Does the Aspire TC-886 motherboard have PWM for CPU fan?

chumbo
chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
Hi,
I'm looking to replace the stock Intel CPU fan that comes with the Aspire TC-886 with a more silent and efficient one. Among the options available are fans with PWM but the motherboard needs to have that feature onboard to be able take advantage of that feature.
Does anybody know if this motherboard has a PWM header?
Thanks!

Best Answer

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,873 Trailblazer
    edited July 2022 Answer ✓
    >>>In the BIOS, if it does say 'Smart Fan' (and I suspect it does), i>>>

    Check the BIOS Advanced tab by tapping Del key on startup.  Smart fan should be enabled to use a PWM fan. I use the word should as opposed to will because I can't guarantee 100% certainty that it'll work. Nothing is 100% certain. But in this case I'll guess it's better  than 50%. How's that sound?  :)


    Jack E/NJ

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Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,873 Trailblazer
    It should by enabling SmartFan in the BIOS Advanced tab which activates PWM outputs.





    Jack E/NJ

  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    Jack, you said "it should..." so you're not certain of this?
    Reason why I ask is that I found another thread regarding the Aspire TC-885 and users having problems with PWM enabled fans so I don't want to run the risk going through all the trouble and losing the money on a useless cooler!  :(
  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Have you cleaned the complete unit, especially the fan ?

  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    edited July 2022
    Don't forget to clean the power supply fan and vents.
    Lots of Youtubes re cleaning Acer Fans..
  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    No need, it's clean as a whistle
  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    PWM Fans are four wire so look at your plug since you have it open. Also look at the bios as Jacke posted. 

    https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/blog/2020-pwm-vs-dc-fans-fan-speed-control-strategies-for-cpu-cooling-and-case-ventilation
  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    Larryodie said:
    PWM Fans are four wire so look at your plug since you have it open. Also look at the bios as Jacke posted. 

    https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/blog/2020-pwm-vs-dc-fans-fan-speed-control-strategies-for-cpu-cooling-and-case-ventilation
    I'm not sure I understand or you misunderstood my problem? As I said, I currently have the stock Intel fan that came with the PC so it's a 3 wire but...how does that enlighten me in anyway?
    I assume that if a motherboard is PWM compatible, it is also compatible with regular 3-wired DC fans so in essence, it does tell me anything about it being PWM compatible or not?
  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    I understand that your fan connector is only 3 Pins ? So you can't use a PWM fan. Google the PART# on the old fan for exact ID. 
    A note that if you can get a drop of light oil on the fan bearing then it will fix your old fan. NOTE put just a small drop in the fan bearing lying on a paper towel away from the computer. 
    Here is a Billsey answer that may help. 
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/606338/does-my-acer-aspire-tc-885-accfli5-have-pwm-fan-control
  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    Oops! Sorry, my mistake...I had previously just looked through the grill of the case to look at the wires coming from the fan and I thought I saw 3 when in fact I now see there are 4.
    Still, this is no guarantee it is PWM compatible at the motherboard end. Especially in light of this other thread which discusses aftermarket PWM case fans not working on a TC-885 while they are connected to the 4-pin case fan header of the motherboard.
    So the mystery remains for now unfortunately... :(
  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    edited July 2022
    You need to get the part number off of the old one and google that part # but a cleaning may help as how do you know "it's clean as a whistle " 
    They are not very expensive but ordering by the part # is never wrong. Granted that you maybe get a bummer but read the seller's reviews.
    Have you looked at your bios as JackE suggested ?

  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    edited July 2022
    What help is it to know the part number of the current fan since I want to replace it with a better and more silent one. I definitely don't want the same one.
    I should mention that the fan is very quiet, almost inaudible when the CPU is idle and I'm just browsing the internet, watching a video, etc...
    But as soon as I do more intense work, then the fan speed ramps up and gets annoying so I don't think there is anything abnormal or wrong with the fan, therefore cleaning it won't really help. It's just a cheap stock fan for which no effort was made in making it silent...at least when under load.

    In the BIOS, if it does say 'Smart Fan' (and I suspect it does), it certainly doesn't mean it's using PWM. You can get fan speed control through a DC fan as well, by lowering the fan voltage. So Acer Smart Fan could be just that and would certainly explain why many others couldn't get a PWM fan to work for the case fan.
  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Good Luck, that is what fans are suppose to do, get louder with heavier load. 
    Download SPECCY as it is real time on the CPU Fan Temps. 
    Have you looked at Bios and determined if the Smart Fan is enabled  as JackE ?
    Maybe you need to take it to a local shop or take a chance ? 
  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    edited July 2022
    "Good Luck, that is what fans are suppose to do, get louder with heavier load."
    No doubt, but aftermarket fans who's whole marketing is geared towards very efficient cooling and silent performance can perform much better than stock fans and yet stay almost inaudible, even under load.

    Speccy...why would that help? I don't need to see the actual rotation speed, I just hear it and it bothers me.

    BIOS...as I already said, no I haven't but once I have, again, I'm not sure how that helps? Nobody has guaranteed that Smart Fan = PWM so...?

    Local shop...and do what once there?

    Take a chance...not yet, that's the whole point of this post. 

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,873 Trailblazer
    edited July 2022 Answer ✓
    >>>In the BIOS, if it does say 'Smart Fan' (and I suspect it does), i>>>

    Check the BIOS Advanced tab by tapping Del key on startup.  Smart fan should be enabled to use a PWM fan. I use the word should as opposed to will because I can't guarantee 100% certainty that it'll work. Nothing is 100% certain. But in this case I'll guess it's better  than 50%. How's that sound?  :)


    Jack E/NJ

  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @chumbo

    When we respond to other members, we cannot say 100% sure because we normally don't have 100% same kind of hardware as the member who posted the question to compare.

    Generally speaking, Acer desktops of the TC-886 era should have PWM CPU connector with fan speed self adjusting to CPU temperatures. However, the case fan header may not be true PWM type, some people (including me) have chassis fan speed issues, using some Nacuta fans in particular.
  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    edited July 2022
    JackE said:
    >>>In the BIOS, if it does say 'Smart Fan' (and I suspect it does), i>>>

    Check the BIOS Advanced tab by tapping Del key on startup.  Smart fan should be enabled to use a PWM fan. I use the word should as opposed to will because I can't guarantee 100% certainty that it'll work. Nothing is 100% certain. But in this case I'll guess it's better  than 50%. How's that sound?  :)


    Thx JackE! That screenshot you posted (where did it come from?) seems to me makes it more like a 99,9% certainty that it is PWM compatible...I imagine it  comes from some official Acer source so...I'm good to go!  :)

    I'll just assume that whatever issues the TC-885 had with PWM fans have possibly been addressed in the TC-886. Also, those TC-885 problems were related to the case fan, which further makes it a slightly different problem than mine.

    I'm taking the plunge, I'll let you know how it goes... ;) 
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,873 Trailblazer
    If you check your own BIOS Advanced tab, and move down to highlight the SmartFan option, a brief description should be presented in the upper right hand box of the BIOS screen. It might even say 'this item enables or disables tthe smart fan speed by changing the PWM outputs". Or it might not. :)  Good luck.


    Jack E/NJ

  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,668 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Good Luck Chumbo. Let us know how it turns out. I'm sorry for my confusion. 
    Also if the fan was changing speed under load then the PWM was enabled and working.
  • chumbo
    chumbo Member Posts: 34 Troubleshooter
    I just checked my BIOS and there is no mention of PWM so...back to square one and full of uncertainties again!  :(
    I mean, Smart Fan definitely does something, no doubt about it because I disabled it just to see and my god...it jumped from 700 rpm to...4700 rpm and that's ***** LOUD!
    But that doesn't tell me if it will be compatible with an aftermarket PWM fan. If not, I might then experience the same problems as with the TC-885 users on the forum.
    Ugh...I'd ask Acer directly but they fooled me once before with ill-advised recommendations for RAM replacement which had me having to resell the RAM I had bought following Acer's support specs.


  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,873 Trailblazer
    What BIOS version number do you have?

    Jack E/NJ