Fan settings - BIOS vs. iCue & Such

Domingo

Domingo

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This is one of those things I've always been a little curious about. Mainly because the two work in conjunction with one another.

My motherboard (MSI Z370) has a pretty elaborate control system for setting fan curves as well as for setting fan to DC or PWM mode. In addition to that, Corsair's iCue has 5 main settings (0 RPM, quiet, balanced, extreme, and manual) that work on top of the MoBo settings.

I've tinkered around with the curves and have settings that are pretty quiet but will crank up when needed. Yet I have no real idea how optimized anything is. I've definitely noticed that with the default settings, things stay quiet...but they also don't crank up when running stress tests. Things get hot in a hurry, and the temps are higher than I want.
Anyone have a good guide or tips for DC vs. PWM, fan curves, iCue settings, etc.
 
Quick follow up since people didn't seem to know or have a strong opinion :p:

I disconnected the iCue cable from my H100i and it has been for the best. My fans run quieter more consistently and when my system gets stressed they crank up faster. With iCue I think the software was essentially "battling" my BIOS settings. I installed the software to turn off the LED's and just left it on for the hell of it.
I have my fans set as follows 80 degrees = 100%, 65 degrees = 80%, 50 degrees = 60%, 35 degrees = 40%. Everything is set to DC with only my CPU1 set to PWM. It seems pretty ideal as far a quiet vs. cranking up as needed, but I'm no expert.
 
the dc vs pwm is based on what fans youre using, 3 or 4 pin. and yes the bios and icue will fight to control the fans and the bios reaction time should be faster at adjusting. you fan curve is fine. i normally set it 30% flat to 50 then ramp to 100% at 80.
 
pendragon1 said:
the dc vs pwm is based on what fans youre using, 3 or 4 pin. and yes the bios and icue will fight to control the fans and the bios reaction time should be faster at adjusting. you fan curve is fine. i normally set it 30% flat to 50 then ramp to 100% at 80.
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This. Also when running from bios you don't need the vendors crappy software running.
 
I didn't chime in but you figured it out.
I prefer running my fan curves off my Mobo headers.

There are bloatware test on YouTube, nzxt is probably the biggest offender as far as win10 impact.

Something to consider if you run your cpu aio rad on top is being able to dedicate a gpu targeted intake like my bottommost 120mm that blasts air towards my gpu and psu.

2x intake 120mm tend to be idle, rad fans tend to be slow when I'm not gaming.

IMG_20200725_125230.jpg
 
I kinda figured that iCue wasn't the best option, but I'm actually a little surprised how much it affected things negatively...and it doesn't seem like it can be disabled completely without unplugging the iCue cable. I originally installed it just so I could kill off the RGB lighting on the cooler.
My previous AIO cooler didn't have any software functionality. I guess now I know. If that damned RGB ever turns back on, only hook it up long enough to disable it again.
 
sorry to revive a old thread but i was wondering do you need to install that usb 2 cable, my asus sage doesnt have a internal usb 2 header.
 
Shadowarez said:
sorry to revive a old thread but i was wondering do you need to install that usb 2 cable, my asus sage doesnt have a internal usb 2 header.
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Nah, you don't. It allows iCue to operate (which was a mess), BUT it does allow you to change the RGB lighting and/or disable it. The cooler works fine without it, though.
 
(Face Palm) i should have asked here first lol damn, so telling i have a perfectly good Corsair H150 Pro andi coulda used that instead of scouring the net for pcie to usb 3 internal then a usb 3 internal header to usb 2 was totally fruitless lol,

welp i guess i gota tear down my build and add this thank you i shall have to utilize this forum more i actually got the answers i was looking for,
 
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