PWM Case Fan Splitter

[kira70591]

Hello,

In all of my years of building PCs, I have never used a fan splitter; however, I currently want to fill out my case with fans as my Core i7 4770 (non k) runs quite warm and I would like to ensure that I have adequate air flow throughout the case. My question is whether or not the splitter will cause the fans to essentially act as one unit in regards to their control. Will the BIOS still only display one fan? Say that I plug the splitter into Sysfan2... will the BIOS display only one Sysfan2 and then as you change the settings, both fans will act accordingly as one?

My current set up consists of a MSI z87 Mpower mainboard which has 3 Sysfan 4 pin connectors along with 2 CPU 4 pin connectors. My case is a Corsair Carbide 400r, which I can place 2 fans on top, on side, and 1 on the bottom and back. I currently have 2 Corsair Fans running and would like to fill the case out with 2 on top, 2 on side, and 1 on the bottom.

I should be able to place splitters on all of my SysFan mainboard pins and have enough connections for my fans. My thinking is to have two fans as exhaust attached to the top Sysfan, 2 side fans as intake on the middle right Sysfan, and an exhaust back fan and a bottom intake fan attached to the left Sysfan. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[Combatmed1]

AS far as I know, the mobo will read them as one fan and provide enough power for their needs. I rarely actually use the mobo pins for my fans. I usually simply plug them directly into my psu (EVGA Supernova 1000w P2), or hook them up to a controller

 

[clutchc]

Your best bet would be to use one of these splitters for PWM fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CMjK4470iL4CFYdFMgodhDsA5A&Item=N82E16812162026&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Internal+Power+Cables-_-N82E16812162026&ef_id=U2E-sAAABQeihymV:20140430190718:s

Yes, the BIOS will report it as one fan on the respective header. If I understand your question correctly.

 

[kira70591]

@Combatmed1

The problem with controllers is that there are not really many, if at all, true PWM controllers. They still control it with normal voltage methods. Yeah, I have determined that I will not blow out my one of my headers by drawing too much power with multiple fans. You also have to be careful splitting PWM fans as the mobo signal can start to degrade.

@clutchc

Funny that you mention that... I thought that I had linked that exact splitter in my original post as that is what I was looking at. Silverstone normally has decent equipment. You also understood my question perfectly. Thank you very much for the help!

 

[clutchc]

If you already have the splitter, I'd use it. Since the 2 fans are identical, the BIOS will read just one of the tach feedbacks and report true RPM of that fan. If you notice in the pic of the splitter, only one of the male ends receives the tach wire. It should work perfectly. Most FAN headers have the capacity to handle more than one case fan.

 

[Milespounder]

Hey guys, i want to set up push / pull on my hyper evo 212 so i think a fan splitter CPU would be best but im wondering if both fans have a decreased maximum capacity if i do this? Thanks!!

 

[clutchc]

Hey guys, i want to set up push / pull on my hyper evo 212 so i think a fan splitter CPU would be best but im wondering if both fans have a decreased maximum capacity if i do this? Thanks!!

They should still run at their rated specs. Both fans will still see +12V at whatever PWM signal is being sent. PWM controls fan rpm by pulsing the DC voltage rather than varying it. Be sure to use the 4 pin PWM splitter like the one above. You will be reading only one fan's RPM, but if the fans are identical they should both be running at the same RPM.

 

[kira70591]

Hey guys, i want to set up push / pull on my hyper evo 212 so i think a fan splitter CPU would be best but im wondering if both fans have a decreased maximum capacity if i do this? Thanks!!

If you have two CPU fan headers you could always plug the fans into each header.

 

[clutchc]

Hey guys, i want to set up push / pull on my hyper evo 212 so i think a fan splitter CPU would be best but im wondering if both fans have a decreased maximum capacity if i do this? Thanks!!

If you use the above splitter: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CMjK4470iL4CFYdFMgodhDsA5A&Item=N82E16812162026&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Internal+Power+Cables-_-N82E16812162026&ef_id=U2E-sAAABQeihymV:20140430190718:s
...AND both fans are identical, the fans will run together in tandem. The one plugged into the end of the splitter with all 4 pins will be the "master" so to speak. It will feed back the speed to BIOS. The other fan will run at whatever speed the 1st fan runs at. No decreased performance. Just twice the air flow.