[SOLVED] CPU AIO Cooler without aio pump / cpu opt header?

[matthewraagas87]

Hi everyone,
I am thinking of switching out my stock AMD Wraith Stealth cooler for a 'Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 240 RGB Liquid CPU Cooler'. When looking on my motherboard, the only headers that I have are one CPU fan header and three system fan headers. I was reading some other forums and some people have plugged in the pump header to the CPU fan header and the radiator fans on a system fan header? Is this possible and would this work? Can I please have an explanation on how this works since I don't have the correct headers on the motherboard.
PC Specs
Ryzen 5 3600 OC (4.2 Ghz 1.2V)
16 GB 3000 mhz
240 GB SSD + 1TB HDD
600 W PSU
MSI Gaming X GTX 1660 Super

 

[Mr.Spock]

it'll work, but typically you connect the radiator fans to the CPU fan header to take advantage of PWM and the pump to the SYS HDR as they're typically 3-pin. you want the pump to operate pretty much all the time and adjust the fans as needed

 

[vMax]

Yes that will work fine. Pump header to CPU Fan header and the rest to SYS Fan. What is the make and model of your motherboard?

Most modern B450 etc motherboards have 4 pin PWM fan headers including the SYS Fan Headers and this should work fine. Even with 3 pin fan headers you can manage fan speed via DC through the motherboard.

 

[matthewraagas87]

Yes that will work fine. Pump header to CPU Fan header and the rest to SYS Fan. What is the make and model of your motherboard?

Most modern B450 etc motherboards have 4 pin PWM fan headers including the SYS Fan Headers and this should work fine. Even with 3 pin fan headers you can manage fan speed via DC through the motherboard.

Hi vMax
I have an MSI B450M Mortar Max AM4 motherboard. There are 3, 4 pin SYS Fan headers and two or them are being occupied already

 

[matthewraagas87]

it'll work, but typically you connect the radiator fans to the CPU fan header to take advantage of PWM and the pump to the SYS HDR as they're typically 3-pin. you want the pump to operate pretty much all the time and adjust the fans as needed

Hi Mr.Spock
So I should connect the headers the other way around, where the pump is on a SYS Fan header and the radiator fans to the CPU fan header. Since the pump is going to be connected to a fan header, can the pump be controlled or would it be running at full time?

 

[Mr.Spock]

The pump can still be controlled by DC if you use a 3-pin header - (if the pump has a 4-pin connector, the 4-pin SYS HDR can also be configured for PWM or DC - many pumps only have a 3-pin ), you probably don't want to vary the speed too much you want consistent heat transfer to the radiator. you can connect one of the radiator fans to the 4-pin CPU connector so you have heat dissipation/noise control much like an Air-cooler (fan runs faster/noiser when the CPU reads hotter). The SYS HDR would still allow you to vary the speed as well - just that the fan curve is based off ambient temps - so probably varies less) which is still fine for the pump / 2nd radiator fan.

Hi Mr.Spock
So I should connect the headers the other way around, where the pump is on a SYS Fan header and the radiator fans to the CPU fan header. Since the pump is going to be connected to a fan header, can the pump be controlled or would it be running at full time?

 

[matthewraagas87]

Hi all just an update, so I connect the pump header to a system fan header and the radiator fans to the cpu fan header?

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes. And in bios make sure both headers are set pwm. A 3pin connector cannot be controlled by pwm, there's no pwm signal wire, and pwm uses a constant 12v, which is perfect for the pump. If the sys_fan header is left on auto, the motherboard will think its a fan and try and moderate speeds by changing voltages. Which isn't good for the pump.

 

[matthewraagas87]

Yes. And in bios make sure both headers are set pwm. A 3pin connector cannot be controlled by pwm, there's no pwm signal wire, and pwm uses a constant 12v, which is perfect for the pump. If the sys_fan header is left on auto, the motherboard will think its a fan and try and moderate speeds by changing voltages. Which isn't good for the pump.

Thanks for the response, will do so