How to connect multiple RGB fans (on MSI B350 Tomahawk)

[slayter02]

First time PC builder here:

Can anyone explain me in detail how to connect RGB fans?

• 
  Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass
  Motherboard: MSI B350 Tomahawk
  Fans: 6 Corsair HD120 RGB (120mm)

The case comes with 2 stock fans, but I would like to remove them and install 1 fan at the back, 2 fans at the top and 3 fans in the front.

How do I connect them? The Corsair HD120 comes with a fan hub, so I just connect all the cables to the hub and then connect the hub with the mobo, but which port? SYS_FAN1, SYS_FAN2?

ttps://imgur.com/umBR7Cg

Thank you in advance!

 

[Paperdoc]

If I read the Corsair website on these HD 120 RGB fans correctly, each fan has TWO wiring cables from it. One ends in a standard 4-pin female fan connector about 3/8" wide with two ridges along one side, and this can plug into a mobo fan header. The other ends in a different female connector with a locking tab on one side, and this fits into the sockets of the Fan Hub you got with the fans. Is that correct so far?

Now, this system controls the RGB LED's on each fan separately from control of the fan motor, using the separate electrical connection systems. So, let's do the lights first because they are easy. You got two boxes with the fans. One is the LED Hub. It has a wide connector that must plug into a SATA power output connector from the PSU to get power for the LED's. Then it has six sockets into which you can plug your HD120 fans' LED cables. (Make sure if you do NOT plug in all six of your fans that only the LAST sockets are empty.) Then the Hub has a socket where you plug in the Controller box that has three buttons on it. This is the manual way you can control three aspects of the lighting effects on the fans. (All the fans will do the same thing together.) You can set the colour, the display mode, and the speed of the effects. Each button steps you through a sequence of settings.

Separately, each fan has a standard 4-pin fan connector on it. These fans are of the newer PWM 4-pin style. Now the issue becomes how to power and control six fans on your mobo that has four SYS_FAN headers. You could do it with a fan Hub (which is NOT the same as the LED Hub you already have for these) that connects all of them together under one common control system using one SYS_FAN header. But it may be easier and give you more control options if you use SPLITTERS for this on several headers.

To understand, some background. First, a fan header can supply to all fans connected to it a total of 1.0 A current max. Your fans' specs say they use max 0.3 A each (and it's not clear whether that is for the motor only, but we'll assume that), so you could safely connect up to three of them to a single header, but not more. Next, when you use a Splitter or a Hub, ALL the fans connected together on one mobo header share the same controls signals and do the same thing, so IF you think you might want to do different controls of groups of fans, you need to separate them onto different headers. And lastly, a mobo header can deal with the speed signal coming back to it from only ONE fan, so any Splitter or Hub will send back only one of its fans' signals and ignore all others. This is no big deal because you will connect exactly the same fans together, so whatever one reports for its speed, the others like it on that splitter / header combo are doing the same. This has no impact on ability to control the fans' speeds. It has one small implication, though. Most mobo headers can report the speed for your info, and the also monitor that signal to detect FAILURE of a fan. But if some fans' speed signals are not being sent back through a Splitter or Hub, it cannot be monitored this way. So it is up to you to check occasionally to ensure that all your fans are still working.

Now, a Splitter is a simple device that merely connects all its fans in parallel to the signal provided from the mobo header, so all the power for its fans come from that header and you are limited to that max 1.0 A total for all fans on that header. It has only two types of arms. It has one arm with a female 4-pin connector to plug into the mobo SYS_FAN header. Then it has 2 or 3 output arms each ending in a male (with pins) connector for plugging in fans. I suggest you do not get a Hub, although you could if you wish. A Hub is different and has one additional arm that must be connected to a power output (either SATA or 4-pin Molex) from the PSU to get power for the fans.

Now, how to use these? Considering what you plan, here's one way. Get a 3-output Splitter like this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423162&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-12-423-162-_-Product

or this

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423163&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-12-423-163-_-Product

Use it to connect together the three front fans' motor leads to one of the mobo SYS_FAN headers. That leaves you with three other fans, and three other SYS_FAN headers to plug them into. Easy. Of course, you could use other ways to group the six fans, and you can get 2-output Splitters any time.

In BIOS Setup you can configure each fan header separately - see manual p. 54. For each SYS_FAN header you are using for these case ventilation fans, ensure its control at upper left is set to PWM, not DC. Then I suggest you clock on the "All Set Default" item to have it use its automatic control system with default settings, then proceed to the next SYS_FAN header. When done all of them, remember to SAVE and EXIT so save your settings and reboot.

Note that none of this deals with the fan settings for your CPU chip cooler. You did not ask about them, so I'm presuming you have that figured out already. Those settings and connections are similar, but separate from, the case ventilation fans.

 

[gravef1ghter]

I know this is an old thread but I have to comment because I'm building my first RGB gaming rig on a Cooler Master Case H500M with five RGB fans, and I am certainly scratching my head here. But, believe it or not, this is the only documentation online that makes any sense of the subject. Anyways, I just wanted to throw out a great big thanks and two thumbs up for such a well-detailed instruction set, Paperdoc. You da man.

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for your comments. The field has changed with new products and more support built into mobos for RGB lighting systems. One VERY important point is this. There are two different and INCOMPATIBLE common RGB lighting systems widely used now in computers, and you need to match the lighting devices you buy to the type of controller you buy for them OR to the type of Header built into your mobo.

Do NOT rely on the names of the lighting control systems the mobo makers supply on their boards. For example, ASUS has Aura Sync, Gigabyte has RGB Fusion, MSI has Mystic Light, etc. Each of those makers makes some mobos with NO RGB header, some with one or two plain RGB headers, some with one or two Addressable RGB headers, and some with both types. But in all these cases the software utility name covers both types of lighting systems, whereas you must match the header type with the lighting unit type.

How to identify? The plain RGB system uses three colours of LED in their devices and a FOUR-pin female (with holes) connector on the end of its cable (matches with a 4-pin header) that supplies to the LEDs in the device a common +12 VDC line and three separate Ground lines, one for each colour. Along the lighting strip, all of the LEDs of one colour are connected and controlled together, so the entire strip shows the same colour, but it can change over time. The more complex Addressable RGB or ADDR RGB or ARGB system groups the LED's along the strip into Nodes each with their own uniquely addressed controller chip. It uses a THREE-pin connector that looks like the 4-pin one, but with one pin (and hole) missing. I supplies common +5 VDC and Ground lines and a Control Line. The system allows every node along the strip to be different at the same time, so fancier displays are possible. The differences in both voltage supplied and control method make these incompatible - you must choose one of the other.

gravef1ghter, if you need help figuring out details, tell us the lighting devices you are buying (could be light strips, or fans, or whatever) and the mobo you are buying, and we can advise. On each case, etll us maker and exact model numbers if possible. It might be better to start a new thread to cover your particular system.