Question How to connect all these fans to one sysfan

[Piotrunus]

Hi!
I just got a gift - MSI Gungnir 110M
It contains 4 x 3 pin fans.
I have 2 loose PWM ARGB Fans.
My Motherboard is Gigabyte AB350M-DS3H V2
I need to power up 6 fans (4x 3 pin, 2 x PWM)
I Have only one sysfan on motherboard.
CPU fan slot is populated by two 3 pin noctua coolers from NH-D14

If I use this
https://www.arctic.de/en/Case-Fan-Hub/ACFAN00175A
will I be able to control fans speed or will they all go full speed?
I understand that, this is for PWM fans, but If I understand correctly, PWM (the fourth cable), Just delivers Info. And according to that info motherboard decides about amount of power. Otherwise the energy would always be on 100%, and then to fan itself would convert to power to required amount for chosen speed. So I guess, that if I connect PWM fan to a mother slot on that hub, other fans will get the proper amount of energy for speed which they need.

Am I right?

If I'm not how can I slow the non PWM fans? will connecting them to one slot in fan hub in series/parallel help?
Maybe I can use a 3pin<->3pin cable with a little resistor inside? Maybe this will help?

Thanks from advance.

 

[Aeacus]

If I use this
https://www.arctic.de/en/Case-Fan-Hub/ACFAN00175A
will I be able to control fans speed or will they all go full speed?

You can control the speed of 4-pin PWM fans, but all 4-pin PWM fans will run in sync. There is no individual fan control with this, or any other fan hub.
For individual fan control, what you need, is a fan controller.

I understand that, this is for PWM fans, but If I understand correctly, PWM (the fourth cable), Just delivers Info. And according to that info motherboard decides about amount of power.

No.

4-pin PWM fans will get 100% voltage at all times, where the 4th pin is used to regulate the speed of the fan (it tells the fan the required duty cycle). The voltage never drops below full 12V.
Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

Due to this, and if you connect your 3-pin DC fans to that hub, alongside 4-pin PWM fans, the 3-pin DC fans will run 100% at all times, without you being able to control their speed.

If I'm not how can I slow the non PWM fans?

Like i said, if you want individual fan control, you need a fan controller.

Fan controllers come in 2 designs: internal and external.
Internal ones are similar to fan hubs, but bigger and cost a lot more money, e.g Corsair Commander Pro, NZXT Grid+ V3.
External fan controllers sit in the 5.25" external bay, e.g Thermaltake Commander F6 RGB, NZXT Sentry 3, Aerocool X-Vision.
(I have all listed 3x external fan controllers in use between 3x of my builds, full specs with pics in my sig.)

Maybe I can use a 3pin<->3pin cable with a little resistor inside? Maybe this will help?

This is a thing, e.g Noctua LNA adapter,
specs: https://noctua.at/en/na-src7

Still, controlling the fan speed is impossible with this one. It won't run 3-pin DC fans at full speed though.

 

[Piotrunus]

You can control the speed of 4-pin PWM fans, but all 4-pin PWM fans will run in sync. There is no individual fan control with this, or any other fan hub.
For individual fan control, what you need, is a fan controller.



No.

4-pin PWM fans will get 100% voltage at all times, where the 4th pin is used to regulate the speed of the fan (it tells the fan the required duty cycle). The voltage never drops below full 12V.
Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

Due to this, and if you connect your 3-pin DC fans to that hub, alongside 4-pin PWM fans, the 3-pin DC fans will run 100% at all times, without you being able to control their speed.



Like i said, if you want individual fan control, you need a fan controller.

Fan controllers come in 2 designs: internal and external.
Internal ones are similar to fan hubs, but bigger and cost a lot more money, e.g Corsair Commander Pro, NZXT Grid+ V3.
External fan controllers sit in the 5.25" external bay, e.g Thermaltake Commander F6 RGB, NZXT Sentry 3, Aerocool X-Vision.
(I have all listed 3x external fan controllers in use between 3x of my builds, full specs with pics in my sig.)



This is a thing, e.g Noctua LNA adapter,
specs: https://noctua.at/en/na-src7

Still, controlling the fan speed is impossible with this one. It won't run 3-pin DC fans at full speed though.

Thank you for answer, I will look through these hubs.Ah and the controlling question -I meant controlling them all, I know that with most of these hubs etc. I only control one fan, and all others work just like the 1st one.

Also maybe theres some other, easier way? Like Molex fan splitter or smth? Anyone has an Idea?

 

[Aeacus]

Also maybe theres some other, easier way?

Easiest would be getting NZXT Grid+ V3 internal fan controller, since:

• CAM-powered digital fan controller for precise and efficient cooling.
• Supports 6 separate channels, automatically detecting 3-pin fans and 4-pin PWM fans; delivers up to 5 watts of power per channel.
• 0dB fan feature for near silent operation.
• Slim profile and magnetic back for simple installation.
• Adaptive Noise Reduction technology automatically optimizes cooling and fan noise.

Like Molex fan splitter or smth?

This is a thing as well, but it will feed the full 12V to the fan and make it run 100% at all times.
E.g MOLEX to fan header, 4 way: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099DZY2VF/
SATA to fan header, 4 way: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D9YHHKS

 

[Paperdoc]

There is a simple way to do this, and it merely involves buying one particular fan HUB that is designed differently from others. The dilemma, as noted above by Aeacus, is that any 3-pin fan powered by a 4-pin header using PWM Mode to control will always run full speed. The same applies to using a 4-pin fan HUB for multiple fans, BUT there is one Hub that avoids this.

First, let me verify fan count. You say you have six fans to connect - 4 x 3-pin, plus two spare 4-pin ones with ARGB lights. Then you note that the CPU is cooled by two 3-pin fans connected to the CPU_FAN header. Are those two CPU cooler fans part of the 4 you have already in the case, or are those four ALL case ventilation fans (in addition to the two new 4-pin fans)? Actually, the answer won't change the solution.

Before proceeding, let me head off a concern about the two 3-pin CPU cooling fans. You do NOT have a problem trying to control their speed, as you may already realize since the system is operating. The key here is that BOTH the CPU_FAN and SYS_FAN headers on your mobo have 4 pins BUT each can be configured in BIOS Setup to behave as a 3-pin (Voltage Control Mode) OR as a 4-pin (PWM Mode) header. See your mobo manual p. 26 and set the Fan Control Mode for the CPU_FAN header to Voltage so that it CAN control the 3-pin fans connected there. Do NOT use the "Low Noise Adapter" units provided with some Noctua fans in this case.

Now on to the case ventilation fans and a Hub to use with the only SYS_FAN header. You need the Phanteks Universal Fan Controller model PH-PWHUB_02

https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-Universal-Fan-Controller-PH-PWHUB_02/dp/B07NHQRCRM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MUQRB6FNUPXM&keywords=phanteks+universal+fan+controller&qid=1669179875&sprefix=Phanteks+Universal,aps,88&sr=8-1

It gets all the power for its fans from the PSU via a SATA output connector, as other Hubs do. It connects to one mobo fan header that should be configured to PWM Mode ( manual p. 26 again) to get the PWM speed control signal. It then has four ports for PWM (4-pin) fans plus three dedicated to 3-pin fans, plus Port #1. That one port is the only one that will report the fan's speed signal back to the host SYS_FAN header and it is claimed to be suited to either fan type. Personally I would recommend you plug one of your newer 4-pin fans in there.

What is special about this Hub is that it takes the PWM signal from the host header and "Translates" that speed info into proper Voltage Control Mode signals for the three 3-pin fans ports so those fans' speeds ARE controlled properly. NOTE that, IF you actually have FOUR 3-pin fans for case vent use, you CAN use any standard 3-pin fan SPLITTER to connect two 3-pin fans to one of the Hub's 3-pin output ports.

The Hub comes with a few extra parts for use only when it can't be used in this "normal" manner.

All of this concerns only the fan MOTORS. The ARGB LIGHTS in your two newer fans are powered and controlled via separate cables ending in a wider female connector with a (4-1) pattern - that is, it had 4 holes but one is blocked off. This MUST go to an ARGB header or Controller. Your mobo does NOT have one of these. Do NOT try to plug your ARGB cables onto the mobo 4-pin LED header. Doing that can burn out those ARGB lights! If you need advice on how to connect ARGB cables and get the lights working, I suggest you start a different thread for using ARGB fans with no mobo ARGB header.