I just built myself my new computer, with Asus Rampage IV Extreme, i7 3930K and a Noctua NH-D14. My motherboard gives a CPU FAN ERROR and the fan runs at 300 rpm and the cpu stays around 34 C. Both fan cables were connected to a Y-cable which in turn was connected to an extension-cable, both supplied by Noctua, and then connected to the main CPU fan connector on the mobo. I also tried to connect it to the optional CPU fan connctor on the mobo, but still same error. I don't know how to solve the problem and I would really appriciate if someone would help me out.
Do you have Q-fan (dynamic speed based on CPU load) or similar fan speed option enabled in the BIOS. If yes try to use 100% instead to see if it works differently. But with my Noctua D14 there were different types of Y connected provided. One was not modifying the voltage and others were reducing the voltage to reduce the rpm and therefore the noise. Are you using the correct Y connector? if the error is the problem then you can normally disable the speed check in the bios.
Qfan is enabled, and if you mean 100% with the turbo setting then yes it is on. Yes there was only one Y-connector to the fan, SE2011 edition, and two small LNA cables - one for each fan. But now I skipped the extension cable and managed to fit the Y-cable to the main CPU fan connector - but I still got the same result, plus the fan stopped spinning after the first 10 seconds and then wont spin untill after 30 seconds and then very very slow and at a speed of 150 rpm. I wonder if it might be something with the power cable, I had to use an extension cable for it, pressed it down as firmly as possible but never heard a click. Or maybe it needs to be another ATX connector I should plug it into. I am not sure at all. Edit: I wonder if I might have found the cause, found this at Noctuas site:
yep seems that you found the problem. mine is not PWM compatible. (older version) you can try to run a stress test to see if the fan speed increase...
I also found something more on Noctua's site: I think this is more what I have. I am going to format my old HDD and install Windows 7 now.
the Low-Noise or Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptors where the one I was talking about. I have them in my box since my fans are regulated by the voltage and not PWM. "your mainboard's automatic fan controller" is called Q-fan in Asus bios. you can keep it or set the rpm manually (100%-90%..70%) if you prefer. good luck with your new system
Thank you Nono06. But it seems like I still have some problems with the fans. I got windows and everything installed, I did a stress test and got at max RPM for the CPU fan 496 RPM, at 50 C for the CPU. A friend thinks the fan ain't getting enough power. And can it be about lack of fan voltage power, or something that need to be changed in BIOS? What do you guys think about this?
50C is not much during stress. I'm not sure about Q-fan rules. Does it look at temperature only, or does it extrapolate the fan speed from the power drawn from the power stages? Anyway, having a CPU running at 50C during test is really good. What kind of test are you using? For really pushing the CPU to its limit, I would recommend to use OCCT and run the linpack test (64bit and hyperthreading modes enabled) On my OC system, I reach ~85C (room temp around 24C) after few minutes of test.
The Q-Fan default high temp limit is set at 60c iirc. This means your CPU fan won't spin at max rpm until the CPU temp reaches 60c (or whatever the high limit is set at). This can be adjusted in the bios under Power Options.
If your Mobo has to 4-pin cpu fan connectors I would try attaching one fan to each connector. I know you said you tried it before but that was when you were seeing the 300rpm error. You might also see if there's an option in your bios to just run the fans at full speed (try turning off Q-fan entirely) so you can see if they will spin at the right speed then (should be 1300/1400 rpm).
Hey guys I managed to fix the problem after contacting Noctua. Turns out the Y-cable was faulty and it fixed itself first when I turned off Q-Fan Control in BIOS. I will post the reply I got from Noctua about it, for people with the same problem stumbling upon this thread. Thanks for all the help guys!
Cable can't "fix itself" by changing your BIOS settings. This cooler is simply that good at keeping temps low. With QFan enabled, it was managing power output according to temperature. That's why you can barely get it to spin 500 rpm - 50C is very low for stress - be happy with it Every fan has it's own starting voltage - it is sometimes higher than minimum normal work voltage. For ex. fan will only start with 7V, but can work normally with 5.5V (after spinning up). That is why your fans had problem starting. And because low temps, they could stop in the middle of work, because QFan will lower the voltage When I got my Mugen 2, I had similar behavior - fan didn't start in first minute or two. Only when temps were high enough fan controller provided enough voltage for spin up. And it's normal. Error message is also simple to explain. Since box fans can spin up to 3500-4000 rpm and normal idle speed is around 1000-1500 rpm, sensors are calibrated in that manner, that numbers as low as 300-400 are treated as a malfunction. This has happened to me many times with low rpm fans of performance coolers. I just went to BIOS, click on the speed sensor for that fan and selected "Ignore". Problem went away and motherboard didn't post error message for that fan. In my book, everything is working as it should and errors are from high performance of D14. If 100% (after turning off QFan) bothers you, hook up 7V converter between fans and motherboard.
I have a old HP motherboard that doesn't have any options in the BIOS to control fan speed, Q-fan or voltage. The model of my motherboard is the Pegatron 2AB6. I plan on getting a new motherboard sometime in the near future, but I have to stick with this one for now. >_< So will this be a problem for me when I get my NH-D14 in the mail? I know that people have turned off the Q-fan option in the BIOS, but because I can't do that, can I just connect the two 3-pin fans into the Y-splitter given and the other end into the 4-pin CPU header? I heard you can still use 3-pin fans onto a 4-pin header with the other pin exposed. I need some clarification on this, please. >_< I really want to use the NH-D14, but I'm afraid that my motherboard won't be compatible with it and there's no information of my motherboard online to help me with, cause it's an old HP board. Please help!
Three year necro, that's impressive. Your cooler will function fine with a 4-pin header on the motherboard. There will be no issues.
CPU fan error - NH-D14 cooler Yes, but the NH-D14 uses two 3-pins and I only have one 4-pin CPU header (obviously) and I was told that using the Y-splitter is not a very good idea. So what can I do about that? There has to be a fan connected to the CPU header in order for the PC to work properly, right? So if the NH-D14 has two fans, how can I connect both those fans to a single header without a splitter? I heard it was a bad idea to use the splitter cause it divides the RPM that fans run at. I mean, I do have a 4-pin molex already installed that has four 3-pin fan connectors so I could always connect the cooler's two fans to that, but what do I do about the empty CPU header?
There should be no issue running two fans off of one header, and a splitter does not divide the fan speed in half. It will provide both fans power. If there is an issue (it's a no name motherboard so I don't know what kind of quality it has) then you can always plug one fan into the CPU fan header and the other into a molex adapter. 4-pin fans can plug into 3-pin headers without any issue. The 4th pin only provides RPM adjustments. Without the 4th pin the fans will run at a set speed constantly.
You are fine using a Y splitter. The two fans form a parallel circuit, in which the voltage (and amperage) to each fan is the same. As long as the fan header can support the amperage to run both fans you won't lose any speed. If you are concerned about it, just hook one or both to a molex plug like Cartman said. You can use the LNA cables with built in resistors to manually lower the fan's speeds if you want them quieter.
