I'm building my first computer and my case has a lot of fans. The fans use 2 connectors, one is a molex power connector, and the other is a 3 pin connecter that goes to the motherboard. The molex cable I have to plug into the molex connecters on the fans has more than one molex plug on it. I was wondering if it were possible to wire all fans together to save some clutter, and if so would I also need to wire all of the 3 pin connecters to the mother board, or will one suffice? Thanks
Can I wire fans together?
- Thread starter jsethrea
- Start date
Solution
- Apr 22, 2009
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You can wire as many fans directly to the Molex daisy-chain as you want. Fans are low wattage devices.
Motherboard headers are usually intended on only having a single fan per header due to the low amperage capacity of the circuit... 2 fans at most.
You can connect your fans to both or either the PSU Molex's or the MB headers as you please. Keep in mind that the fans connected to the PSU directly will always run at full RPM and have no way to read their speed. Fans connected to the MB headers may allow speed and rpm feedback, depending on the board.
Motherboard headers are usually intended on only having a single fan per header due to the low amperage capacity of the circuit... 2 fans at most.
You can connect your fans to both or either the PSU Molex's or the MB headers as you please. Keep in mind that the fans connected to the PSU directly will always run at full RPM and have no way to read their speed. Fans connected to the MB headers may allow speed and rpm feedback, depending on the board.
so I can wire as many fans to the molex daisy chain as I want, but your saying that if I dont wire each fan to the MB, the only drawback would be I shouldnt be able to tell the rpm? Would the performance of each fan suffer at all if I all wire them to the molex daisy chain?
- Apr 22, 2009
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Just so you don't misunderstand what I was saying...
You can wire any fan that has a large 4 pin Molex connector to any 4 pin Molex connectors on a single string of 4 pin Molex's. Add as many as you want to the same daisy chain. Or grab a different daisy-chain. Your choice.
But on fans that come with BOTH a 4 pin Molex connector and a 3 pin Molex KK connector, only connect one or the other. Do not connect the same fan's Molex and Molex KK at the same time.
4 pin Molex: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Molex_female_connector.jpg
3 pin Molex KK: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/633580208_3/3-pin-Case-Fan-Extension-Cable.jpg
You can wire any fan that has a large 4 pin Molex connector to any 4 pin Molex connectors on a single string of 4 pin Molex's. Add as many as you want to the same daisy chain. Or grab a different daisy-chain. Your choice.
But on fans that come with BOTH a 4 pin Molex connector and a 3 pin Molex KK connector, only connect one or the other. Do not connect the same fan's Molex and Molex KK at the same time.
4 pin Molex: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Molex_female_connector.jpg
3 pin Molex KK: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/633580208_3/3-pin-Case-Fan-Extension-Cable.jpg
- Apr 22, 2009
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If you connect to the Molex from the PSU, it will run full speed and you will have no way of reading the RPM or slowing it down.
If you connect to the FAN header on the MB, the BIOS will be able to read the RPM (if it is a 3 wire fan and not a 2 wire) and the BIOS may have the ability to control the speed.
If you connect to the FAN header on the MB, the BIOS will be able to read the RPM (if it is a 3 wire fan and not a 2 wire) and the BIOS may have the ability to control the speed.
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