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Set GPU fan speed to 0, fans still spinning!

Tedster
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Hey forum, I've come up with an interesting problem.

 

My GTX 680 DirectCU II is kinda loud even when its fans are at lowest stock speeds. I saw an article (link below, content in spoiler) where someone had managed to get their GTX 680 DCUII to have a fanless mode by flashing the BIOS with a minimum fan speed of zero.

I followed this and what I've ended up with is a reported fan speed percentage of zero, but as you can see it's still actually running at 1050RPM.

iwPJ21f.png

 

Do you guys have any suggestions for ways I could get it to work?

An interesting idea I've had is to set a negative value in the BIOS and flash it again but of course I don't want to do anything that would give me a particular risk of bricking my card.

 

Thanks!

 

Link to card page on TechPowerUp:

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b439/asus-gtx-680-directcu-ii-oc.html

Article I'm working from:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2207111/convert-asus-directcu-asus-strix-0db.html

 

 

 

Done in Windows 8.1 64bit Pro, but tweak works fine in Fedora Linux 20 64bit Nvidia driver 331.79.
 
Thought i would share my silent freak tweak turning an already quite silent ASUS DIRECTCU II cooling system into its STRIX 0db equivalent.
My graphics card is an ASUS GTX 680 DIRECTCU II OC, installed in a sound insulated Antex P280 case, running 6 120mm APACHE Blacks.
Very quiet system, but the DCUII cooler tends to have a slight high pitch whining sound even at minimum fan speed (about 1020rpms x 2 fans).
Just enough to irritate me and undergo the below:
 
This should work on any ASUS DIRECTCU II branded GTX Kepler GPU.
 
- Make sure you have the latest version of ASUS GPU Tweak.
Launch it, you'll notice that the DIRECTCU II minimum fan speed is 20% in ASUS GPU Tweak. Close it when done.
- From your GPU Teak folder, usually C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\GPU Tweak locate the provided nvflash.exe.
You can get the latest edition from http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2386/nvflash-5-164-for-windows/ but that edition did not work for me.
Better to stick with the one provided by ASUS.
- From your command prompt, save your current BIOS to a separate file, using nvflash.exe --save BACKUP_BIOS.rom (will save in current folder).
- Download Kepler BIOS Tweaker v1.25 from http://www.trickmasterpc.com/kepler-bios-tweaker-v125.html, and launch it.
- Open the downloaded BIOS file, and in the common tab, Fan Control Range section, modify the Minimum Percentage to 0.
- Save the BIOS fle, or use Save As function, to NEW_BIOS.rom
- Copy the saved file to the nvflash.exe folder.
- Remove the BIOS write protection with nvflash.exe --protectoff
- Then simply flash the new BIOS file using the following command: nvflash.exe NEW_BIOS.rom
Follow on screen instructions.
- When done, write protect the BIOS again with nvflash.exe --protecton
 
If successful, that's all there is to it.
If you launch GPU Tweak again, you will see the fan minimum is now 0%.
Go to the Fan1 user defined settings, and tweak the fan curve.
On my PC it was automatically set to 0% from idle (30deg celcius) to 65 degrees. Then 25% sets in, gradually increasing up to 100% at 95 deg celcius.
 
I tested the reliability on CoD Black Ops max graphics @ 1080p 60fps as well as X-Plane 9 max graphics 60 fps.
Could hear the Fans spinning at about 40% speed for 3 seconds only, twice, in an hour's time. Max temp 51 deg.
My Card is OC to 1204 Mhz, idles at 31 deg celcius. The fans alternate between Off state and ultra low RPM. Whining noise is gone.
 
Enjoy & comment.

 

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That's probably your only option, to flash the card with a negative fan speed.

Do you think that this would be safe to do and wouldn't put me into grave danger of bricking the card?

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Do you think that this would be safe to do and wouldn't put me into grave danger of bricking the card?

There's always that possibility, but unless you do something stupid, you shouldn't brick it.

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try setting your own fancurves with msi afterburner or other software..

tried to quieten your case to hear less gpu noise?

 

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Do you think that this would be safe to do and wouldn't put me into grave danger of bricking the card?

if you flash the right bios then i think youll be fine.

RIG #1 : 4670k @4.4 / 1.25v vcore. @ 4.5 / 1.3v vcore/ 1.95v vccin. MSI GAMING 4G GTX 970 @1540/3700 1.275v BIOS MOD. 16GB Kingston HyperX Savage RAM 2400mhz. MSI GAMING 5 Z97 MOBO. Fractal Design Define S. Dark Rock Pro 3. 850 EVO 250GB Seasonic M12II 620w
RIG #2: 4790k @ 4.6 / 1.25v vcore. EVGA SC ACX 2.0 980 SLI. 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400mhz. Asus MAXIMUS VII Hero Z97. Fractal Design Define R5. NH D15. 850 EVO 250GB AX 860
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try setting your own fancurves with msi afterburner or other software..

if this doesnt help you might need a "newer" gpu that runs with more "silent" cooling fans

I'm definitely looking to upgrade from this, sure.

If you look at the screenshots I provided in the OP you can see that Afterburner and GPU Tweak are both reporting it's at 0% fan speed.

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There's always that possibility, but unless you do something stupid, you shouldn't brick it.

 

 

if you flash the right bios then i think youll be fine.

My main concern would be that it would freak out over having an invalid value but if you're giving me the go-ahead I'm much more convinced that it'll be okay to try.

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Do you think that this would be safe to do and wouldn't put me into grave danger of bricking the card?

Try using msi afterburner to change the fanspeed. Speedfan never really worked for me.

Cpu: Ryzen 2700 @ 4.0Ghz | Motherboard: Hero VI x370 | Gpu: EVGA RTX 2080 | Cooler: Custom Water loop | Ram: 16GB Trident Z 3000MHz

PSU: RM650x + Braided cables | Case:  painted Corsair c70 | Monitor: MSI 1440p 144hz VA | Drives: 500GB 850 Evo (OS)

Laptop: 2014 Razer blade 14" Desktop: http://imgur.com/AQZh2sj , http://imgur.com/ukAXerd

 

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My main concern would be that it would freak out over having an invalid value but if you're giving me the go-ahead I'm much more convinced that it'll be okay to try.

is your card out of warranty? you lose it when you start flashing bios

RIG #1 : 4670k @4.4 / 1.25v vcore. @ 4.5 / 1.3v vcore/ 1.95v vccin. MSI GAMING 4G GTX 970 @1540/3700 1.275v BIOS MOD. 16GB Kingston HyperX Savage RAM 2400mhz. MSI GAMING 5 Z97 MOBO. Fractal Design Define S. Dark Rock Pro 3. 850 EVO 250GB Seasonic M12II 620w
RIG #2: 4790k @ 4.6 / 1.25v vcore. EVGA SC ACX 2.0 980 SLI. 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400mhz. Asus MAXIMUS VII Hero Z97. Fractal Design Define R5. NH D15. 850 EVO 250GB AX 860
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Try using msi afterburner to change the fanspeed. Speedfan never really worked for me.

Afterburner is already stating that the fan speed percentage is zero, as shown in the main post.

 

is your card out of warranty? you lose it when you start flashing bios

I don't believe I ever had a warranty on it and I've already flashed the BIOS. I bought it second hand.

Also I've replaced the thermal paste - that could've potentially voided any warranty I may have had.

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Afterburner is already stating that the fan speed percentage is zero, as shown in the main post.

 

I don't believe I ever had a warranty on it and I've already flashed the BIOS. I bought it second hand.

if youve already flashed bios then you shouldnt worry... and many people flash their card for custom curves for 0 percent fan speed.

RIG #1 : 4670k @4.4 / 1.25v vcore. @ 4.5 / 1.3v vcore/ 1.95v vccin. MSI GAMING 4G GTX 970 @1540/3700 1.275v BIOS MOD. 16GB Kingston HyperX Savage RAM 2400mhz. MSI GAMING 5 Z97 MOBO. Fractal Design Define S. Dark Rock Pro 3. 850 EVO 250GB Seasonic M12II 620w
RIG #2: 4790k @ 4.6 / 1.25v vcore. EVGA SC ACX 2.0 980 SLI. 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400mhz. Asus MAXIMUS VII Hero Z97. Fractal Design Define R5. NH D15. 850 EVO 250GB AX 860
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if youve already flashed bios then you shouldnt worry... and many people flash their card for custom curves for 0 percent fan speed.

Which I just did to the effect of it reporting 0% but still running at 1050 RPM. My concern is about it not being happy with having a negative value where there should surely be only positives.

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is your card out of warranty? you lose it when you start flashing bios

They can only know if the bios has been tampered with if the card works, and if the card is working, you can just flash the original bios before sending it back to them.

 

There isnt a sticker that changes color when you flash a bios or anything...

Cpu: Ryzen 2700 @ 4.0Ghz | Motherboard: Hero VI x370 | Gpu: EVGA RTX 2080 | Cooler: Custom Water loop | Ram: 16GB Trident Z 3000MHz

PSU: RM650x + Braided cables | Case:  painted Corsair c70 | Monitor: MSI 1440p 144hz VA | Drives: 500GB 850 Evo (OS)

Laptop: 2014 Razer blade 14" Desktop: http://imgur.com/AQZh2sj , http://imgur.com/ukAXerd

 

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Which I just did to the effect of it reporting 0% but still running at 1050 RPM. My concern is about it not being happy with having a negative value where there should surely be only positives.

What program are you using to edit the bios? Kepler bios tweaker dosent allow for negative fanspeeds

Cpu: Ryzen 2700 @ 4.0Ghz | Motherboard: Hero VI x370 | Gpu: EVGA RTX 2080 | Cooler: Custom Water loop | Ram: 16GB Trident Z 3000MHz

PSU: RM650x + Braided cables | Case:  painted Corsair c70 | Monitor: MSI 1440p 144hz VA | Drives: 500GB 850 Evo (OS)

Laptop: 2014 Razer blade 14" Desktop: http://imgur.com/AQZh2sj , http://imgur.com/ukAXerd

 

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What program are you using to edit the bios? Kepler bios tweaker dosent allow for negative fanspeeds

So it doesn't. You can enter them but it swaps back when you save the BIOS.

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Hey forum, I've come up with an interesting problem.

My GTX 680 DirectCU II is kinda loud even when its fans are at lowest stock speeds. I saw an article (link below, content in spoiler) where someone had managed to get their GTX 680 DCUII to have a fanless mode by flashing the BIOS with a minimum fan speed of zero.

I followed this and what I've ended up with is a reported fan speed percentage of zero, but as you can see it's still actually running at 1050RPM.

iwPJ21f.png

Do you guys have any suggestions for ways I could get it to work?

An interesting idea I've had is to set a negative value in the BIOS and flash it again but of course I don't want to do anything that would give me a particular risk of bricking my card.

Thanks!

Link to card page on TechPowerUp:

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b439/asus-gtx-680-directcu-ii-oc.html

Article I'm working from:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2207111/convert-asus-directcu-asus-strix-0db.html

Cut the fan wires = 0% fan speed. Delete system 32 to overclock your CPU

R5 5600   Asus ROG Strix RTX2060   B550  Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR4   Kingston A2000 1TB M.2    Kingston UV400 SSD   NZXT H510 Flow

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