Multiple fans connected to one 3 pin header?

[DarkDubzs]

Is it safe and possible to connect 4 or 5 case fans to a single 3 pin fan header on a mobo? I want to add four of these case fans to my rig, theyre 3 pin, and i dont want to spend more money on a fan controller, so i want to just connect them to my mobo and i can control their speeds via software. So, would it be okay to do that? My sad, cheap mobo, btw: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130662

Also, my mobo only has one 4 pin cpu fan header, one 4 pin system fan header, and one 3 pin system fan header. Could i connect two 3 pin fans to the 3 pin header, and two more to the 4 pin header... to keep the headers safe and last longer (and keep my mobo from frying)? Im just worried about connect 3 pin fans to 4 pin headers... is that okay and safe too? Would i also still be able to manually control the speeds of the fans connected to the 4 pin headers via software on my pc?

Lastly, if i connect multiple fans to a single header, like via a header hub(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811997110) or splitter(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189063), will software be able to see the individual fans and control them individually or will i just see one fan because i am connecting multiple fans to a single header?

Please help. Thanks in advance!

 

[coolcole01]

best thing to do is find fans with manual controls that can be hooked directly to sata or molex

 

[DarkDubzs]

best thing to do is find fans with manual controls that can be hooked directly to sata or molex

with manual controls? Clarification? Ive never seen or heard of case fans that have controls built in to them, unless you mean 4 pin fans... which have PWM capabilities. You can connect 3 pin fans to molex directly to the psu, but they will run at the highest speed, which is what i dont want to do. I also already selected these fans as the ones i want for sure, great price, bearing type, quiet, and inexpensive.

 

[scout_03]

you could get these fans and use a y splitter for 2 of them on the same connector and system will report the speed but you wont be able to control them the system will do it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553009 there are also with yellow blades .

 

[coolcole01]

fans like these have three different speed settings its a switch on the fan and they hook direct to any power connector
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209005

 

[Karadjgne]

Most decent mobo fan headers will run a max of @ 1 amp. This means for the average cheaper fan you can run a max of 2 off the same header. Some better fans will have an amp rating (on the disc, back of the fan) of less than .3 amps, so can run 3 max if needed.

4 pin fans are pwm, they run at a constant voltage and are switched on/off to regulate the fan speed (pulsed). 3 pin fans are voltage regulated and run at max speed constantly, according to voltage, eg. 1200 rpm @12v, 900 rpm @9v.

The motherboard can tell the difference in the fans and will automatically adjust fan speeds according to bios/software. Even though your mobo has 4 pin headers, you can use 3pin fans in them, they are slotted for such use. Only exception to that rule is on majority of motherboards the CPU fan will not be controlled if it is 3pin, it will run 12v max rpm constantly unless a pwm 4pin fan is used.

So with average fans you could run 2x CPU, 4x case fans max although any software will only read the header, not amount of fans.