Fan-Controller for 3-pin

[RamboPenguin]

I have two 120mm intake fans with 3 pin power connectors and they are extremely loud. I couldn't plug them into the motherboard so that their speed could be controlled because only the 4 pin headers can do that and the 3 pin ones can't plug into those. I had to plug them into the power supply so they are going at full speed constantly. From what I understand I can plug in the 3 pin connectors from the two fans into a fan controller and then I can adjust their speed with that. Is that a correct assumption? If it is, could you recommend a cheap and simple fan controller? (Like one with just 4 knobs or something for under 20 dollars).

 

[C12Friedman]

You can plug three pin fans fans into a four pin motherboard header and control speed from there. If the motherboard does not have speed control for the three pin configuration, there are software solutions such as SpeedFan that'll allow control through the motherboard's fan headers

 

[lodders]

Agreed. My sons computer motherboard can control through voltage for 3 pin fans or PWM for 4 pin fans.
You can also plug fans straight into your power supply, but connect the fans red wire to power supply yellow (12V), and the fans black wire to power supply red (5V). This makes them a lot quieter.

 

[RamboPenguin]

You can plug three pin fans fans into a four pin motherboard header and control speed from there. If the motherboard does not have speed control for the three pin configuration, there are software solutions such as SpeedFan that'll allow control through the motherboard's fan headers

I don't think that you can do that. First off the wires that I have aren't long enough to reach and secondly the 3 pin header doesn't fit on the 4 pin one.

 

[RamboPenguin]

Agreed. My sons computer motherboard can control through voltage for 3 pin fans or PWM for 4 pin fans.
You can also plug fans straight into your power supply, but connect the fans red wire to power supply yellow (12V), and the fans black wire to power supply red (5V). This makes them a lot quieter.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Right now the 3 pin headers come from the fan, plug into a male counterpart that is wired to a molex connector that plugs into the psu.

 

[C12Friedman]

You can plug three pin fans fans into a four pin motherboard header and control speed from there. If the motherboard does not have speed control for the three pin configuration, there are software solutions such as SpeedFan that'll allow control through the motherboard's fan headers

I don't think that you can do that. First off the wires that I have aren't long enough to reach and secondly the 3 pin header doesn't fit on the 4 pin one.

Actually, you can do that, three pin fan connectors are designed to plug into either three or four pin headers (and vise versa) with one pin showing off the side in the case of three pin fan to four pin fan header - this article may help although a bit dated since they seem to be unaware of either motherboard or software solutions for control

Edit: except the reach thing, that's still a problem

 

[RamboPenguin]

You can plug three pin fans fans into a four pin motherboard header and control speed from there. If the motherboard does not have speed control for the three pin configuration, there are software solutions such as SpeedFan that'll allow control through the motherboard's fan headers

I don't think that you can do that. First off the wires that I have aren't long enough to reach and secondly the 3 pin header doesn't fit on the 4 pin one.

Actually, you can do that, three pin fan connectors are designed to plug into either three or four pin headers (and vise versa) with one pin showing off the side in the case of three pin fan to four pin fan header - this article may help although a bit dated since they seem to be unaware of either motherboard or software solutions for control

Edit: except the reach thing, that's still a problem

yah you were right. For some reason I remembered it not fitting but I was wrong. I tried plugging one of the fans that could reach in and adjusted it's speed however it was still equally as loud, so I don't know what to do. Just suck it up for now I guess.

 

[basroil]

yah you were right. For some reason I remembered it not fitting but I was wrong. I tried plugging one of the fans that could reach in and adjusted it's speed however it was still equally as loud, so I don't know what to do. Just suck it up for now I guess.

If you have an arduino, some proto board, a molex or sata power adapter you can cut up, a n-channel mosfet, 1kOhm resistor, a 1N2004 diode, and a small capacitor, you can easily make a fan controller that works with 3 and 4 pin fans. Throw in a temperature sensor and you can automatically control good fans down to ~15% power where they are whisper quiet. Only takes ~15 min if you know what you're doing. I have one of these setups for a 3D printer (that has a cover) and works quite well with some corsair fans. Just remember to use the fast PWM mode at a custom frequency of ~25kHz and you'll be fine.

If your motherboard has an open 4 pin that you can use with PWM, you don't even need the arduino, just the n channel mosfet, diode, capacitor, and resister. 4th pin outputs the PWM at 5V so all you do is use that signal to drive fan using the fixed 12V power. Motherboard should be able to read tachometer data directly as well.