Question regarding 3pin and 4pin system fan settings

dci260

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Hello,

I am currently planning on purchasing 3 120mm case fans to go with the 1 120mm fan that I already have, but my motherboard only has 1 4pin connector and 1 3pin connector, so I was wondering how I should set these fans up. Currently, my plan is to buy 2 pwm fan splitter cables and connect 2 of the fans to the 4pin connector and the other 2 fans to the 3pin, but I am not sure which fans would benefit more from the PWM functionality. Obviously one of the 2 sets of fans is going to get the short-end, but I'm not sure which is better suited for it. Does anyone have any insight regarding whether intake or exhaust fans would be better at auto max speed or pwm? I would really appreciate any help.

Fans - http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Blade-120-Radiators/dp/B0030DL37I/

PWM Splitters - http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-Sleeved-Splitter-CPF01/dp/B00B46XKKQ

Planned Fan Setup - http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntell/item/11/133/11-133-200/features-layout-2.jpg

Motherboard (For anyone curious) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514
 
Solution
The intakes should be the PWM fans. They'll be the most audible ones most likely since they'll be closer to the front of the case, so have the exhaust at a moderate fixed speed and set the fans to ramp up with temperature.

doubletake

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The intakes should be the PWM fans. They'll be the most audible ones most likely since they'll be closer to the front of the case, so have the exhaust at a moderate fixed speed and set the fans to ramp up with temperature.
 
Solution

dci260

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Okay, thank you! There is one thing I don't understand, however, you said to set the exhaust fans to a fixed speed that ramps up with the temperature, but I thought that if the fans were connected via a 3-pin connector they couldn't be speed controlled?
 

Pondering

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The sleeve bearing are meant to be mounted vertically such as front intake or back exhaust. They are not meant to be mounted horizontally for top exhaust. I know this since I bought a 4 pack meaning to mount them horizontally for top exhaust.

Fluid Circulative Bearing or better for top mounted exhaust fans. Is the intake to the graphics card filtered?
 

doubletake

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No, I meant to leave the exhausts at a moderate fixed speed, and set the PWM intakes to ramp up. It was just poorly worded, my bad.

Also, yes, 3-pin fans can be controlled, it just depends on your motherboard's fan control settings.
 

dci260

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Ah, I see, so I should go with a ball-bearing fan for the top and bottom?

And in terms of the intake to the GPU, there is no dust filter if thats what you mean, and it doesn't appear, to my knowledge, that a fan can be installed on the side of this case.

EDIT: Scratch that, I just saw that you said to go with Fluid Bearing, misread that sentence before. :p



Oh, that makes more sense, I thought I had something wrong. Anyway, once again, thank you for your help! :)
 

Pondering

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They use ball bearings for power supply fans and those are horizontal so that is a good choice.

http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/product/2/3894/5499_big.jpg
5499_big.jpg


I don't see a 3 pin connection on the motherboard near the I/O shield.

I see the the 3 pin connections for the side intake fan and and the front intake fans. Am I missing something? I am not sure if the PWM 4 pin connection can be used to split up to 4 connection. 1 on heatsink, 1 on back exhaust and 2 for top exhaust.
 

dci260

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I'm sorry, I'm sort of confused. I was under the impression that I could plug 2 fans with the splitter into sys_fan1 and get the benefit of the PWM 4-pin, and the other 2 fans would go with another splitter into sys_fan2 and just go auto with the 3-pin.
 

doubletake

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Yes, using a splitter will work just fine. Fans rarely ever perform exactly as their specs state they will, so even using two of the same model fans isn't 100% guaranteed to work well, however, chances are high that they will, and I personally have had great success with using that same exact silverstone splitter that you linked to earlier. I have 2 (and have had 4) Cougar Vortex fans attached to my H100i with one of those splitters, and they work perfectly with close matching RPM speeds. I also have another Cougar fan and a stock Intel cooler attached to one of those splitters in my ITX system, and they also have had 0 problems despite being mismatched speeds.