Area 51 R1 (non-ALX) update experiences

additional experience: my liquid pump rad fan ran at 2100 rpm and was noisy.  there was no option to control it in AWCC thermal control which only shows system fan rpm (= rad fan rpm), and user can only sort of manual control PCI fan and hdd fan 1 (but both are not noisy any way).

I guess this is due to the XPS 9100 bios incompatible with AWCC control setting.  I got stuck.

tried HWinfo.  not helpful.

then I tried fancontrol.exe.  This one works although takes 30-45 sec after click to see the application open.  after I switch to manual control fan#1 to 0%, rad fan noise immediately dies down.  even then system fan still shows 700 rpm, which is quiet.  cpu temp stays at 31C.  so this is a fan control patch for now as AWCC gives no option to dial down rad fan.

the rad fan plugs into "SYS FAN2" header on top power board, which feeds into MIO, MIO relays the control by sending a three wire (pink,yellow,green) fan connector to connect to new mobo CPU fan 4 pin header.

if you unplug either one (rad fan or MIO three wire cable), you would get a CPU fan fail error at start up.  the rad fan shows up as system fan in AWCC.  AWCC does not show the liquid pump rpm, it only says "running".

The PCI fan directly plugs into MIO.

I do not know where hdd fan1 and hdd fan2 are.  cass probably knows.

In theory if there is a long 4 pin male to 4 pin female fan extension cable, one can bypass the MIO top power board contraption and directly plug it in new mobo 4 pin cpu header and use the new mobo bios to control cpu fan.  the stock Dell liquid pump rad fan has a super short cable which can not reach anywhere on a non-AW X58 board. 

Is there a more natural way to control cpu fan speed when installing a non-AW motherboard in R1 case and use the stock LGA1366 liquid cooler?  I also tried speedfan.  both Fancontrol and speedfan are third party tools.

I do not know where hdd fan1 and hdd fan2 are

Is there a more natural way to control cpu fan speed when installing a non-AW motherboard in R1 case and use the stock LGA1366 liquid cooler?  I tried speedfan. Both Fancontrol and speedfan are third party tools

Potential 3rd party fan software isn't something on my radar, & though you've mentioned two popular tools it may be that if neither work then the system board you chose only runs off of fan tables built-into the BIOS & short of say RWEverything & writing new custom tables ... since there are both desktops & laptops you can try a google search to get a feel for which fan software is (or isn't) working out for various Dell systems & try your luck. What have other 9100 users reported using or doing over the past 15yrs? 

In my experience, the classic R1 AIO setup when MIO CPUFAN connector is placed on motherboard CPUFAN header, & RADFAN is in the top left powerboard SYSFAN2 header, "normal" idle speed is about 800RPM

If yours is 2100RPM at idle at a decent 30C CPU temp
1) You know to pull the PSU cord out & press the top power button down for 30-60s to fully drain power from system, plug back in & power back up, which may help 
2) Launch AWCC.exe & try a repair install then reboot, see if that helps simmer the fan down (can't hurt to try)
3) If no joy, as you said, consider a 4pin FAN extension & plug RADFAN direct into motherboard CPUFAN header to know the true fan speed signal the motherboard outputs; it'll stay at 2100 (and if CPU temp is ok at the time then 2100 is the new normal) or it'll simmer down to something reasonable & afterwards you either keep that setup because it works better or if it stays at 2100 then ask other 9100 board owners about their experience & potential fixes along the way? 

Since RADFAN cable is short & may not reach motherboard FAN headers directly
1) RADFAN has four mounting positions on the radiator, where a reposition might buy a little more fan cable length as possible
2) MOVE radiator over into center of cooling caddy for closer access to fan headers (&/or reposition rad-fan)

Try the advice above to see what the deal is w/ the 2100rpm rad-fan speed, since it sounds double what it otherwise should be when ran through the MIO & top left powerboard board, report back

As you said, many users will opt for more modern aftermarket boards & will be relieved to hear there's certainly CPU Temp vs Fan Speed Control in their UEFI BIOS just a mouse click away & likely all will also have a software app included for auto or manual control over all the fan headers, where 3rd party tools aren't needed, & life goes on w/out much if any hardware drama

Red, invest $40 on the R1 XDJ4C motherboard ($80 = 2nd spare) before they sell out

As for CmndCntr install? People browing this post can download the .txt file I've attached, open their Windows Registry Editor & follow the pic, since finding the BIOS section then importing that file into RegEditor only takes like 60s, install of CmndCntr version 2.8.11 can proceed immediately, & a re-install will rarely happen again. If so, rinse & repeat

Come on Red, I'll show u how it's done: price just majikally dropped to $34 shipped, that's $14 to get it here & $20 board, now three left & I don't even need one but at THAT price here she comes, buy one up or buy two to be safe, today they're givin 'em away

Oh well, moments later seller now wants 50 each, make contact & negotiate a better price? 

yeah I saw the good price last night and now it goes up a bit.  fluctuating market as seller sees interest go up.  I have a few XPS 730X with motherboard that I can put in R1 case and force flash AW  A10 or A11 bios on the XPS board. But I have preference to put non-Dell X58 board in it.  I have two ASUS x58, one of which I know can adjust cpu fan to quiet mode in bios.   

update: I removed XPS 9100 board and installed ASUS P6T Deluxe X58 board.  still using Dell stock AIO.  I set bios fan mode in Q control and silent.  at base line the cpu and sys fan both run at 1500-1650 rpm, quieter than the 2200 rpm before.  but not most quiet.  when I used FanControl to set all fans to 0, the cpu fan becomes 700 rpm, that is quiet.

use SMBCFG to edit DMI of ASUS board so it looks like Area 51 to Win 11 and AWCC.

I found out when installing AWCC in X58 ASUS board that had DMI changed to Alienware and Area 51, I do not need to unplug USB 3 cable prior to install.  this precaution was taken before b/c cass said b4 it could soft brick MIO if USB3 is connected when installing on non-AW board.  Well now the board to AWCC looks just like a real AW board.  I did not have soft brick of MIO.  But it was a bit scary when i took the risk.

for what it matters, what are the two hdd fans spec in R1 case.  I already unplugged PCI fan.  I may proceed to unplug the two hdd fans too.  seems they are not warranted.  I have only one hdd.  if I plan to use ssd, then the hdd fan is a complete waste.

M262M laptop-style blowerfan

The larger-wider Y730D / P787F can also fit, "but only one will fit". I have one but haven't installed it yet to verify

One surprising result of ASUS x58 in R1 case running Win 11 is that there is a much better case LED experience: no more on and off LED during Win 11 initial boot.  I have now blue LED turn on steady and steady fan speed when AWCC is launched shown as small icons of thermal control and AlienFx editor in right lower corner of Win 11.  No more spasm of fan loud then quiet experience that I had with stock Dell x58 motherboard running Win 11.  This seems to suggest the Dell bios is ill equipped to deal with Win 11 while ASUS P6T deluxe does a much better job.

MIO DP/N

ALX MIO

did a small incremental research on MIO 10 pinout using a custom cable I made for XPS 730X which has only 5 pin wired from sata.

It appears Pin 6 = 12V drives active vent

no LED on

CPU fan error: this makes me think pin 1 is 12V for liquid pump, pin2 is 12V for cpu fan.