Need help lowering Fan Speed

[adamdoom89]

So I just finished building a new Mini ITX HTPC a few days ago and one thing I wasn't happy about was the fan noise. Keep in mind that this is a PC for the living room so having this noise is very annoying. I decided to replace the stock fan on the case with something better. I went with the Corsair AF120 Blue LED Quiet Edition. I went with the LED version because it's nicer and I also went with this version because it had the word Quiet in it lol. I installed it right away but this fan is also very loud, I don't get it. I watched a several videos on YouTube and mostly all of them said this is a very silent fan. I even read some reviews online that said the same thing. 

I tried going in to the Bios to change the speed manually but that wasn't an option. I only got an option to change it to Quiet mode which I did but it didn't do anything. I tried connecting the fan through Molex to the PSU and straight to the Motherboard's 4 Pin connector but it's the same thing. Is there any program that I can use to lower the speed a little or any cable i can buy to lower the noise. I don't want to use a Fan control because I'm planning to install a Blu-Ray drive in the only bay that the case has. After all this is an HTPC for the living room.

My temps are pretty good so I don't get why the fan is so loud. Here's a screenshot of HWMonitor.

Any help would be appreciated...

EDIT - ADDED SPECS

Cooler Master Elite 130
Intel Core i3 3225 CPU
Gigabyte GA H77N-WiFi Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws X (2x 4GB) = 8GB DDR3 1600
WD Blue 1TB HDD 7200RPM
Corsair CX500 PSU
AMD R9 270 GPU
Corsair AF120 Blue LED Quiet Edition
Cougar 120mm Fan on it's way

 

[Matsy]

Try F2 and F8.

 

Also make you are just spamming the key as soon as you press the power button.

[adamdoom89]

Try F2 and F8.

 

Also make you are just spamming the key as soon as you press the power button.

 

I did what you said and pressed the F2 & F8 key and it took me to a dark screen. I waited a few minutes to see if something would happen but nothing did...

[roberto++]

also try tab, I have seen that on some motherboards as well.

 

last resort is to reset the bios with the jumper on the motherboard, read your manual for the location of this jumper/dip switch

[adamdoom89]

also try tab, I have seen that on some motherboards as well.

 

last resort is to reset the bios with the jumper on the motherboard, read your manual for the location of this jumper/dip switch

 

I tried pressing Tab just like you said but it just boots up the PC. I tried it while Restarting and Pressing the Power button while the system was off...

[brob]

Do you have a wired or wireless keyboard? If wireless, try a wired keyboard. Pressing the DEL (delete) key during POST should put you in the BIOS. If all else fails you can try resetting the BIOS.

[adamdoom89]

Do you have a wired or wireless keyboard? If wireless, try a wired keyboard. Pressing the DEL (delete) key during POST should put you in the BIOS. If all else fails you can try resetting the BIOS.

 

I'm using an old wired keyboard right now till I buy a new Wireless one.

 

I'm using an ancient keyboard with top of the line hardware lol  :lol:

[Torand]

Spam delete + use a wired keyboard?

[adamdoom89]

Ok I'm almost positive that something is wrong with my Bios. I looked around and found a way to Boot straight into the Bios for this particular Motherboard and all it did was boot me into the Black Screen like before. My Bios might be damaged. I don't know how seeing as I've never touched it before...

 

Too shorten boot up time, fast boot feature does not allow [DEL] key to enter BIOS during POST.
You may follow the procedure below to enter BIOS setting:

1. Open Charm Bar and click [setting] (keyboard: [Windows] key + ).
   
   
2. 
   
3. Click [Power] then you will see [Restart]. Press [shift] + [Restart] simultaneously.
   
   

Now you will see a "Choose an option" screen. Choose [Troubleshoot].


Click on [Advanced options].


Choose [uEFI Firmware Settings].


Click [Restart] then computer will automatically enter BIOS setting.

[adamdoom89]

Spam delete + use a wired keyboard?

 

I've tried that several times already and it just boots me into a Black Screen. The only keyboard that I've been using is Wired...

[Torand]

Well, seriously strange. Hope you get it fixed anyway, sorry I couldn't have been of more assistance. Good luck!

[adamdoom89]

Well, seriously strange. Hope you get it fixed anyway, sorry I couldn't have been of more assistance. Good luck!

 

Thank you anyway... I really appreciate it...

[brob]

Shouldn't need it, but you might try following the manual's BIOS reset procedure. This should reset the BIOS back to its original state. Other than that it sounds like an RMA.

[adamdoom89]

Shouldn't need it, but you might try following the manual's BIOS reset procedure. This should reset the BIOS back to its original state. Other than that it sounds like an RMA.

 

Any idea on how to reset the Bios. I'm looking at the manual but it doesn't say anything about resetting. All it lists are the features of the Motherboard and how to update the Bios

[brob]

Section 5 on pg 23 describes how to reset the CMOS parameters - date, time, BIOS configuration settings.

 

Section 14 on pg 28 describes how to CLR_CMOS (Clear CMOS Jumper). This is what I meant by reset the BIOS. As you will note when you read the entire section, it resets the BIOS to its factory settings.

[adamdoom89]

Section 5 on pg 23 describes how to reset the CMOS parameters - date, time, BIOS configuration settings.

 

Section 14 on pg 28 describes how to CLR_CMOS (Clear CMOS Jumper). This is what I meant by reset the BIOS. As you will note when you read the entire section, it resets the BIOS to its factory settings.

 

I'm sorry but I don't know how I missed that. I guess I was looking for the words Bios reset lol

 

So I remove the battery first and then do the second part which is touching the two pins with a screwdriver. I've never heard of this so is it safe to do and will any of this void the warrant or damage the Motherboard...

[brob]

Removing the battery should not be necessary. Just shorting the indicated pins should do it. Follow the instructions exactly. As far as I'm aware doing so will not void the warranty, but read your warranty first to make sure.

 

You could of course simply return the motherboard or at least have a chat with the tech support people of the vendor.

[adamdoom89]

Removing the battery should not be necessary. Just shorting the indicated pins should do it. Follow the instructions exactly. As far as I'm aware doing so will not void the warranty, but read your warranty first to make sure.

 

You could of course simply return the motherboard or at least have a chat with the tech support people of the vendor.

 

Well I did the two steps and now I have no PC. It wont boot Windows or the Bios.It's just a blank screen.

[brob]

Sounds like the motherboard has a problem and should be returned. How did you get into the BIOS when you first built it?

[adamdoom89]

Finally got my PC back up and running. The Motherboard is working perfectly so that's not an issue. I did get in to the Bios and saw an option to change modes for the CPU & Case fan. I set the Case fan to Quiet mode but that had no effect. Anybody know what else I can do. The fan is running at full speed even though my temps are really low. Any help would be appreciated.

[brob]

Glad that you got things working again.

 

Is your motherboard GA-H77N-WIFI?

[adamdoom89]

Glad that you got things working again.

 

Is your motherboard GA-H77N-WIFI?

 

Sorry for the late reply and yes that's my motherboard. So I went into the Bios and changed the fan setting to quiet but that had no effect. All I need now is to lower the fan speed on my Corsair AF120 Blue LED case fan. It has a three pin header and my motherboard only has a four pin connection. I connected them to each other but I still get the loud fan. The reviews I read all said that this fan was very quiet so that's why I'm a little confused...

[brob]

Sorry for the late reply and yes that's my motherboard. So I went into the Bios and changed the fan setting to quiet but that had no effect. All I need now is to lower the fan speed on my Corsair AF120 Blue LED case fan. It has a three pin header and my motherboard only has a four pin connection. I connected them to each other but I still get the loud fan. The reviews I read all said that this fan was very quiet so that's why I'm a little confused...

 

The motherboard manual is rather ambiguous on if the board supports speed control of 3-pin fans.

 

Just to confirm. In the BIOS you went to M.I.T.\PC Health Status and set 1st System Fan Speed Control to Quiet?

[adamdoom89]

The motherboard manual is rather ambiguous on if the board supports speed control of 3-pin fans.

 

Just to confirm. In the BIOS you went to M.I.T.\PC Health Status and set 1st System Fan Speed Control to Quiet?

 

Yes there were two sets of fans. One was for the CPU and the other was for the system fan. I changed both to Quiet just to see if that would work but it had no affect on the fan noise...

[brob]

You should ask Gigabyte, (go to their support page and start a Technical Support ticket), but I suspect that the motherboard does not support speed control with a 3-pin fan. If that is the case the choice is to replace it with a 4-pin PWM fan or get an inexpensive controller like http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=206.