Which motherboard fan header for which case fan?

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jeproject

jeproject

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I've been reorganizing the fans in my case and I want to know if there's a way to find out the links between the PWM headers and the temperature sensors.

Which header is concerned with which sensor or does the PWM system just use an average or just one the sensors?

If I can't work it out I've bought a PWM splitter that runs off the PSU so I'm just going to base all my fans on the CPU fan speed. Just curious as to the original design intentions of having multiple 4pin fan headers.
 
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gbryan101

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May 28, 2013
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Using PWM throughout a case allows you to use the same voltage across everything, letting the fans do the control instead. You would also have control of actual fan RPMs, versus the voltage proportional control of 3 pin connectors.

While in practice it is, there is nothing that explicitly says that PWM fans have to be controlled by temperature. If you wanted, you could control them based off other things like air pressure or power draw, though there is little reason to do so. If you have multiple PWM headers, I am going to guess your mobo is set up (or at least can be) to use a system temp target or something like that. Depending on what you are doing, you could set it up however you want. All of my PWM fans rely on my CPU temp, though this doesn't have to be the case.
 
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jeproject

jeproject

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Does this make the most sense for most people given that the CPU will always be the hottest thing in the case?
 
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gbryan101

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At times, that might be the only thing they have a sensor for. In most retail mobos, you should have at least two, one for the CPU and another somewhere else on the mobo. You would also have one on each graphics card and most hard drives have one.

A lot of motherboards only have one PWM connection, for the CPU cooler fan(s). As you said, this the hottest part in most consumer computers, so it's usually fine.
In my case, my graphics cards do their own thing, separate from the CPU and also have fans powered through the case itself to feed them cool air. That's why I only use the CPU temp.
 
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