Smart Fan 5 Setup help

pamantea · July 30, 2020

Hello everyone,

I have recently completed a computer build and I need some help with my Smart Fan 5 setup. My build:

Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master

Ryzen 3700X

Grand Macho RT CPU cooler

Seasonic 600w fanless PSU

16 gigs ram

Samsung 970 Pro SSD on MB, and two Samsung SSDs mounted behind motherboard

ASUS RTX 2070 dual fan

Fractal Meshify C with 2 x Dynamic X2 GP-12 120 mm fans and 2 Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap fans. The fractal fans are at the rear of the case for exhaust and the bottom of the case for intake. The two Noctua fans are on the front panel as intake. There is a fan on the CPU cooler. So, 5 fans.

My goal: Have the build as quiet as possible for day to day use which includes low demand productivity tasks like Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, browsing, etc. When playing games, I want the fans to ramp up to provide adequate cooling.

The problem: Smart Fan 5 allows manual control of fan speeds and temperatures. However, I cannot link it to the GPU, only other "sensors". The motherboard does come with a temperature probe I can connect to the motherboard. My question is, how should I go about achieving my goal? Should I link it the probe? If so, where do I put it and how do i validate it? I.e. if I put the probe on the card, the GPU temp may be 70 C, but that is at the chipset and I wouldn't be able to add the probe at the chipset.

Thanks!

Demonic Donut · July 30, 2020

I use FanControl. Its software, but allows you to designate all kinds of temp sources and fan curves/mixes.

Before I used it, I just ran my side panel fans at a constant speed that I find acceptable.

If you use the probe, you could try attaching it to the GPU cooler near the exhaust from the cooler. Then play with curves to get the behavior you want. When the GPU is putting out some heat, the fans will ramp up etc. You could also run it off of case air temps near the GPU.

pamantea · July 31, 2020

22 hours ago, Demonic Donut said:

I use FanControl. Its software, but allows you to designate all kinds of temp sources and fan curves/mixes.

Before I used it, I just ran my side panel fans at a constant speed that I find acceptable.

If you use the probe, you could try attaching it to the GPU cooler near the exhaust from the cooler. Then play with curves to get the behavior you want. When the GPU is putting out some heat, the fans will ramp up etc. You could also run it off of case air temps near the GPU.

Thank you.

Another issue I have is the chipset temp (as measured by HWiNFO64) idles above 70 Celcius. I cannot seem to get it to come down at all. Given that I prefer silence, I am wondering about the GPU COMPLETELY covering the chipset. Since the GPU does not have the fans running below 55 C, I suspect the GPU blocks the case air flow AND contributes heat to the chipset.

Is it possible to move my GPU to the next slot down? It shows the first slot as PCIEX16, the next slot as PCIEX8 and the last full length as PCIEX4. The first two support PCIe 4.0. Does that matter for GPU?