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3pin to motherboard 4 pin chassis fans

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  • Fan
  • Components
  • Motherboards
Last response: in Components
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August 26, 2014 11:45:12 PM

Hello everyone,

Sorry about this repetitive post, but I was wondering if someone can help me out with my situation.

I have an ASRock H55M Pro (very old I know), and I finally just wanted to control the fan speeds so I had a 3pin splitter for 3 of my fans and connected it to the motherboard (4pin). However, it doesn't seem that I'm able to control the fan speeds when I change in my BIOS. This goes along with my CPU, which is connected 4pin-4pin.

Thanks!

More about : 3pin motherboard pin chassis fans

a b V Motherboard
August 27, 2014 12:17:21 AM

A 3 pin fan cannot be controlled. The pins on the fan allow for power (2 wires) and tach (reading the fan speed). 4 pin fans on the other hand add a fourth wire that allows for Power Management control (that can control the fan speed). Some 3 pin fans have built in fan control though. The only other option is using a seperate fan controller that will regulate the power going to the fan either manually or through a thermal sensor.
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August 27, 2014 12:33:35 AM

I've read other topics that said that their motherboards are able to have the 3pin-4pin connection and still have fan control. Is it just because my motherboard does not support it ?

The weird part is that my CPU is also connected, but instead with 4pin-4pin, and I still am unable to control it from the BIOS as well.
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Best solution

a b V Motherboard
August 27, 2014 12:36:44 AM

4 pin fans can be controlled using PWM and normal voltage control
3 pin fans can only be controlled via normal voltage control

try see in the BIOS setting (fan control) is there a option to change the mode from PWM to voltage/normal mode (likewise)
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a b V Motherboard
August 27, 2014 3:13:17 AM

Sometimes the BIOS doesn't have the fan control you may need. You might be able to control them via some ASRock utility. I don't know ASRock boards that well but from the Manual to your motherboard it seems you only have a Full On and Auto mode for your CPU fan and a Manual mode or Full on for the Chassis fan. It doesn't mention anything about settings for these in the manual though. But sometimes the Utilities they provide give you better access to those type of settings if they are possible with that motherboard.
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