[SOLVED] Montech Fighter 500 Fans

[pwnunow]

Hi All,

I recently bought the Montech Fighter 500 case which has 4 pre-installed "rgb" fans. First, I thought the fans will just be regular 4 pin RGB fans, turns out that they are all static rainbow color LED fans (which I dont care much about because the case was cheap). However, I did realize that all the fans are connected with Molex cables which are connected to the PSU, each fan also has a 3-pin connector which is currently not used.
I started getting tired of the fan lights being on at night and having to turn off my computer in order to turn the fan lights off, is there a way that I can connect the fans via the 3-pin connector into my MOBO and have both fans and lights work?
I got the Gigabyte b560m DS3H motherboard (https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B560M-DS3H-rev-10#kf) and here is what I have tried without any adapters:

1. I disconnected one fan's Molex and connected its 3 pin wire to my 4 pin header ("Sys_fan" pwm) on my mobo. That kept the fan functional, but the lights did not turn on.
2. I connected the same 3 pin fan wire into the 4 pin LED_C1 header on my mobo. When I did that, somehow only the lights were kept on but the fan did not spin. I was able to even control the lights (make them flash and other stuff) through RGB Fusion app from Gigabyte.

I did some research and found this hub: https://www.amazon.com/Electop-Chas...ocphy=9021716&hvtargid=pla-570532561103&psc=1

I was wondering if I could keep my Molex cables connected to the PSU and onto this hub above, while also connected the 3-pin wires to the hub and connecting that to the 4 pin LED_C1 header to my motherboard? I was thinking this way, my fans will get power and spin from the PSU (Molex cables), and the lights will be controlled from the hub connecting all 3 pin wires to the 4 pin LED_C1 header. Will I be able to control my lights and turn them off whenever I want this way? or will the Molex cables take precedence and keep the lights running until the computer is turned off?

Any other ideas I can make this work?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Might want to parse images of the connectors you're looking at. Last time we went off of someone's word that they knew what they were doing, they ended up frying their motherboard by connecting the wrong connector in the wrong orientation on a header on the motherboard. Host your images on Imgur and parse the link here for us to see.

As a side note, please parse the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:

I'd also advise on looking into reliably build fan hubs. The one you've mentioned will work with PWM fans, not 3pin(DC voltage) fans(if that's what you're referring to 3pins and not an ARGB connector).

 

[pwnunow]

Hi Lutfij,

Thank you for the quick response, please see below for my specs:
CPU: intel i5 11400
Motherboard: Gigabyte B560M DS3H
Ram: 16gb DDR4 Silicon Power
SSD/HDD: 240 GB Kingston 300V
GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070ti
PSU: EVGA BA 500
Chassis: Montech Fighter 500
OS: Windows 11
Monitor: Gateway and Dell 60hz nothing big looking to upgrade soon

Below is the picture of all the fans connected via Molex, and the 3 pin connectors are also showing loose (sorry I know its messy):

https://imgur.com/a/UIiFPvn

View: https://imgur.com/a/UIiFPvn

 

[Paperdoc]

So far you have been VERY lucky. Your approach has been: plug whatever into what you can make it fit, and see what happens. NO info on HOW this is supposed to work. And the result has been that some lights work sometimes and some mtotors work sometimes, any luckily NOTHING has burned out yet! Do NOT continue on this path until nothing works!

Thanks for that photo of the connectors, because it confirms what we suspect of these fans. They are a design variant called 3-pin LED fans. That is, the MOTOR in each fan is the older type that can have its speed controlled if the VOLTAGE to it on Pins 1 and 2 is varied. It also can send out on Pin 3 its speed signal; IF that signal is delivered to a mobo fan header its speed can be displayed for you. The power supply on Pin1 (Ground) and 2 (+VDC) can be from 12 VDC for full speed down to about 5 VDC for minimum speed without stalling. As an added feature, the fan frame has a set of LED's of several colours that are simply wired in parallel with the motor to that same power input. They light up whenever the fan power is on. They may get dimmer or even fade out if the power to the fan is reduced for low speeds, but you have not done that yet. You have NO control over the lights, really.

On each fan there is ONE set of THREE wires going to a standard 3-pin female fan connector. That is intended to plug into a mobo SYS_FAN header. IF that is done, you can control the fan's speed from that header, and "see" its speed that way. As an alternative, the fan wires ALSO have a wider 4-pin Molex connector with only TWO wires connected to that. The connector is a two-way item, with one male end (with pins) to connect to a PSU power output, and one female end (with holes) for plugging in another fan. This creates a "daisy chain' power connection system, as shown in your photo, so that all the fans can get power from only one Molex output from the PSU. When this set of connectors is used (as is done in your machine), the fans all can run only at full speed with no control, and the mobo has NO way to read the fan speed signals. The lights in the frames will come on, but not change.

NOTE that this fan wiring connector system is two ALTERNATIVES - you NEVER connect both the wider Molex and the smaller fan connector to something at the same time! So far you have avoided making that mistake.

So you DO have an alternative means of using these fans that impacts your ability to control their speed and noise. If you DISconnect all of them from the Molex source, and use the three-pin female connectors on each fan to power them from mobo SYS_FAN headers, your mobo can control them for you automatically according to its cooling needs as measured by a temperature sensor on the mobo. There is one small glitch here - four fans and three SYS_FAN headers. So you need one SPLITTER to make this happen - that will let you connect two of these fans to one SYS_FAN header. Do NOT buy that fan HUB you linked to because it can control the speeed of ONLY 4-pin PWM-style fans, and you have older 3-pin Voltage Control style fans. Note that the HUB has a connector on one end that must be fed power directly from the PSU via a Molex power output. A SPLITTER does not connect to the PSU. Here's an example:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...al&sprefix=fan+splitter,industrial,110&sr=1-5

That is a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with two output arms each. Note that each Splitter has one input arm (female) to plug into a mobo SYS_FAN header, and two output arms (males) to plug in fans. Although this is a 4-pin Splitter, you can use it for your 3-pin fans. Use one to connect TWO of your fans to one SYS_FAN header, and the other two fans to their own headers.

You will need to adjust the configuration of your mobo SYS_FAN headesr for this to work properly. See your manual p. 14, key code 4 for the SYS_FAN header locations. See p. 22 for how to enter BIOS Setup by holding down the "Del" key right after turning on, then use the F6 key to get to the Smart Fan 6 screen - p. 24. At upper left you can select which fan header you are adjusting. Select each SYS_FAN header in turn and set them all the same.
Set Fan Speed Control to Normal to use the automatic control system
Set Fan Control Use Temperature Input to Motherboard, not CPU
Set Fan Control Mode to Voltage, not PWM or Auto
Set Fan Stop to DISabled so your system will NOT stop your case fans
Set Fan Fail Warning to ENabled so your system WILL pop up a message on your screen if the fan speed signal indicates that it is NOT working.

When you have all three SYS_FAN headers configured, use the Esc key to get to Main Menu (p. 23), then F10 to get to the Exit Menu (p. 40). There choose Save & Exit Setup to save your settings and reboot.

Set this way, all four of your fans connected to SYS_FAN headers (and NOT to the Molex from the PSU) will run and light up. The fan speeds will be adjusted for you automatically according to the temperature sensor on the motherboard. The fan light BRIGHTNESS may vary according to fan speed, but the basic display pattern will not change - there is no way to control that.

 

[Zerk2012]

Bumping, want to get some answers before I buy this hub or suggestions on what else can be done. I want to act quickly on this.

You can't turn off or control the RGB, you can use either the 3 pin to the motherboard or the Molex to power the fans.

 

[pwnunow]

So far you have been VERY lucky. Your approach has been: plug whatever into what you can make it fit, and see what happens. NO info on HOW this is supposed to work. And the result has been that some lights work sometimes and some mtotors work sometimes, any luckily NOTHING has burned out yet! Do NOT continue on this path until nothing works!

Thanks for that photo of the connectors, because it confirms what we suspect of these fans. They are a design variant called 3-pin LED fans. That is, the MOTOR in each fan is the older type that can have its speed controlled if the VOLTAGE to it on Pins 1 and 2 is varied. It also can send out on Pin 3 its speed signal; IF that signal is delivered to a mobo fan header its speed can be displayed for you. The power supply on Pin1 (Ground) and 2 (+VDC) can be from 12 VDC for full speed down to about 5 VDC for minimum speed without stalling. As an added feature, the fan frame has a set of LED's of several colours that are simply wired in parallel with the motor to that same power input. They light up whenever the fan power is on. They may get dimmer or even fade out if the power to the fan is reduced for low speeds, but you have not done that yet. You have NO control over the lights, really.

On each fan there is ONE set of THREE wires going to a standard 3-pin female fan connector. That is intended to plug into a mobo SYS_FAN header. IF that is done, you can control the fan's speed from that header, and "see" its speed that way. As an alternative, the fan wires ALSO have a wider 4-pin Molex connector with only TWO wires connected to that. The connector is a two-way item, with one male end (with pins) to connect to a PSU power output, and one female end (with holes) for plugging in another fan. This creates a "daisy chain' power connection system, as shown in your photo, so that all the fans can get power from only one Molex output from the PSU. When this set of connectors is used (as is done in your machine), the fans all can run only at full speed with no control, and the mobo has NO way to read the fan speed signals. The lights in the frames will come on, but not change.

NOTE that this fan wiring connector system is two ALTERNATIVES - you NEVER connect both the wider Molex and the smaller fan connector to something at the same time! So far you have avoided making that mistake.

So you DO have an alternative means of using these fans that impacts your ability to control their speed and noise. If you DISconnect all of them from the Molex source, and use the three-pin female connectors on each fan to power them from mobo SYS_FAN headers, your mobo can control them for you automatically according to its cooling needs as measured by a temperature sensor on the mobo. There is one small glitch here - four fans and three SYS_FAN headers. So you need one SPLITTER to make this happen - that will let you connect two of these fans to one SYS_FAN header. Do NOT buy that fan HUB you linked to because it can control the speeed of ONLY 4-pin PWM-style fans, and you have older 3-pin Voltage Control style fans. Note that the HUB has a connector on one end that must be fed power directly from the PSU via a Molex power output. A SPLITTER does not connect to the PSU. Here's an example:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-2-Pack-2-Fan-Splitter/dp/B01DV1Z0Z4/ref=sr_1_5?crid=OCXVGBOXU6OL&keywords=fan+splitter&qid=1644177911&s=industrial&sprefix=fan+splitter,industrial,110&sr=1-5

That is a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with two output arms each. Note that each Splitter has one input arm (female) to plug into a mobo SYS_FAN header, and two output arms (males) to plug in fans. Although this is a 4-pin Splitter, you can use it for your 3-pin fans. Use one to connect TWO of your fans to one SYS_FAN header, and the other two fans to their own headers.

You will need to adjust the configuration of your mobo SYS_FAN headesr for this to work properly. See your manual p. 14, key code 4 for the SYS_FAN header locations. See p. 22 for how to enter BIOS Setup by holding down the "Del" key right after turning on, then use the F6 key to get to the Smart Fan 6 screen - p. 24. At upper left you can select which fan header you are adjusting. Select each SYS_FAN header in turn and set them all the same.
Set Fan Speed Control to Normal to use the automatic control system
Set Fan Control Use Temperature Input to Motherboard, not CPU
Set Fan Control Mode to Voltage, not PWM or Auto
Set Fan Stop to DISabled so your system will NOT stop your case fans
Set Fan Fail Warning to ENabled so your system WILL pop up a message on your screen if the fan speed signal indicates that it is NOT working.

When you have all three SYS_FAN headers configured, use the Esc key to get to Main Menu (p. 23), then F10 to get to the Exit Menu (p. 40). There choose Save & Exit Setup to save your settings and reboot.

Set this way, all four of your fans connected to SYS_FAN headers (and NOT to the Molex from the PSU) will run and light up. The fan speeds will be adjusted for you automatically according to the temperature sensor on the motherboard. The fan light BRIGHTNESS may vary according to fan speed, but the basic display pattern will not change - there is no way to control that.

Thank you, this post has been very informative.
Just an FYI, I have only tried the LED_C1 because I thought it was the LED connector, I’ve tried it for a second (I do agree though, I was very lucky nothing bad happened). I am still so confused why I was able to control the lights with gigabyte fusion when it was plugged into LED_C1? But of course I will not attempt to try it again.
Regarding the hub I provided the link of: I did read the questions and answers on that one and they did confirm that a 3-pin fan connector should work on there even though it’s a 4-pin hub, though I do like your splitter idea better. Thank you kind sir!

 

[Paperdoc]

How you got limited function at the LED_C1 header was luck. First, you had to have pushed the 3-pin fan connector onto that header just right. The apparent result was that some DC voltage of the correct polarity was applied to pins 1 and 2 so that motor and light got power. But not enough to get the motor to run. Then using Gigabyte Fusion you were able to change those voltages so that the lights changed brightness, probably even enough to turn them off and back on.

You should re-read the description of that Hub you linked to. It says at one point, "3Pin fan can also be used, but because 3Pin has no PWM function, it is at fixed speed after inserting ". As I said, a Hub can NOT control the speed of a 3-pin fan. That's why I recommended a Splitter.

Good luck with your work on this.

 

[pwnunow]

Thank you your explanation makes sense. I went ahead and bought the splitter!

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for Best Solution.