How many pins do I need in my motherboard?

[AdrianJaden]

Hey guys, If I get a motherboard and 2 pc fans, do I need 2 4 pin connectors on that motherboard to make them both work? I can only find motherboards with 1 4 pin connectors.

 

[mcnumpty23]

can use a splitter to connect 2 4 pin fans to one motherboard header
or get one 4 pin fan and one 3 pin fan

 

[MarkW]

Some motherboards have lots of fan headers, and some have very few of them.

All of them have at least 1 4 pin fan header intended for use with the CPU.

Most also have at least 1 3 pin header as well. Some however have all 4 pin headers, which will work with 3 or 4 pin fans.

 

[Random_tech]

you can also run them at full speed, with a 3 pin(or 4 pin) to molex connector.
i ran into a problem where my motherboard only has one CPU fan header and one case fan header. but but case has 2 fans, so i had to run one at max speed.

 

[nb7760]

Case fans (ones that are purchased on their own that you would install somewhere in your case) should have 3 pin headers (DC fans), unless you specifically buy ones that are labelled as PWM, which have 4 pin headers for speed control. CPU fans like the one on the Intel stock heatsink or the ones that normally come with aftermarket CPU heatsinks usually have 4 pin headers, and should be plugged into designated CPU fan connectors located at the top of the motherboard. Usually motherboards should have at least 1-2 4 pin connectors for the CPU, as well as a couple of 3 or 4 pin connectors for case fans. If your motherboard for some reason doesn't have enough fan connectors, you can buy a splitter cable from most PC accessory retailers that would allow you to connect two case fans to one motherboard connector. Don't worry, it won't affect the speed of the fan. Additionally you could buy a molex to 3/4 pin fan connector adapter cable. The drawback to this is that you would have to run the fans at full speed all the time with no way of adjusting their speed or turning them off while your system is powered on.