Fractal R4: Replacing Stock Fans - Cable connection & fan clearance?

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intp4w5

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Apr 20, 2015
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Hi! PC hardware newbie here.

I got my build assembled a few weeks ago by a PC parts shop. I opted to choose Air over Water Cooling mainly due to less points of failure & availability. However, I live in a hot humid country, it's the summer season, and I easily hit 45+degC on idle. My CPU Cooler is the NH-U14s with 1x stock U14s fan & 1x NF-A15 PWM fan. I'm looking to maximize the airflow on my Fractal Define R4 Case. Noise is not an issue.

Hence, I purchased 3x Bitfenix Spectre Pro LED 140mm to use as 1x rear & 2x top exhaust; and 1x Noctua 140mm NF-A14 iPPC-2000 for front intake which can provide good CFM & Static Pressure. I also want to retain the 2 Fractal stock fans that came with the case as front intake and bottom intake fans.

So, installing the fans:
1) I removed the top HDD cage of the R4.
2) I installed the Noctua iPPC-2000 with no problems & connected it to the motherboard fan header.

3) I am confused where to connect the Bitfenix Spectre Pro LEDs; if only the 3-pin connector connector is connected to either: the motherboard or the R4 case fan controller, the fans spin but the LED lights don't work. If I add the connection of the 2-pin LED (+ -) wire, that's only when the LED lights work. This tends to use up to 2 connections for just 1 fan and I think I'll run out of ports/headers before I can install all the fans I want. What is normally the setup in connecting these LED fans? No instructions came with the box. Also, I noticed that both the LED & 3-pin wires get really hot even only after a short time of use - is this normal?

4) I can't install the Fractal R4 stock fan at the bottom of the case as my PSU cables are blocking it. Is my PSU simply too big? Is there anyway I can re-orient the PSU to fit the fan? Same case with the 2nd top fan slot, a cable is blocking it but I have no idea what the cable is.

Kindly see pics here: http://imgur.com/a/Mvc97
PSU: Seasonic G750W
MOBO: Asus X99-A


Thanks!
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
As long as you don't use more than two fans per motherboard fan header, you'll be fine. I rarely if EVER use a fan controller, unless somebody is upgrading their case with a model that has more fans, or adding fans to their current case, and enough fan headers can't be created using fan cable splitters. And occasionally on really old systems without any real fan control functions in the bios.
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I don't really see the problem with the cable interference. The top cable can be easily moved over to accommodate the other fan and the bottom fan, considering you already have the other intake locations populated. That bottom location isn't necessary, although it looks like you could probably just barely fit the fan there if you simply push it up against the small wiring coming from the modular cables on the PSU but the fit WILL be extremely tight and the wiring will be bent at pretty much a 90° angle, which isn't real great when it comes to them lasting without developing breaks inside their insulation.

As far as the top fan goes, just push it down towards the CPU cooler where it comes through the cable management slot until you can slide the fan in there. It should not be a problem.
 
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Thanks for the reply! However, the BitFenix website says that I shouldn't connect the 2-pin LED wire to the PSU. That's why I thought I can only use motherboard/fan control header.

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/accessories/spectre-pro-led/
Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I connect my Spectre LED/Spectre Pro LED/Spectre Pro PWM LED cables?
There are two cables attached to the fan.
1) There is a 3 pin or 4 pin cable that will connect to your corresponding power source (molex, motherboard, fan controller). This will provide power to the fan blades and to the LED
2) The 2 pin cable has an attached cable loop. This cable is to turn on/off your LED's at your convenience. Do not plug it into a power source as there will be an electrical short and will burn your fan and cables. You can also attach this loop to our Hydra Pro fan controller for on-the-fly LED on/off.

Should I buy a separate fan controller instead such as the BitFenix Hydra Pro or NZXT Sentry?
 
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I see. I just found it weird that my PSU doesn't have the cables high enough, rendering the bottom fan slot unusable. I was just looking to utilize the Fractal stock fans instead of simply putting them aside for storage. I'll try to see what I can do with the top fan.
 
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That's an option as well, but it says right there in the reply "molex, motherboard, fan controller" so I don't see there would be any issue using a Molex to three or four pin adapter to connect them. They're talking about an alternate source of power like a 12v battery or AC to DC power adapter, I'm pretty much certain. I've used Molex adapters to power case fan and case led's for years without issue.
 
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The current setup I use is the that I have 1 LED fan with 3-pin connected to motherboard & 2-pin LED wire connected to fan controller. Which means that if I add 2 more LED fans, I need 4 more connections, a total of 6 connections for 3 LED fans. If I get the 3-pin to MOLEX adapter, how should I connect it and how will it reduce the number of connections thus improving the current setup?

Also, sorry if it's a stupid question, but is it possible to turn the PSU upside down in such a way that the wires are higher than the default setup? Thanks a lot!

EDIT: It's because I've seen PSUs that have ports located near the top side instead of the bottom.
Also, is there any harm/ disadvantage of connecting the case fans to the motherboard? Will 3x LED fans power draw have any effect on the mobo?
 
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Do not turn the PSU upside down or you'll be drawing heated air from the case into it and overheat it. I promise. It will run at full fans ALL the time and won't last long.

The molex adapter I linked to earlier should be capable of providing the necessary LED connections for all the fans as it has two or three of the necessary ends on it and if you lack enough motherboard headers to power all the fans themselves, you can use one of these for each two fans, for powering the fans and retaining speed control.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812162026
 
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I see, thanks. One last: Is there any harm/ disadvantage of connecting the case fans to the motherboard? Will 3x LED fans power draw have any effect on the mobo? Is it okay to connect a 3-pin or a 2-pin LED to a motherboard header?
 
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As long as you don't use more than two fans per motherboard fan header, you'll be fine. I rarely if EVER use a fan controller, unless somebody is upgrading their case with a model that has more fans, or adding fans to their current case, and enough fan headers can't be created using fan cable splitters. And occasionally on really old systems without any real fan control functions in the bios.
 
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Solution


There's a problem. The built-in fan controller of the Fractal Define R4 kinda melted. It was still doing fine last night. I was about to re-wire my connection but I wanted to see if everything looks fine. I plugged it to the power source then it starts for 1 sec and dies down immediately. I plugged-out & plugged back in some wires & checked if there were any loose connections. The PC finally turned on and the fans started, then for a while I noticed it smells like burning plastic then I saw the fan controller was busted inside the case.

I found that Fractal fan controller supports only up to 3 fans max. In my case, I got it hooked to 2 stock fans & 1 LED 2-pin wire from the Bitfenix Spectre Pro (the 3-pin connected to the motherboard). It seems that the fan controller wasn't able to handle the power from the LED light?

Also, my Noctua iPPC-2000 (connected to the motherboard in 4-pin PWM connection) starts and stops repeatedly unless I manually boost the speed in AI Suite 3. Does this mean that the motherboard automatically stops the fan in cooler temperature? Or is it broken?

 
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I'm pretty sure it's the 2-pin LED wire from the fan. It's looks blown up and melted inside as well. The LED is still working but now I can use system fans that aren't connected to the motherboard. Also, I have no idea how to take out the busted fan controller outside the case.
 
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I'd contact them, NOT mentioning anything other than the fact that the controller had failed and melted, and see if they will RMA the case or controller. Aside from that, I'd just use the motherboard headers for now, without any LED lighting. It might even be a short in the LED lighting from one of the fans that was the problem. I'd get a couple of those one into two splitters I linked to and use two fans per motherboard header.

Since you have 4 chassis fan headers, a cpu fan header and an optional cpu fan header, this is what I would do.

Get a PWM fan cable splitter as linked to above and connect both A15 fans on the cpu heatsink to the CPU_FAN header. Connect the rear exhaust fan to the CPU_OPT header, which will allow it to respond much faster than when connected to a chassis fan header since it will be controlled by CPU temp rather than by motherboard temp readings.

Use additional splitters to allow up to 8 other 3 or 4 pin fan connections with the other four motherboard chassis fan headers. Fans in similar locations will of course want to be on the same controller, ie, front fans together on one splitter, top fans together on another.
 
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Thanks. I contacted both BitFenix and Fractal Design. I'm looking to remove the busted fan controller from the case. Do you think the fans that were connected to the controller were harmed
in any way when it overheated as well as the Molex it was connected to? I just want to know if I can reuse everything aside from the dead controller. The LED connectors (jumper and 2-pin wire) look melted but still working even after the overheat. Is it safe to plug them back in after I reconnect everything properly? Thanks a lot for your help.
 
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That's too bad since it's brand new. I contacted them and now waiting for response. I successfully took out the busted fan controller out of the case. It seems that the melted glue came from the glue used for the magnet near the fan controller, that serves as the magnet for front door closure.
 
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