CPU Fan 0 RPM ???

[NaperRick]

Sorry for this really Noobie question...
I just built a PC with a GA-Z77X-D3H and Intel I7 3770 (using the stock cpu fan).
On every fan monitoring program I have used there are occasions where the CPU Fan sensor reads 0 RPM. The reported CPU Fan speed quite often is normal looking but there are occasions were it appears the CPU fan shuts off (usually when the CPU temps are in the high 30's C to low 40's C) when the machine is pretty much idle.

My question is, is it normal for the CPU fan to shut off for short periods?

My CPU temps (no overclocking) run from the high 30's to around 70C (with a load), though I have rarily seen temps over 70C.
I haven't run any real stress tests but have run a number of the benchmark programs and temps appear to be OK during those.

Thanks,
Rick

[wazza300]

have you checked the cpu fan header connection? made sure its connected fully?does the fan itself physically stop spinning? if it doesnt and its just reporting fan rpm as 0 then its usually a software or bios bug,i know i had similar issue with my mb temp sensor reporting -120c and 100c sometimes but its been fixed with software/bios updates

[NaperRick]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I did a little more checking today and noticed the following...

1. When I sit in the BIOS screens the CPU fan runs continuously at around 1,050 RPM's
2. The CPU Fan header appears to be plugged in properly
3. During normal operation the fan does actually stop turning while the CPU temp is under about 50C, once it goes above that the fan comes on and stays on until temps are below 50C for a while.
4. I ran the SANDRA burn in tests for about 10 minutes and CPU temps never exceeded 70C or so.
5. I checked the CPU area with a IR thermometer and it never exceeded about 38C on any of the visible surfaces (the PCH heat sink was amout 45C)

Everything seems to be working OK other than the CPU fan turning off when CPU temps are below 50C. Since it doesn't do that while in the BIOS screen I assume the MOBO CPU Fan control is what turns it on and off in response to CPU temps.

I guess my question is now, is mine the only stock fan that does this or does every stock I7 3770 cooler act that way on this board (GA-Z77X-D3H)?

I am still using BIOS F5 - haven't had any reason to upgrade - do I need to do that to resolve this issue?

Rick

[wazza300]

it shouldnt stop at all far as im aware,id certainly update the bios to latest one see if that cures it,you can always flash back if you prefer your current bios and the newer one doesnt fix things ect

[Hyper530]

F5 BIOS is quite old, latest ver is F9 i think you should try it: GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-Z77X-D3H (rev. 1.0)

[Kanon]

When I first installed my Z77-UD5H I installed the different Gigabyte utilities. When the utility with fan control (I believe it was Easy Tune 6) was installed my cpu fan behaved the same way. I was able to change it to always run by dragging the left hand side of the cpu fan graph up. Without the software installed the bios did not have this behavior. So I think the software fan control may be much more aggressive. Not sure if this is the same problem you have. I generally make it a habit to not install the utilities but I wanted to play with them.

[NaperRick]

I did install ET6. I wonder if that is the problem?

I wonder if I can just uninstall it and the problem with go away? Sounds like it is hard to uninstall.

Thanks,

Rick

[wazza300]

easytune should stop the cpu fan from spinning,it never did it on my x58 board,

if you want to update the bios then put the bios rom onto a usb stick formatted in fat32 and use qflash in the bios,make a note or take screenshots of your bios pages/settings,save them to the usb stick first by pressing f12 as updating bios will reset it to default settings

id try that first,its not a good idea to have the cpu fan stopping,even if temps seem to be ok,it shouldnt be stopping at all,speed up and down yes but not stop completely

is it the stock intel fan? have you inspected it to see if it spins freely and not snagging? if aftermarket fan try with another or makesure it spins free ect

[Kanon]

I did install ET6. I wonder if that is the problem?

I wonder if I can just uninstall it and the problem with go away? Sounds like it is hard to uninstall.

Thanks,

Rick

Like I said, if you click on the left hand end of the slope (might be click and hold, I remember it was fussy) in the graph you can drag it up to change the slope of the graph. I would try that first and see if you can get it working.

@wazza300

It might be an issue with ivy bridge. But I did have it exibit the same behavior. Probably wouldn't have noticed if the case side was on.

[Conners]

1st off the bios will not control a 3 pin fan. period. It only controls PWM fans. I venture to say if your fan actually stops theres a problem with the fan itself. Or ty a diffrent fan header and see if that helps. Never use a splitter on a MB header. Just my 2 cents worth of crap.