What to do with Corsair spec 3 case fans?

[JohnKay]

What to do with Corsair spec 3 case fans? It came with 3 of them, all 3 pinned female. My h170 mb only has one 4-pinned sys fan header. My psu has x3 4-pinned molex. Appreciate the help

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair SPEC-03 Red ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[James Mason]

Just need a splitter: https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Molex-headers-CONNECT-MULTIPLE/dp/B009D3HV1Q

 

[alexoiu]

If connected to the power supply, the fans would run at full speed. I'm not sure if the board is able to control the 3 pin fan (you can test with single fan. You can connect a 3 pin to a 4 pin header: http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/img/4pin.jpg
If fan not controlled (running at full speed), an option would be a fan controller. Something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811997022&cm_re=3_pin_fan_controller-_-11-997-022-_-Product

 

[JohnKay]

Thanks for the suggestion.
Here's the spec of the sys fan. Strange how it doesn't provide power to the fan?
http://imgur.com/a/TcwnO

In regards to the solution, how about using a splitter that connects to the motherboard, so my 2 front led fans can connect to.
For the last fan on the back, I'll use a molex to 3 pin splitter that connects to my psu.

 

[SullenGuide]

If you want to use them, and control them, get yourself a fan controller. There are simple ones like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Fan-Speed-Controller-FANMATE-2/dp/B000292DO0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481045577&sr=8-2&keywords=pc+fan+controller

Or you can spend more on flashy LCD versions. You'll probably still need a splitter but they cost very little and you'll be able to control your fan speeds. I really wouldn't recommend running them off a 12v rail.

You should be able to control voltage from mobo fan headers too, but make sure the BIOS is set to DC mode for the headers you connect these non-pwm fans to.

Good luck!

 

[Paperdoc]

ALERT!! THIS POST IS ALL WRONG, SO IGNORE IT! I HAVE POSTED NEW BELOW.

There's an easy solution for you, but the manual info is tricky to decipher. I'm assuming your mobo is the ASUS H170 Pro Gaming. Its manual is here:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/H170_PRO_GAMING/E10499_H170_PRO_GAMING_Guide_WEB_only.pdf

See p. 3-19, Item 8 for pinout diagrams of the mobo fan headers. It has three CHA_FAN headers, and all of them show that Pin #4 is "+5V", whereas that pin on the CPU_FAN header is "CPU FAN PWM". These agree with the labels on the diagram from imgur that you linked to. What those mean is that the CPU_FAN header uses PWM Mode to control fans, and that can ONLY control 4-pin fans. However, all the CHA_FAN headers do NOT put out a PWM signal on Pin #4, In fact, they act only as 3-pin fan headers using Voltage Control Mode, even though they have 4 pins. Why? To make it easy for people like you who are supplied with 3-pin fans in their cases. These headers CAN power AND control both 3-pin and 4-pin fans. So, just plug your three case fans into those three CHA_FAN headers.

Actually, if that IS the correct mobo and manual, look more closely at p. 2-36, Section 2.7.5. It says those three CHA_FAN headers CAN be manually set by you to be use either Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode) - which is the default setting - or PWM Mode. Check that EACH header in BIOS Setup is set to DC Mode. Then for each change the next item down, "Chassis Fan 1/2/3 Q-Fan Source" to "MotherBoard", and verify that the next item, "Chassis Fan 1/2/3 Profile" is set to "Standard". This will ensure that your case ventilation fans are controlled automatically by the mobo using Voltage Control Mode (needed for 3-pin fans) and based on a temperature sensor built into the mobo by its maker, and not based on the sensor inside the CPU chip. When you have made these changes, click on the "Exit" menu item near the top right, and from the Exit Menu choose the "Save Changes and Reset" option. This will save your new settings and reboot, and all your fans should be under automatic mobo control.

 

[alexoiu]

There's an easy solution for you, but the manual info is tricky to decipher. I'm assuming your mobo is the ASUS H170 Pro Gaming. Its manual is here:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/H170_PRO_GAMING/E10499_H170_PRO_GAMING_Guide_WEB_only.pdf

See p. 3-19, Item 8 for pinout diagrams of the mobo fan headers. It has three CHA_FAN headers, and all of them show that Pin #4 is "+5V", whereas that pin on the CPU_FAN header is "CPU FAN PWM". These agree with the labels on the diagram from imgur that you linked to. What those mean is that the CPU_FAN header uses PWM Mode to control fans, and that can ONLY control 4-pin fans. However, all the CHA_FAN headers do NOT put out a PWM signal on Pin #4, In fact, they act only as 3-pin fan headers using Voltage Control Mode, even though they have 4 pins. Why? To make it easy for people like you who are supplied with 3-pin fans in their cases. These headers CAN power AND control both 3-pin and 4-pin fans. So, just plug your three case fans into those three CHA_FAN headers.

Actually, if that IS the correct mobo and manual, look more closely at p. 2-36, Section 2.7.5. It says those three CHA_FAN headers CAN be manually set by you to be use either Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode) - which is the default setting - or PWM Mode. Check that EACH header in BIOS Setup is set to DC Mode. Then for each change the next item down, "Chassis Fan 1/2/3 Q-Fan Source" to "MotherBoard", and verify that the next item, "Chassis Fan 1/2/3 Profile" is set to "Standard". This will ensure that your case ventilation fans are controlled automatically by the mobo using Voltage Control Mode (needed for 3-pin fans) and based on a temperature sensor built into the mobo by its maker, and not based on the sensor inside the CPU chip. When you have made these changes, click on the "Exit" menu item near the top right, and from the Exit Menu choose the "Save Changes and Reset" option. This will save your new settings and reboot, and all your fans should be under automatic mobo control.

Quoting from the 1st post: Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.99 @ SuperBiiz)

 

[Paperdoc]

Wow! My BIG Bad! Thanks, alexoiu. I read "h170 mb" and found the wrong one without reading all the first post. Revised post follows.

There's an easy solution for you, but the manual info is tricky to decipher. Your mobo is the Gigabyte GA-H170M-DS3H; its manual can be downloaded here:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5585#manual

See p. 13, Item3/4 for pinout diagrams of the mobo fan headers. It has only one SYS_FAN header, and it shows that its Pin #4 is "VCC", whereas that pin on the CPU_FAN header is "Speed Control". What those mean is that the CPU_FAN header uses PWM Mode to control fans, and that can ONLY control 4-pin fans. However, the SYS_FAN header does NOT put out a PWM signal on Pin #4. In fact, it acts only as a 3-pin fan header using Voltage Control Mode, even though it has 4 pins. Why? To make it easy for people like you who are supplied with 3-pin fans in their cases. This header CAN power AND control both 3-pin and 4-pin fans. So, just plug your three case fans into this SYS_FAN header.

However, to do that you will need a SPLITTER, but NOT the one linked by James Mason above. That device is a HUB, and it only works for 4-pin fan systems and MUST have a PWM signal from the mobo header to work. Here are examples of SPLITTERS with 3 outputs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423163&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-12-423-163-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423162&cm_re=coboc_fan_splitter-_-12-423-162-_-Product

(But that first one is currently out of stock at that supplier.)

Anyway, a SPLTTER has only one arm with a female connector to plug into your mobo SYS_FAN header, and two or three output arms each with male (with pins) connectors to plug you fans into. It does NOT have an extra arm with a connector to plug into a PSU power output. A Splitter can only distribute the power from the mobo header to all its fans. So you are limited to using no more fans that the mobo header can supply. Now, a mobo header typically can supply up to 1.0 amps current it total, and most common case fans today draw from 0.1 to 0.25 amps. So, three common fans on one mobo header is quite acceptable, and that meets your needs.

Why a Splitter and not a Hub? A Hub can only work with 4-pin fans and a 4-pin header that is using PWM Mode for control. You have 3-pin fans in your case that can only be controlled by a header using Voltage Control Mode, and that is what your mobo SYS_FAN header does. So the Splitter is the right way to connect your 3 fans to one SYS_FAN header.

The splitter examples I put above are 4-pin units, but that does not matter They will fit with 3-pin fans and do the job properly. Note that, of the three output arms, only one has all its pins; the other two are missing Pin #3. That is proper. The mobo header can only deal with one fan's speed signal coming back from the fan on Pin #3, so the splitter only allows ONE of its fans to send its signal back.

Connecting your three case fans as supplied to your mobo's SYS_FAN header using a Splitter will put them all under automatic control by the mobo.