Piggybacking molex to a 3-pin adapter

scubaslim

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Sep 16, 2010
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I just ordered a new case. It comes with 4 case fans that have molex connections. My mobo only has two 3-pin connections. I plan on getting a couple molex to 3-pin adapters. My question is can I piggyback the molex together so the mobo is controlling all of the fans?
 
Solution


Most of motherboard fan header can output about 1A, so depends on the fan, but I recommend don't use over 2 fans on a single fan header, so check the fan label, like the link http://www.endpcnoise.com/e/images/papst_silent_case_fan.jpg that one has 0.37A so you can use only 2 of them. If you overload the header, you know what happens.

If you can't connect all the fans into MB, you either buy the fan controller or using the 4 pin molex connect to the PSU, if...


Most of motherboard fan header can output about 1A, so depends on the fan, but I recommend don't use over 2 fans on a single fan header, so check the fan label, like the link http://www.endpcnoise.com/e/images/papst_silent_case_fan.jpg that one has 0.37A so you can use only 2 of them. If you overload the header, you know what happens.

If you can't connect all the fans into MB, you either buy the fan controller or using the 4 pin molex connect to the PSU, if your fan look like this http://i00.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/252/689/743/743689252_598.jpg Or buy the adapter to connect to the PSU http://www.conrad.com/medias/global/ce/9000_9999/9700/9760/9762/976285_BB_00_FB.EPS_1000.jpg
 
Solution

scubaslim

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Sep 16, 2010
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Guess I'll have to wait until the case gets here next week.

The fans I have in my current case are only 0.18A. I don't know what typical fans are, but if they are that low, I could conceivably run 4 or 5 on one header, right?