Fan Connect to Motherboard or PSU

morrjt

Honorable
Mar 29, 2014
14
0
10,510
Hello,

I recently bought a pc through CyberPower and decided I wanted to add two more fans to the system. I have a Cooler Master N600 and I purchased two Enermax UC-12 EB 120 MM fans to install on the top of the case. My question is if I should plug them into the PSU cables or directly on the motherboard into SYS-FAN 1/2. However, the fans have three prongs and the ports on the mobo are 4. I was not sure if that would be a problem. Additionally, since I did not personally build (although everybody recommends to do so), I am still trying to figure out the wiring they did. My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-Z87X-HD3. I would appreciate any help and let me know if you need more information. Thank you.
 
Solution
The connector will still fit in the 4 pin slots. The 4th is usually for a temperature probe. Anyway if you plug them directly into the power supply they will be at max speed all the time which will be more noise. If you plug them into the motherboard you can regulate their speed via the bios or whatever other software your motherboard supports for fan control.

Davil

Distinguished
Feb 2, 2012
311
0
18,960
The connector will still fit in the 4 pin slots. The 4th is usually for a temperature probe. Anyway if you plug them directly into the power supply they will be at max speed all the time which will be more noise. If you plug them into the motherboard you can regulate their speed via the bios or whatever other software your motherboard supports for fan control.
 
Solution

morrjt

Honorable
Mar 29, 2014
14
0
10,510
Thanks. I was looking in the manual for my motherboard and it says Pin 1: Ground, Pin 2: Speed Control, Pin 3: Sense, and Pin 4: VCC. Is it still okay to bypass Pin4? I do not know what VCC stands for.
 

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