Please help: What case fans/RAM are required for an Asus Gryphon Z87 Motherboard?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
J

jcsammut

Distinguished
Mar 17, 2014
46
4
18,545
Hi,

Apologies in advance for the long post.

I am looking to get an Asus Gryphon Z87 Motherboard and have a question regarding what case fans to buy. I have searched previous answers but am still a bit confused (first time builder - sorry :pt1cable:).

This motherboard has 4 x 4-pin chassis fan connectors, but I don't know what fan types are required PWM or non-PWM (what is the difference anyway, I hear this motherboard can set fan speed via voltage - is this linked to PWM)?

Do I need to buy fans with 4 pins or are 3 pin fans ok to use?

Also, can I buy a splitter cable to allow 2 fans to be plugged in to one fan header? The reason is I need 6 fans (it is an GD08 HTPC case).

Finally, with regards to RAM, I do not know what speed is most suitable. The motherboard specs state:- DDR3 1866/1600/1333 yet the QVL for this board mentions RAM of 2133 and above.

I can get 2133mhz 1.5v RAM with a CAS of 9 (CMD8GX3M2A2133C9 Dominator Platinum), or 1600mhz 1.5v RAM with a CAS of 8 (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 Vengeance) which is half the price (though cost is not an issue). I have heard that the faster RAM does improve frame rates in certain instances, but I also see people disputing this.

Will this motherboard be able to use the RAM at 2133mhz - why do the specs and QVL differ?

I will have a 4770k if that makes any difference.

Again, sorry for all the questions, but appreciate any help as I am ready to 'push the button'.

Thanks,


Jason.
 
Solution
unknownofprob
Hi and welcome to the forums!

PWM fans will adjust the RPM depending on the PWM signal that your motherboard sends.

Yes you can use a 3pin fan on a 4pin motherboard

Yes you can buy a splitter (Y splitter) to connect two fans to one header, though I would not do more then two as you can fry the header, due to the limited power output. Though two is safe and is commonly done.

Motherboard ram speeds vary, those speeds are supported for some CPU's, though the higher-end CPU's can support higher speeds.

2133MHz with a CL of 9, that doesn't sound correct, it'll be 10/11. The best ram speed you can get right now is 1866Mhz, it has the best speed/CL ratio for performance right now, and Haswell CPU's have been tested to like this speed...
Sort by date Sort by votes
unknownofprob

unknownofprob

Illustrious
Oct 3, 2013
8,409
0
38,960
Hi and welcome to the forums!

PWM fans will adjust the RPM depending on the PWM signal that your motherboard sends.

Yes you can use a 3pin fan on a 4pin motherboard

Yes you can buy a splitter (Y splitter) to connect two fans to one header, though I would not do more then two as you can fry the header, due to the limited power output. Though two is safe and is commonly done.

Motherboard ram speeds vary, those speeds are supported for some CPU's, though the higher-end CPU's can support higher speeds.

2133MHz with a CL of 9, that doesn't sound correct, it'll be 10/11. The best ram speed you can get right now is 1866Mhz, it has the best speed/CL ratio for performance right now, and Haswell CPU's have been tested to like this speed best. Your motherboard will actually support 2133Mhz, as the CPU supports that, those motherboard speeds are the minimum it's capable of according to your CPU.

I think that sums it up, if you have any other questions, just ask and we'll gladly help.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
faalin

faalin

Illustrious
Feb 22, 2012
6,037
384
41,240
the 4 pin fan connectors will be good for the HTPC as they will speed up and slow down by the temp inside the case. The extra wires from the fan, Blue/Green will sense and control the fan speed. The only down side is not to many companies make 4 pin fans, look into Noctua ( expensive, but you get what you pay for ) or cougar.

for the ram....

depending on what your wanting to do with your system any ram will work. The standard for ram use to be 1600mhz CAS 9 but that standard has been slowly moving to 1866 since they have been able to start to bring the CAS levels down along with pricing. I've thrown ram from 1600mhz to 2400mhz into my system and to me could not tell a difference while gaming, im sure if I would have had fraps or any other monitor software open at the time I might have seen a very small bump in performance but to the naked eye nothing. But if your doing photo/video editing or any kind of number crunching the extra ram speed will help out a lot.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jcsammut

Distinguished
Mar 17, 2014
46
4
18,545


Many thanks for the warm welcome! It makes me feel better for asking dumb questions! :)

I think I am going to get PWM fans as it sounds like if a fan header is 4 pin then it supports PWM.

On the splitter, just to confirm could I use 1 splitter on one fan header to run two fans and another splitter on a different fan header to run another 2 fans? Or do you mean I should only use one splitter in total?

With regards to the RAM, I am going to get Corsair 8GB DDR3 DRAM 1866MHz 1.5v C9 Dominator Platinum Series Memory Kit - it is only a few pounds more expensive than was I was going to get and much cheaper than the 2133.

Many thanks once again!

Best regards,


Jason.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jcsammut

Distinguished
Mar 17, 2014
46
4
18,545


Many thanks for the info - much appreciated, will look at that brand of fans.

Regards,

Jason.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
unknownofprob

unknownofprob

Illustrious
Oct 3, 2013
8,409
0
38,960


No question is dumb, always good to learn.

you can run two fans on one header, yes. But only 2 fans per header max.

With the ram, great choice indeed.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jcsammut

Distinguished
Mar 17, 2014
46
4
18,545


Perfect - thanks for all your help much appreciated!

Regards,

Jason.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom