[SOLVED] Connect additional fans

[daalsat]

So I have one fan in my case (apart from CPU and GPU fan ofc) which is connected to a 3pin connector on my motherboard (the only one, it seems).

Buying a new case would mean having extra fans.
Now I did some research and I seem to be able to connect additional fans to the PSU for power, and have the board control the voltage.
How exactly do I do that?

I came across this: https://www.conrad.com/p/pc-fan-y-cable-5x-pc-fan-plug-4-pin-1x-pc-fan-socket-4-pin-ide-p-986176
Is that kinda what I want? Problem with that seems to be its 4pin since I only have 3pin on the board.

 

[Barty1884]

Which motherboard do you have? Anything >mITX should have a couple of headers.

3 pin fans are not going to have full control regardless - and if you run splitters, the best you'll ever see if the same instructions for both (ie 50% speed = 50% speed for both).
With 3 pin, you may be able to control based on voltage, rather than PWM.

For splitters, I've never seen a 5x1 splitter like that - it does have additional power via molex, so should be fine...I would think, but I've no first hand experience.

A 4 pin connector will work on a 3pin header, just without the PWM control.

Personally, I'd stick to a 2x1 splitter like this:
https://www.conrad.com/p/pc-fan-y-cable-2x-pc-fan-plug-3-pin-1x-pc-fan-socket-3-pin-972201

Buy PC fan Y cable [1x PC fan plug 3-pin - 1x PC fan socket 4-pin] 0.15 m Black Akasa | Conrad Electronic

Top %brandid% Selection | Order easily now: PC fan Y cable [1x PC fan plug 3-pin - 1x PC fan socket 4-pin] 0.15 m Black Akasa | Fast delivery | Reasonable prices

www.conrad.com

 

[daalsat]

Which motherboard do you have? Anything >mITX should have a couple of headers.

3 pin fans are not going to have full control regardless - and if you run splitters, the best you'll ever see if the same instructions for both (ie 50% speed = 50% speed for both).
With 3 pin, you may be able to control based on voltage, rather than PWM.

For splitters, I've never seen a 5x1 splitter like that - it does have additional power via molex, so should be fine...I would think, but I've no first hand experience.

A 4 pin connector will work on a 3pin header, just without the PWM control.

Personally, I'd stick to a 2x1 splitter like this:
https://www.conrad.com/p/pc-fan-y-cable-2x-pc-fan-plug-3-pin-1x-pc-fan-socket-3-pin-972201

Buy PC fan Y cable [1x PC fan plug 3-pin - 1x PC fan socket 4-pin] 0.15 m Black Akasa | Conrad Electronic

Top %brandid% Selection | Order easily now: PC fan Y cable [1x PC fan plug 3-pin - 1x PC fan socket 4-pin] 0.15 m Black Akasa | Fast delivery | Reasonable prices

www.conrad.com

I didn't see more headers. I'm using an old prebuilt system, XPS 8700 with an i7 4770. I don't know what exactly that motherboard is, it is micro ATX.
Thus, I don't know either if the single header would be able to deliver enough voltage for multiple fans. As four 120mm fans are what I'm looking four, I guess that surely won't be the case. Also, I guess I can't use 3 of these splitters to actually get 4 fans running, right?
The splitter I found would come in handy, as the fans would no longer require power from the board, thus the header voltage problem would be solved.

 

[Barty1884]

You should be able to drive 2x fans from each header - I wouldn't go any more than that.

Typically a header is rated for 1A, but individual fans needing <0.3A each. Some fans can be higher though, and 2x would be my suggested limit - especially on an OEM board.

 

[scout_03]

see this will do the job https://www.conrad.com/p/pc-fan-controller-525-no-of-channels-6-akasa-791451

 

[daalsat]

see this will do the job https://www.conrad.com/p/pc-fan-controller-525-no-of-channels-6-akasa-791451

Yeah I also found things like that. But manual control isn't what I was looking for.

 

[daalsat]

You should be able to drive 2x fans from each header - I wouldn't go any more than that.

Typically a header is rated for 1A, but individual fans needing <0.3A each. Some fans can be higher though, and 2x would be my suggested limit - especially on an OEM board.

Alright, I'll stay with max 2 for now. Do you think two fans will be enough for an NZXT H500? That is the case I was looking to buy, with an RTX 2060.

 

[scout_03]

there is another option that might work https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cpu_fan_controller-_-9SIABU98UT9485-_-Product

 

[daalsat]

there is another option that might work https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIABU98UT9485&Description=cpu fan controller&cm_re=cpu_fan_controller--9SIABU98UT9485--Product

The link doesn't work for me.

 

[scout_03]

the name of it (
Chassis Fan Hub CPU Cooling HUB 10 Port 12V 4 Pin Fan PWM Fan Hub Molex Controller 4 PIN ports

 

[daalsat]

the name of it (
Chassis Fan Hub CPU Cooling HUB 10 Port 12V 4 Pin Fan PWM Fan Hub Molex Controller 4 PIN ports


























Chassis Fan Hub CPU Cooling HUB 10 Port 12V 4 Pin Fan PWM Fan Hub Molex Controller 4 PIN ports under cpu fan controller

Yeah I've seen such fan hubs. Heard a lot of criticism about them (some would make the fans run full load uncontrollably). And in fact, it would not be entirely different to what Barty suggested; I'd have up to ten fan slots when the header can power at most two, so I could just as well use a Y splitter.