[SOLVED] Using Fan Hub for 3-Pin ARGB But Connecting PWM Headers Straight Into Mobo?

[Gakkaki]

Hi, I haven’t found any questions so far that answer this. I am getting an Antec DF600 FLUX case which comes with an ARGB Fan Hub. The hub is powered by SATA straight from the PSU, which I want to avoid in terms of fan speed control. So I wanted to ask if it’s alright to connect ONLY the 3-pin ARGB LED headers into the hub (to avoid bombarding my argb headers on the mobo) and connect the 4-pin PWM directly into my motherboard’s 4-pin fan headers? Will the lights and motor on my fans work this way?

 

[Paperdoc]

The web pages and manual for that case do not provide good info, but I can say some things from the photos.

First, the case comes with 5 fans altogether, but the bottom and rear fans do not have lights in them. The three front fans will have TWO cables from each - one ending in a common female ARGB connector that looks like it had 4 holes, but one is blocked off. Those go to the ARGB output headers on the Hub included with the case. The seconds fan cable will end in a standard 3-pin fan female connector. The fan motor and the lights in the frames are powered and controlled independently of each other, so you do NOT need to plug both types of cables into the Hub.

The Hub gets power for all things plugged into it from a PSU output, either 4-pin Molex or SATA type; thus the power for things plugged into the Hub does NOT come form any mobo header. It is apparent that the Hub also will have two more cables to connect. One will go to the LED pushbutton on the top of the case, and the other will go to a mobo ARGB header. I gather that the top button allows you to choose light display settings generated by the Hub, OR to turn over control to the mobo header, in which case actual control is done with the mobo's lighting control utility software.

The Hub has a line of 3-pin outputs for the fan MOTOR cables so they can be powered from the PSU also. However, I do not see any apparent connection point on the Hub for input from a mobo header for fan SPEED control. This Hub may do NO fan speed control, and that gets us to your other query.

BUT there is another factor, and it probably pertains to both the three ARGB fans and the two non-lighted fans. The photos appear to show that the connections to the fan motors are using THREE wires and connector pins, although the info provided does not give any clear specs for the fans. This means they are the older type of 3-pin fans, not the new 4-pin PWM style. That means they need a different method of controllong their speed. While it does not appear that the case's Hub can do that, almost all current mobos DO offer that option, but you will need a couple of accessories and a bit of care in doing this.

To power and control the speed of these 3-pin fans you need your mobo SYS_FAN or CHA_FAN headers to use the older Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode), and not the new PWM Mode. Further, all mobo headers can supply to their total load a max of 1.0 A current at full speed. Now, most fan motors use at max 0.1 to 0.25 A per motor, so you can easily connect three of these fans to one mobo header. Thus, if you have two headers to use and each does offer the option of Voltage Control Mode, you will have no problem. You will need to get a couple of SPLITTERS for this. These are simple devices that have one "arm" for input from a mobo header and two or three male outputs (with pins) to plug in fans. They have NO other types of "arms". Do NOT get a fan HUB, which is a different device sometimes mis-labelled as a Splitter. A Hub has an additional "arm" that must plug into a PSU output to get power for its fans. But such a device normally can NOT be used to control the speed of 3-pin fans. Here is an example of the Splitter you need

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Com...1&keywords=fan+splitter&qid=1605323124&sr=8-4

That's a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with three outputs. They work just as well with 3-pin fans - each fan simply does not use Pin #4. With these you can connect three fans to one header, and two to another. If you set each mobo fan header to use Voltage Control Mode, the fans all can have their speed controlled that way.

Small note. Any mobo fan header can deal with the speed signal sent back to it from ONE fan, so the Splitter will only send back one fan's speed. If you look closely at the three output connectors on the Splitter, one of them has all 4 pins and the other two are missing Pin #3. That is how it ignores the speed of those two latter fans. When you use one of them to connect two fans and leave one output unused, ensure that one fan IS plugged into the output with all 4 pins.

 

[Gakkaki]

The web pages and manual for that case do not provide good info, but I can say some things from the photos.

First, the case comes with 5 fans altogether, but the bottom and rear fans do not have lights in them. The three front fans will have TWO cables from each - one ending in a common female ARGB connector that looks like it had 4 holes, but one is blocked off. Those go to the ARGB output headers on the Hub included with the case. The seconds fan cable will end in a standard 3-pin fan female connector. The fan motor and the lights in the frames are powered and controlled independently of each other, so you do NOT need to plug both types of cables into the Hub.

The Hub gets power for all things plugged into it from a PSU output, either 4-pin Molex or SATA type; thus the power for things plugged into the Hub does NOT come form any mobo header. It is apparent that the Hub also will have two more cables to connect. One will go to the LED pushbutton on the top of the case, and the other will go to a mobo ARGB header. I gather that the top button allows you to choose light display settings generated by the Hub, OR to turn over control to the mobo header, in which case actual control is done with the mobo's lighting control utility software.

The Hub has a line of 3-pin outputs for the fan MOTOR cables so they can be powered from the PSU also. However, I do not see any apparent connection point on the Hub for input from a mobo header for fan SPEED control. This Hub may do NO fan speed control, and that gets us to your other query.

BUT there is another factor, and it probably pertains to both the three ARGB fans and the two non-lighted fans. The photos appear to show that the connections to the fan motors are using THREE wires and connector pins, although the info provided does not give any clear specs for the fans. This means they are the older type of 3-pin fans, not the new 4-pin PWM style. That means they need a different method of controllong their speed. While it does not appear that the case's Hub can do that, almost all current mobos DO offer that option, but you will need a couple of accessories and a bit of care in doing this.

To power and control the speed of these 3-pin fans you need your mobo SYS_FAN or CHA_FAN headers to use the older Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode), and not the new PWM Mode. Further, all mobo headers can supply to their total load a max of 1.0 A current at full speed. Now, most fan motors use at max 0.1 to 0.25 A per motor, so you can easily connect three of these fans to one mobo header. Thus, if you have two headers to use and each does offer the option of Voltage Control Mode, you will have no problem. You will need to get a couple of SPLITTERS for this. These are simple devices that have one "arm" for input from a mobo header and two or three male outputs (with pins) to plug in fans. They have NO other types of "arms". Do NOT get a fan HUB, which is a different device sometimes mis-labelled as a Splitter. A Hub has an additional "arm" that must plug into a PSU output to get power for its fans. But such a device normally can NOT be used to control the speed of 3-pin fans. Here is an example of the Splitter you need

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Com...1&keywords=fan+splitter&qid=1605323124&sr=8-4

That's a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with three outputs. They work just as well with 3-pin fans - each fan simply does not use Pin #4. With these you can connect three fans to one header, and two to another. If you set each mobo fan header to use Voltage Control Mode, the fans all can have their speed controlled that way.

Small note. Any mobo fan header can deal with the speed signal sent back to it from ONE fan, so the Splitter will only send back one fan's speed. If you look closely at the three output connectors on the Splitter, one of them has all 4 pins and the other two are missing Pin #3. That is how it ignores the speed of those two latter fans. When you use one of them to connect two fans and leave one output unused, ensure that one fan IS plugged into the output with all 4 pins.

Thanks for clearing that out in such detail. To summarise, it is possible for me to connect the ARGB headers on the hub to power them directly from the PSU and then connect the fans straight onto the motherboard fan headers using a splitter if necessary. I didn’t notice that they were 3-pin motor headers though, so I will most likely reconsider my case. Thanks again for helping me out!

 

[Paperdoc]

Yes, you can do that. Most RGB or ARGB fans now are made with completely separate cables for the lights and the fan motor. Each ends in a relatively common connector for the correct device type (some lighting units do use different connectors, though). Power and control of lights is always completely separate from power and control of the motor, so there is NO problem connecting them to different sources. The only time you do have a problem is that some makers were into this field early and used different connectors that others never adopted, but they still use their originals. That has made them "non-standard" - more correctly, not the commonly-used connectors, since there is no formal "standard". VERY often you can get adapters that will allow you to connect to the common mobo headers now in use.

Thanks for Best Answer.

 

[Gakkaki]

Yes, you can do that. Most RGB or ARGB fans now are made with completely separate cables for the lights and the fan motor. Each ends in a relatively common connector for the correct device type (some lighting units do use different connectors, though). Power and control of lights is always completely separate from power and control of the motor, so there is NO problem connecting them to different sources. The only time you do have a problem is that some makers were into this field early and used different connectors that others never adopted, but they still use their originals. That has made them "non-standard" - more correctly, not the commonly-used connectors, since there is no formal "standard". VERY often you can get adapters that will allow you to connect to the common mobo headers now in use.

Thanks for Best Answer.

Thank you for your answer, best answer was clearly deserved! Also, thanks to your answer I was able to change to a chassis with a fan controller that connects the fans and 3-pin ARGB directly to my PWM motherboard fan header and ARGB header, hence solving all my problems!

 

[Paperdoc]

Very glad to hear you got what you really wanted, and it's working.