Question Motherboard has only 2 Fan Headers

[jakey_randall99]

So my motherboard (the Gigabyte AX370M-DS3H) only has 2 fan headers, 1 for the CPU fan and one for a case fan.

Now I plan on having 4 working CASE fans. 2 intake and 2 exhaust. As the CPU fan takes up one of the headers, I cant just use a splitter on each as that will still only leave me with 3 case fans. And I don't really want to have a splitter on the CPU header.

So how would I go about getting 4 case fans set up without buying a new motherboard with more headers on?

My Specs if anyone was curious:
Ryzen 5 1400
RX 580 (4GB)

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

SilverStone PWM Fan Hub System
1-to-8 PWM connectors

 

[Paperdoc]

Yes, that Silverstone Fan Hub (above) will do the job nicely. It has two cables to connect to things: one plugs into a SATA power output from the PSU to provide ALL of the power for the case fans (no power drawn from the mobo SYS_FAN header), and the other ends in a standard 4-pin female (with holes) fan connector that you plug into the SYS_FAN header. Then it has eight output ports for fans.

Three items to ensure you do with this.

1. Your case fans all must be of the 4-pin design - that is, the cable from motor to connector has 4 wires and the female connector on the end has 4 holes.
2. Make sure you plug one of the fans into the Hub's marked Port #1. This is the ONLY Hub port that can send its fan's speed signal back to the SYS_FAN header. With no fan on that port, you mobo will send you continuous warnings that your case fan has failed.
3. See your mobo manual p. 26 for BIOS Setup choices regarding the SYS_FAN header. First, be sure to select that SYS_FAN header. Leave "Fan Speed Control" on Normal. Set "Fan Control Use Temperature Input" to use the sensor on the motherboard, not the one inside the CPU chip. Set "Fan Control Mode" to PWM.

After making those settings, remember to SAVE and EXIT so they are saved.

When using a Hub, it can only send back to the mobo SYS_FAN header the speed signal from ONE fan, and all the others are ignored. This does NOT affect fan speed control. But it DOES impact fan FAILURE detection - the mobo cannot detect a lack of a fan speed signal it does not receive anyway. So from time to time you should check that all your case fans are still working.

 

[jakey_randall99]

Yes, that Silverstone Fan Hub (above) will do the job nicely. It has two cables to connect to things: one plugs into a SATA power output from the PSU to provide ALL of the power for the case fans (no power drawn from the mobo SYS_FAN header), and the other ends in a standard 4-pin female (with holes) fan connector that you plug into the SYS_FAN header. Then it has eight output ports for fans.

Three items to ensure you do with this.

1. Your case fans all must be of the 4-pin design - that is, the cable from motor to connector has 4 wires and the female connector on the end has 4 holes.
2. Make sure you plug one of the fans into the Hub's marked Port #1. This is the ONLY Hub port that can send its fan's speed signal back to the SYS_FAN header. With no fan on that port, you mobo will send you continuous warnings that your case fan has failed.
3. See your mobo manual p. 26 for BIOS Setup choices regarding the SYS_FAN header. First, be sure to select that SYS_FAN header. Leave "Fan Speed Control" on Normal. Set "Fan Control Use Temperature Input" to use the sensor on the motherboard, not the one inside the CPU chip. Set "Fan Control Mode" to PWM.

After making those settings, remember to SAVE and EXIT so they are saved.

When using a Hub, it can only send back to the mobo SYS_FAN header the speed signal from ONE fan, and all the others are ignored. This does NOT affect fan speed control. But it DOES impact fan FAILURE detection - the mobo cannot detect a lack of a fan speed signal it does not receive anyway. So from time to time you should check that all your case fans are still working.

Okay, so what if all my fans are 3 pin connectors? I have the 4 pin SYS Fan Header on the motherboard, but will i be able to plug the 3 pin fans into that hub still?

 

[Paperdoc]

NO. Any 3-pin fan connected to a header that actually uses the new PWM Mode to control its fans will always run full speed. And most fan Hubs, like that Silverstone product, use only the PWM Mode for control.

But there IS another way - a particular fan Hub designed differently. It is the Phanteks PWM Hub. Its different way is that it MUST have that PWM signal from the SYS_FAN header as other Hubs need (and hence the last sentence of Item 3 in my earlier post), but then it uses that internally to create its own group of six 3-pin fan ports that use the older Voltage Control Mode to control its fans. This is the ONLY Mode that can control the speed of 3-pin fans. In essence, this particular Hub "converts" from the PWM Mode of the SYS_FAN header to the Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode) to control its fans. By the way, this Mode also can control the speed of 4-pin fans (although technically it is not quite as ideal as PWM Mode for that fan design), so this Hub can handle any mix of 3- and 4-pin fans.

So, if your four case ventilation fans are 3-pin models, get the Phanteks PWM Hub and it will suit your system. Just an added hint for this. This Hub's manual recommends that you connect its fan cable to the mobo CPU_FAN header, and then plug your CPU cooler into the Hub's white Port #1. Do NOT do this. The advice is meant to ensure that the Hub actually gets the PWM signal it needs, and there were many mobos that did NOT use PWM Mode on the SYS_FAN headers. Your mobo does not have that limit - as I recommended, just ensure that the SYS_FAN header is set to use PWM Mode. Then ensure that one case fan is plugged into the white Port #1. Your actual CPU cooler system should be plugged into the CPU_FAN header on the mobo.

 

[jakey_randall99]

So I am looking at buying this instead now: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HNNNN2R/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A16G2RYKO3IO8J&psc=1

Do you think it's worth while?

 

[Paperdoc]

That set of fans will provide you with six PWM fans and a central fan Hub that can use the PWM signal from your SYS_FAN header to control the speed of all these fans. Like other HUbs, it draws all power from a power output connector (in this case, a 4-pin Molex aka Peripheral). Thus you do NOT need to buy an additional Fan Hub.

It has a bonus of coloured RGB lights in each fan's case, BUT they can NOT be controlled by your mobo. These fans use the more advanced Addressable RGB system which uses a 3-pin connector and a 5 VDC power supply to the RGB elements. What your mobo has built in is the simpler plain RGB system with a 4-pin connector using a 12 VDC power line. However, you can still get some colour displays going, even if not some of the fancy patterns available from mobo control systems. The fans all have TWO cables from them - one from the motor, and another from the RGB lighting LED's. They plug into separate sockets on that fan Hub. To use the Hub's own display capabilities when you cannot use mobo header control, you must connect the cable that comes from the Reset button on your case front (normally plugged into a pin pair on the mobo's Front Panel header) into the proper socket of the Fan Hub. Then your front panel Reset Button becomes the control for the RGB lights in the fans - it lets you switch through a selection of colours and displays. Exactly what displays you can get is not detailed completely in the fan set description.

 

[jakey_randall99]

That set of fans will provide you with six PWM fans and a central fan Hub that can use the PWM signal from your SYS_FAN header to control the speed of all these fans. Like other HUbs, it draws all power from a power output connector (in this case, a 4-pin Molex aka Peripheral). Thus you do NOT need to buy an additional Fan Hub.

It has a bonus of coloured RGB lights in each fan's case, BUT they can NOT be controlled by your mobo. These fans use the more advanced Addressable RGB system which uses a 3-pin connector and a 5 VDC power supply to the RGB elements. What your mobo has built in is the simpler plain RGB system with a 4-pin connector using a 12 VDC power line. However, you can still get some colour displays going, even if not some of the fancy patterns available from mobo control systems. The fans all have TWO cables from them - one from the motor, and another from the RGB lighting LED's. They plug into separate sockets on that fan Hub. To use the Hub's own display capabilities when you cannot use mobo header control, you must connect the cable that comes from the Reset button on your case front (normally plugged into a pin pair on the mobo's Front Panel header) into the proper socket of the Fan Hub. Then your front panel Reset Button becomes the control for the RGB lights in the fans - it lets you switch through a selection of colours and displays. Exactly what displays you can get is not detailed completely in the fan set description.

Thanks so much for the help, I will go for something similar to the link I sent you but probably not that exact set