[SOLVED] Connect additional fans

daalsat

Prominent
Feb 20, 2018
21
0
510
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.
 
Solution
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...

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
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
 
Solution

daalsat

Prominent
Feb 20, 2018
21
0
510
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

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

Retired Moderator
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.
 

daalsat

Prominent
Feb 20, 2018
21
0
510
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.
 

daalsat

Prominent
Feb 20, 2018
21
0
510
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.