We get it; you may have recently bought yourself a laptop so that you can benefit from the sleek and elegant design it has. Those huge and bulky desktop PCs are not trendy anymore, regardless of how much some people claim that they do a better job when it comes to gaming. But guess what? Not everybody likes to play video games.
Although you may now have a laptop instead of a desktop PC, the ‘CPU Fan Error’ message can still occur. Such an error indicates that the ASUS motherboard doesn’t recognize a functioning CPU fan that’s connected to the designated CPU fan header. However, you must keep in mind that the error is part of the built-in hardware monitoring and fan control system of the motherboard itself.
Why does the CPU Fan error occur for ASUS motherboards?
Before diving into the fixes, we must understand why the error occurs in the first place. It’s like driving a car: it’s much better to learn how an automobile works before learning the proper way to control it.
There are a few possible reasons behind the CPU Fan error occurring for ASUS motherboards:
- No CPU Fan connected: Guess what’s the most common reason for the CPU Fan error? If you’ve been thinking of betting on no CPU Fan connected to the CPU fan header, well, you’re right! The header will usually be labeled as “CPU_FAN” or in a somewhat similar way.
- Fan speed below the threshold: If the fan is running slow, the error may occur. You need to keep in mind that some motherboards have a minimum fan speed requirement.
- Wrong header: Users will sometimes mistakingly connect the CPU fan to the wrong header. Therefore, you need to make sure it’s connected to the designated CPU fan header.
- BIOS Settings: You sometimes need to adjust the BIOS settings of your PC to get things working as they should. Therefore, you need to check if there are settings related to CPU fan monitoring or control and assure yourself that they are configured in the right way.
- Faulty or Disconnected Fan: The motherboard may not detect the fan if the latter is not working or is not spinning in the correct way.
- Faulty Motherboard or CPU Fan Header: An issue with your motherboard or the CPU fan header itself might represent the problem if all the others mentioned above don’t have quality.
How to fix the CPU Fan error
Follow these steps, one at a time, in order to get rid of the CPU Fan error:
- Check the CPU fan header to see if there’s a properly connected and functioning fan.
- Check if the fan is plugged correctly into the correct header.
- See if the BIOS settings are okay to make sure that the CPU fan monitoring and control settings are configured in the correct way.
- Connect a spare fan to the CPU fan header in case you have one. In this way, you will see if the error persists.
If none of the steps mentioned here has solved your problem, it means you have to contact the ASUS support team for more assistance. You might be forced to replace the motherboard or the CPU Fan itself. The support team has all the interest to help you, so don’t hesitate to reach those guys!
Tim M. Hill helped bring Digital-Overload from a weekly newsletter to a full-fledged news site by creating a new website and branding. He continues to assist in keeping the site responsive and well organized for the readers. As a writer to Digital-Overload, Tim mainly covers mobile news and gadgets.