[SOLVED] Need help: MSI B250M PRO VD + Cooler Master Stormtrooper

[frosafelix]

Hi! I've been buying used parts for a budget gaming build, and I have (at least) a problem at the moment. My motherboard (MSI B250M PRO VD, micro atx) has only a sys header and a cpu header for the fans, and the case I bought (stormtrooper) has two intake fans on the front and a bigger fan on the top. I obviously would have to buy a splitter and connect them all in the same header, thus sacrificing fan control, as the support at MSI told me, but is it safe? And most importantly, in case it is better to only connect one fan, would that be enough cooling for my current build, as well as for the next intended build(Gpu/cpu/extra ram)?

My current build is:
Cpu: g4560
Gpu: Rx 560 4gb
Ram: 1×8gb ddr4 2400 (hyperx fury)
SSD: samsung evo 250
PSU: EVGA 750GQ
MoBo: MSI B250M PRO VD

The planned upgrade would be same as above, except for:
Cpu: i7 7800x
Gpu: Gtx 1080 ti
Ram: 2x 8gb ddr4 2400 (HyperX Fury)

Thanks in advance, bear with me, it's my first try at building a pc, and I certainly have many faults and misconceptions about how to endeavor in this path

 

[Darkbreeze]

Some will say yes, it's fine, based on amp load capacity for a single header but I say more than two fans on any single header or cable is stretching things too much. If even one fan motor has a problem, or gets older and begins drawing more current to maintain the necessary RPMs, you run the risk of exceeding the amperage supported by the header or cable.

Your best option would be to get something like the NZXT Grid+ v3 which can control both 3 pin voltage and 4 pin PWM fans with assigned profiles applied to all fans or individual profiles custom made for each fan. At about 40 bucks, it's a little bit of an additional investment but it's a lot less than replacing a motherboard or something else if you incur damage.

Probably you would be fine running only the rear exhaust fan until you can afford to add a fan controller like the Grid+ v3. Your hardware is fairly low thermal design. Even two fans, to include one front intake and the single rear exhaust, on a single splitter cable attached to your available motherboard header would be fine until you could obtain the required controller OR if all the fans are 4 pin PWM fans, or are all 3 pin fans, just a normal hub would be fine.

How many pins is each type of fan?

 

[frosafelix]

Hi Darkbreeze, thanks for taking the time to answer. I will try to check how many pins the fan connectors have later after work! Also, would like some feedback on will I need to upgrade to an other motherboard if I upgrade to a much better processor/gpu? I wasn't thinking about overclocking, so I would assume putting my hands in a decent i7 x series might be a better choice for me. Is a 1080 ti much a energy hog in comparison to the rx 560 I have?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, it is. The 1080 ti needs a very good quality 600w unit while the RX 560 can get by with a decent 400w power supply. The 1080 TI also requires 1 6 pin and 1 8 pin connector from the power supply on most models, some might require two 8 pin connectors, and many 400w power supplies will not have those connectors even if the unit had enough capacity, which of course it would not.

That 750GQ is fine for a 1080 TI.

The 7800x will not fit your motherboard. Your board is an LGA 1151 socket while the 7800x is an FCLGA2066 socket. 100% not compatible. The highest level CPU you could use with your motherboard would be the i7-7700k. Since you cannot overclock on B250, that would be mostly pointless, so an i7-7700 would be the highest recommendable CPU model.

 

[frosafelix]

Hi again! I installed the PSU today and checked the connectors on the fans. The connectors from the front fans are both connected to the fan control at the top of the case, they have two pins each. The cable from the fan goes two-way, with two connectors, again with two pins, one of them that goes also straight to the fan control and another one that isn't connected anywhere. Does that connector have to be connected some place? I assume (haven't checked) that I have a connector that comes from the fan control that's supposed to go into the motherboard, so if both must be connected, I should then get one of those devices you mentioned, then?

In regard to the processor I pointed out, I just didn't do my homework properly. But if the i7 7700 is the best I can get on this motherboard, maybe I should consider the i5 8400? Have read many places there's very little increase in performance to justify the investment for a casual player, is that correct? I was thinking about the gtx 1080 ti because it seems like a good choice nowadays for a Gpu that I could take for a build to come where I upgrade to a motherboard which is more modern

 

[Darkbreeze]

That CPU won't work with your motherboard either. Either an i5-7600 or i7-7700 would be the two primary considerations for use with your motherboard generation, socket and chipset. These are the list of processors that will work with your motherboard.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/#sort=price&f=75,57


As far as the fans go, I'm not sure. I'm not familiar with the controller in that case and without actually seeing the configuration it's hard to say.