Jan 31, 2020
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Good morning,I'm thinking of buy this HUB Fan controller from DeepCool( DP-FH04PWM-HUB ) to use something like 8 cooler fan. The MOBO that I want to buy is a B450M gaming from gigabyte and the fans that I'll buy are the Cooler Master MF 120L. The mobo just have support for two chassis fan, and my fans MF120L are a 3 pin connector. So, I want to know if I use the Hub fan controller from DeepCool I'll be able to control the speed varying according the temperature of my system for the 8 fans that I want to install. So, my idea is to put one Hub fan controller that support 4 fans in each chassis_fan to do 2*4. Is that allright or should I change something to be able to controll the speed? I don't want to hear the loud noise at full speed.
Thank you, guys.
 
Solution
No, you have misunderstood the way these fans work. But there is a solution.

A THREE-pin fan has its speed controlled by varying the VOLTAGE supplied to it on Pin #2 of the mobo fan header. Many mobo fan headers have an option to do their fan control using this method, even if they have 4 pins on the header.

The method of speed control for a FOUR-pin fan is different. It always receives the full 12 VDC power supply from mobo header Pin #2, and then it also receives the new PWM signal from Pin #4. Inside the fan itself there's a small chip that uses the PWM signal to modify the power from Pin #2 that flows to the motor windings, thus changing its speed. Almost all mobo headers that have 4 pins CAN do this method, and many offer the...
Jan 31, 2020
4
0
10
Then you have to buy other brand fan hub, because DeepCool does state in the manual: PWM function is not available when 3-pin port is applied. That means the fans will run at full speed.
http://www.deepcool.com/product/dcoolingaccessory/2018-10/12_9882.shtml
Thanks for your reply. I did some research and I found that PWM function is one mode to control speed for 4-pin port, but, I can use voltage to control the speed when using 3-pin, aka Voltage Control Mode or DC Mode .
Found it in this forum
https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...etween-3-pin-fans-and-4-pin-pwm-fans.3209936/
So I'll take a shot with this cheap fan controller and cheap fans, cause 4pin fans are very expensive, like 70% more than 3 pin. Thanks.
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
No, you have misunderstood the way these fans work. But there is a solution.

A THREE-pin fan has its speed controlled by varying the VOLTAGE supplied to it on Pin #2 of the mobo fan header. Many mobo fan headers have an option to do their fan control using this method, even if they have 4 pins on the header.

The method of speed control for a FOUR-pin fan is different. It always receives the full 12 VDC power supply from mobo header Pin #2, and then it also receives the new PWM signal from Pin #4. Inside the fan itself there's a small chip that uses the PWM signal to modify the power from Pin #2 that flows to the motor windings, thus changing its speed. Almost all mobo headers that have 4 pins CAN do this method, and many offer the older Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode) as an option.

To connect more than one fan to a header there are two possibilities. A simple SPLITTER connects all of its fans to the header only, so all of the fans must get their power from that header. A header normally is limited to a max of 1.0 A load for all its fans.

The other possibility is a HUB, a different device that gets power for all its fans directly from the PSU via a connection to a PSU output. That gets the 12 VDC supply needed without drawing any power from the header, so the header amp limit is not an issue. HOWEVER, virtually all HUBS can only distribute the PWM signal from the mobo header to all their fans, so the fans MUST be of the new 4-pin type to use that signal for speed control. A HUB can NOT control the speed of 3-pin fans.

You also misunderstood the mobo headers you have. That mobo has two fan headers - see your mobo manual on p. 5 - but they are for DIFFERENT uses. One marked CPU_FAN is specifically for cooling the CPU chip, and it is guided by a temperature sensor inside that chip. The other, marked SYS_FAN1, is for CASE ventilation fans, and is guided by a different temperature sensor built into the mobo. So you really have only ONE fan header for your case fans, and you would like to connect eight Cooler Master ML120L fans to that. Those fans have a power requirement of 0.16 A each, so eight on one header using SPLITTERS is not an option.

You CAN do this by using a particular HUB that gets power from the PSU. Buy the Phanteks PWM Hub. It is unique because it does not merely distribute the PWM signal from the mobo header to its fans. Instead it uses that PWM signal to create its own group of six THREE-Pin fan ports that are perfectly suited to your 3-pin fans. But you have 8 fans, you say! Well, this Hub also comes with two small splitters that each can convert one fan port into two. So you CAN plug in all 8 of your 3-pin fans to this one Phanteks PWM Hub, and connect it to the only SYS_FAN1 header you have. Then it all will work.

Just note that, with this as with any other Hub, when you use it you will see via your mobo the speed of only ONE of the case fans. That's a limit of the mobo fan header itself, and you will not be able to "see" the speed of the other seven case fans.
 
Solution