Can I remove a normal fan and connect a PWM fan?

[smalltech]

This is my front fan connection that is the default stock fan that came with my CM 690 II Advanced casing

This is the new PWM fan I bought

Q1) Can I remove the old fan and connect the new PWM fan in this way?

Q2) How to connect a PWM fan to act as a normal fan?

 

[smalltech]

"Do NOT connect the other (female) connector of the new fan's cord to anything!" > You mean this female (3 holes) connector (yellow wire) of the new fan correct?:

 

[smalltech]

Why does my old fan (it is the default fan that come with CM 690 II Advanced casing) needs to connect 2 connector heads male and female? It needs 2 heads connected to work? (the 2 heads are either connected by the casing makers, or the technician that built my PC)

 

[smalltech]

If the new fan is a normal fan with female connector (3 holes), how am I going to connect it with the female connector (3 holes) as seen in the pic right side of my casing? Is there an adapter?

What is the female connector (3 holes) as seen in the pic right side of my casing usually used for? It seems like my whole casing there is only one female connector, I thought casing and mobo all should be male connectors for fans to connect, since fans come with female connectors.

 

[Paperdoc]

I was a little wrong when I said that your case appears to be built to use a "standard" case ventilation fan. My error there was failing to recognized the backwards gender of the connectors. It appears your case was built with a female power output connector and a fan with a male input connector to match. They used "standard" 3-pin fan connectors (but in reversed gender) with only two pins actually used for Ground and +12 VDC.

Your last post asks how to connect female to female connectors. My point in the Aug 14 post was that your new PWM (4-pin) fan, fortunately, solves the problem. It has BOTH male and female connectors on its cable, so you CAN plug that fan's male connector into the case's female power output. Just do not plug the loose 4-pin female connector into anything.

One of your photos has a note that you think the connector shown is for LED lights. I'm guessing your old fan has some LED lights in its chassis. Or, are the LED's part of the main case itself? Either way, maybe that is why your old fan seemed to "need" two power supply plugs.

 

[smalltech]

I found out why are there 2 cables on my old fan now. the old fan is a led fan. the fan cable i see on the front (3pin female) is for power. the fan cable (2pin male) that i see on the right side of my casing is connected to the cable that is coming from casing top that has a button to on/off the led light of the fan.

New normal fan would just need to connect to the power cable (3 pin male) to work.

 

[madmatt30]

^ this is good to know for future reference BUT you would still IMO be better just plugging the new fan straight into the cha fan 2 connector as I suggested earlier with a single cable & tucking all the extra cables out if the way mate.

Its easier,simpler & tidier in every respect.

You can even try that with the new fan loose out of the case & the old fan still left where it is to see if it does run full rpm before you fit it properly.

Then download hwinfo64 ,run it in sensor mode & the ac fan should show as a chassis fan connected with its rpm readout showing onscreen.

 

[Paperdoc]

OK, so the information has changed!

Now it appears the red 2-pin female connector is actually from the LED light switch, and it provides power to the LEDs. That's why the gender of the connectors seems "backwards" - it is NOT the fan's supply. What DOES supply power to your fan is an adapter (not really a splitter) that connects to a PSU's 4-pin Molex power output and provides two outputs: one is a "replacement" female 4-pin Molex output so you don't "lose" that power source, and the other is a "standard" 3-pin male fan connector that uses only 2 pins and provides power (through a normal-gender connector) to your fan. This is a common adapter that gives the fan a constant 12 VDC supply so the fan always runs at full speed.

Now, with those changes in info, the picture you posted of how you have connected the new PWM fan is wrong! That photo shows the new fan connected to the red female connector that is supposed to be the switched supply for the LEDs! Instead, the new fan's FEMALE connector needs to be plugged into the adapter from the Molex connector. Then its extra male output connector should be taped up so its pins do not contact anything.

Now, as madmatt30 suggests, you could, alternatively, plug your new PWM fan into a mobo fan port and discard the Molex adapter. That makes the mobo's port the fan's supply. BUT your original purpose was to increase cooling of the HDD, meaning that you want the fan to run full speed all the time, anyway. Connecting it to the Molex supply does that. IF instead you connect it to a mobo CHA_FAN port, then you will need to go into BIOS Setup for that port's configuration and change its setting. The default setting is to control the fan's speed according to the temperature of a mobo sensor. You would want to set it, instead, to running full speed all the time. Your choice which way to connect and set.

 

[smalltech]

The new fan female connector is 4 holes. The casing PSU's 4-pin Molex power output is 3 pin male fan connector. The 4 hole female connector is too big to fit inside the 3 pin male (the 3 pins have a "4 sided plastic walls"), is there a converter/adapter to change to 4 pin?

I think connecting the front fan to the PSU's 4-pin Molex power output near the front is neater/nearer than connecting to the motherboard which is further back.

 

[madmatt30]

You can plug a 4 pin fan connector into a 3 pin motherboard socket - a pin overhangs - this is the pwm control pin.

Your default fan settings in bios will be pwm - that fan will only be controllable by vtage - I'm 99% certain that it will run full speed connected to 3 pin motherboard socket unless you specifically set it in BIOS not to.

I posted this same advice absolutely ages ago!

The while thread is unnecessarily complicated - its making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

[smalltech]

madmatt30, I do understand what you are talking about. I have mentioned my reason of not connecting to the motherboard in my reply: "I think connecting the front fan to the PSU's 4-pin Molex power output near the front is neater/nearer than connecting to the motherboard which is further back."

I am going to install a bottom fan and use that 3 pin motherboard, so I will not use that motherboard fan connector.

 

[Paperdoc]

Make a small modification to the white output connector of the Molex adapter. As you say, it is designed like a 3-pin fan male connector, but has "walls" on all sides that prevent use with the wider 4-pin female connector of the new fan. So, take a knife and carefully cut off one of those interfering end walls - specifically, the one at the end where Pin #3 is missing. If that is not enough, cut off the other end, or even the third "wall". Note that one side has slots, it seems. That is because the tongue between those slots is supposed to be there to fit into the groove on the female connector's side. You only need to cut down a short distance to where the flat "base" is with the holes that pins poke up through. Those walls are not needed for normal uses. They are there mainly for when this connector is NOT in use, and the walls prevent bare pins from contacting other things they shouldn't.