Re: Argus Monitor 3 Crack 4l
Agathe Thies
Posted July 9, 2021
Many users test or use Argus Monitor because they are looking for the best fan control program. Is Argus Monitor the best fan control program? In our opinion, there is no 'best software' for this purpose. Other programs are cheaper (or even free), but either offer only limited functionality or are much more difficult to configure. We try to find a compromise to allow maximum flexibility in fan control with a user interface that is as intuitive as possible.
Even if we try to make everything in the program as self-explanatory as possible, this is not always possible in the context of tooltips and short texts. Therefore we provide this manual in order to describe Argus Monitor's fan control options in more detail if required.
With Argus Monitor you have the possibility to control the speed of the housing and CPU fans installed in your PC depending on various temperature sources. Furthermore, it is possible to control the graphic card fans depending on the graphic card temperature.
The control is only active as long as Argus Monitor is running. After exiting Argus Monitor, the values that were active when the program was started are restored (in general, this should be the control via the BIOS).
The 30-day trial version offers the full range of functions, i.e. there are no restrictions regarding supported hardware or temperature sources. If you want to use our program for fan control, we recommend to test it extensively within the test period, whether it meets your expectations.
The prerequisite for using the fan control is that your hardware is supported by Argus Monitor. This is the case for almost all mainboards and graphics cards, but individual channels may not be controllable. This is due either to the design of the mainboard by the mainboard manufacturer or to the monitoring chip used on the mainboard.
The graphics card fan can be controlled via the 'GPU' page. With the checkbox Set last setting at startup you can specify that the settings made should be automatically applied each time Argus Monitor is started.
To control the graphics card fan based on the GPU temperature, you must define a characteristic curve that determines which fan speed should be set for which temperature. To do this, select Software controlled as the controller and then configure the desired characteristic via the Curve button.
Before using fan control for the first time, you should adjust the temperature sources and fan channels to your hardware and your needs once. In this step you can name temperature sources and fan channels and define which sensors and fans appear in the user interface. This step cannot be performed automatically by Argus Monitor because neither the assignment of the temperature sensors nor that of the fan channels is standardized and depends on the motherboard used.
The picture shows the configuration dialog for selecting the temperature channels of one source (SuperIO monitoring chip, AIO liquid cooler, power supply, ...). Using the dropdown menu in the top left of this dialog you can select the source you want to configure. You reach this dialog in the settings in the category Mainboard / Temperatures by pressing the button Configuration.
Use the Show checkboxes to specify which of the channels Argus Monitor should use. You can use the text boxes to assign an individual name to each channel. The current measured value is displayed below the name to indicate to which of the channels a temperature sensor is connected. A selection of up to 14 channels is possible. Especially on mainboards with several independent temperature sources, individual temperature sensors are often connected to both sources and additionally to several temperature channels.
Analogous to the configuration of the temperature channels, the fan configuration can be adapted in this dialog. You reach this dialog in the settings in the category Mainboard / Fans by pressing the button Configuration.
Analogous to the situation with the temperatures, it is also valid with the fans that its values could be available both at both sources and parallel at several channels if necessary. The speed values under the name should change then in agreement, whereby however not necessarily the exact same speed value is measured. In such cases you should at least select the channel for which a control is possible (unfortunately this can only be found out by trying it out) if you need a control for this fan.
Every fan channel offers some advanced option you can configure. The details are described below. The advanced options can be configured b clicking the button shown in the image above. This button is only visible if fan control for this channes is either in Manual or Software mode.
Except for a few PWM-controlled fans, there is a 'forbidden' range for all fans in which they cannot be controlled safely. For security reasons Argus Monitor uses a default setting of 40%. With the option Minimum control value, from which the fan can be operated safely you can set the smallest permissible value, with which the fans can still be controlled safely. A control value of 0% is always possible regardless of this setting, in order to switch off the fans completely if required (some PWM-controlled fans, however, still prevent the complete switch-off of the fan internally).
Most fans allow to be brought to a complete standstill by appropriate control. However, as a rule, the minimum permissible value set with the option Minimum control value above which the fan can be safely operated for normal operation is not sufficient to restart the fan safely from standstill. For this reason Argus Monitor controls the fans for a short time with a higher value to ensure a safe start. The default value for this is two seconds and 60% to ensure a safe start in any case. With very fast reacting fans, however, this value can be too high and lead to an audible start with a short-term high speed. In these cases you can individually configure a different value for each fan channel. Two independent parameters can be set for this. With the option Minimum output value for safe starting from standstill. you define the value with which the fan is operated for starting from standstill and with the option Time duration for safe starting from standstill. you determine the time duration with which this happens.
To prevent sudden spikes in fan control output you can configure the maximum change of fan speed per second. The configuration can be done dependent on if the new control value is be smaller or bigger than the last one. The default values still allow pretty responsive fan control.
If you want to operate a channel temperature-independently at constant speed, select Manual mode as controller for the corresponding channel, set the desired control value with the slider and confirm with the button Apply.
To control a fan based on one or more temperature sources, first select Software controlled as the controller type for the fan channel. Then select the temperature source according to which the speed is to be determined. The following temperature sources are available:
All controllers are based on characteristic curves which determine the relationship between the temperature of the selected temperature source (see last section) and the control value for the associated fan duct. The characteristic curve itself is defined by moving the control points (either with the mouse or with the keyboard using TAB/Cursor keys). If the first control point is moved all the way down, the fan only becomes active at this temperature and remains completely switched off for all lower temperatures.
The minimum permissible PWM value can be specified in the Argus Monitor settings (see above). This defines the range in which the fan cannot be reliably operated. The controller then ensures that the fan is either switched off completely or is operated with at least the specified minimum PWM value. An additional hysteresis allows to ignore fluctuations of the temperature by a certain amount, in order not to cause an audible reaction of the fan with every small temperature fluctuation, especially with steep characteristic curves.
For special requirements, it is also possible to determine the speed of a fan duct using a combination of up to four individual controllers. To do this, first select Software controlled as the controller type and then Multiple controller from the list of temperature sources. With the button Configure the dialog for setting up the multiple controllers can be opened.
Up to four independently calculated controllers can be defined here - analogous to setting up a single controller. Each of these controllers can have its own temperature source and characteristic curve. All controllers marked in this dialog as activated run independently and each calculate its own manipulated variable. The maximum value is then used to control the associated fan.
Not all options of those controllers are available at the moment. What should be possible is the readout of liquid coolant temperature as well as pump/fan monitoring and pump/fan speed control. What is not available is RGB light control if the cooler has RGB lights. We might add RGB light control at a later date if we get enough feedback from Corsair users that this is a desired feature.
Controlling those devices only works if the system service 'CorsairService' and it's associated program iCUE is not running, otherwise Argus Monitor can't safely access the device. The same goes for the software NZXT CAM, which also must not be active in order for Argus Monitor to access the devices.
However, as long as the correct fan is installed (a fan with 3-pin or 4-pin connector) or the connected fan is set correctly in the BIOS, Argus Monitor can control both voltage-controlled and PWM-controlled fans and change their speed if a supported SuperIO chip is present.
Wiring A shows a wiring where the mainboard vendor decided against adjusting the fan speed for this fan header. The middle pin on the fan header, which is responsible for supplying the power to the fan, is wired straight to the 12 Volts power supply, so there is no way to control the fan speed via the Super-I/O chip. Only the RPM fan speed can be monitored. Obviously, neither Argus Monitor nor any other software can control such fans.
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