Does Non-pwm mean no speed control?

[Zane_1]

Sorry in advanced for sounding like a total noob.

Planning my second build with the Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard. I just found out that it only has two on-board fan inputs. One for cpu and one for system. Only one of the inputs is PWM. I was planning on getting two 3 pin system fans and getting one of those 2 x 3pin to 4pin connectors and plugging them into the system fan input (non-pwm).

my question is, will both of those fans be able to be variable speed or will they just run at full blast? My current system just has my fans run at full speed and its too loud for my taste.

Thanks in adavanced!

 

[CountMike]

3 pin fans and headers can only adjust voltage and so adjust fan speed.
If you look at PWM definition ( Pulse Width Modulation) everything should be clear.

 

[Zane_1]

3 pin fans and headers can only adjust voltage and so adjust fan speed.
If you look at PWM definition ( Pulse Width Modulation) everything should be clear.

Just to be clear, the motherboard can adjust voltage to the fans and thus regulate their speed regardless of being non-pwm?

 

[CountMike]

Yes, that's right, BIOS should have that option and in some cases you can do it thru SW, like Speedfan for instance.

 

[Daniel Woodward]

3 pin fans and headers can only adjust voltage and so adjust fan speed.
If you look at PWM definition ( Pulse Width Modulation) everything should be clear.

Just to be clear, the motherboard can adjust voltage to the fans and thus regulate their speed regardless of being non-pwm?

Standard 3 Pin DC fans control the speed of the fan by increasing and decreasing the voltage to the motor of the fan. A 4 Pin PWM fan always has the voltage at 12v however it controls the speed of the fan by essentially turning it on and off really quickly, a process that is used for lots of appliances like LED light dimming, etc.