In that case, you would notice that the wheel is spinning a bit faster, and in almost the same way is how the Pulse Width Modulation works. You can also speed up the interval when you are pushing the wheel let’s say you nudge it every 3 seconds. You can push the wheel every 5 seconds with the same amount of force, and you will keep the wheel spinning. Imagine it the same way as if you were to turn the wheel with your hand. So, the motor is being fed impulses of power. To have a better understanding how this works, take a look at the chart bellow. The PWM system that is used for controlling fans and pumps works with the motor, either getting +12V (full power) or 0V (no power). In short, PWM operates like a switch which constantly cycles on and off, thereby regulating the amount of power the fan or pump motor gains. Some of you probably already know the principle on which pulse width modulation (PWM) works, but nevertheless, we will explain how it actually controls the speed of a fan or a pump. If you’ve followed our recent blog article on MOSFETs and VRMs, you know what we are talking about. Interesting for us enthusiasts is the application of PWM in voltage regulation. It has a broad range of application, like in the field of telecommunications, audio equipment, servo motors, etc. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) or modulation with the width of an impulse, is a widespread term in the world of electrical engineering. The third type of fans that use four wires are PWM fans and that is what will be discussed in this article, along with PWM pumps. A signal is sent via this third wire with a certain frequency that is proportional to the fan speed, expressed in RPM (revolutions per minute). The second type has three wires two for powering the fan and one that carries the so-called “Tach” or tachometric signal (in English: the wire that gives a readout of the current fan speed). Fans with only two wires have only plus and minus (ground) connections and that’s it. Therefore, we will explain what PWM actually is, how it controls the speed of fans and pumps, and we will also show you an example of a PWM profile in one of the software provided by the motherboard manufacturers.īy the number of wires – pins that a fan has – we can distinguish three main types of connections. And worse, there are serious companies out there that make advanced and well-designed fans with old-fashioned 3-pin connectors. However, even today, many years after the introduction of PWM in 2003, there are users that are still not familiar with its advantages. High-end motherboards offer 4-6 or even more of these 4-pin fan/pump connectors, and the PWM system is a very effective and smart way to control the fans. Every mainstream motherboard that leaves the factory today is equipped with at least one 4-pin PWM header. It was followed by the use of ordinary resistors to slow the fans down, fans equipped with thermal resistors, various potentiometers for a wide range manual speed control, etc.īut nowadays, if you want to control the speed of your fans and pumps, PWM control is the way to go. If you are to stumble upon an abbreviation that you don’t understand, take a peek at our “ Liquid cooling glossary” page and you just might find the correct answer!Ĥ-pin PWM header can automatically control the speed of your fans and pumps.Įarly homemade fan controllers used a simple “volt mod” by choosing 5, 7 or 12V from a classic molex connector. TDP stands for “Thermal Design Power” and it is the maximum amount of heat generated by the processor. From that time and up until now, the computer power consumption and thermal dissipation have grown exponentially, as well as their performance.įrom the very first Pentium processors that were declared at 7W TDP, and all the way down to the modern day AMD FX 9590 processor that is rated at 220W, the cooling also had its own evolutionary path. The early x86 computers did not have active cooling because not much heat was generated, right until the introduction of the first 486 models. The option of controlling the fan speed and the satisfaction of silent computing were not always present when it comes to personal computers. Customer Support Knowledge database, support tickets.Events EK’s virtual events in one place.Gaming PCs High-end, cost-effective, plug and play PCs for high performance.All-In-One Affordable, easy to install, maintenance-free liquid cooler with class-leading performance.Kits High-performance custom loop liquid cooling kit.Custom Loop Premium segment liquid cooling products for DIY PC enthusiasts.
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