe figure out a way to isolate the fan from the heatsink - foam backed double sided tape? stretched rubber bands? whatever?

If you try these things DO use a monitoring program (does SpeedFan detect the board sensors?)

HTH - this is a subject I will visit myself V soon. If I do find a solution I will post it here.

DoZy

[patrick bachelier]

Hi Gareth an DoZy,

SpeedFan and Everest detect only the sensor of the hard disk.

But I will test resistor.


Thanks a lot for your help

See you