Not enough fan slots on motherboard

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
L

lester2020

Honorable
Jan 28, 2014
29
0
10,530
I would like to install more fans on my cpu but my mb doesnt seem to have anymore slots for it. What can I do? Do I just plug it to the psu?
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
No, using 4 pin Molex adapters isn't recommended. It will work, but it's definitely not the best way. It's overly taxing on the PSU and more importantly, on the fan, since it will be running at full speed all the time that way.

You can use fan splitters to use two fans per motherboard header without any problem. These will work fine whether you have 4 pin PWM or 3 pin voltage controlled fans or motherboard headers:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812162026&cm_re=pwm_splitter-_-12-162-026-_-Product
Sort by date Sort by votes
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,632
176,790
No, using 4 pin Molex adapters isn't recommended. It will work, but it's definitely not the best way. It's overly taxing on the PSU and more importantly, on the fan, since it will be running at full speed all the time that way.

You can use fan splitters to use two fans per motherboard header without any problem. These will work fine whether you have 4 pin PWM or 3 pin voltage controlled fans or motherboard headers:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812162026&cm_re=pwm_splitter-_-12-162-026-_-Product
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,632
176,790


I've seen those burn up hardware. I wouldn't use them. Plus, they still run the fans full time. You want to be able to still control the fans via the BIOS.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
L

lester2020

Honorable
Jan 28, 2014
29
0
10,530

Can I connect a splitter to another splitter? My mb only has 2 slots, but I would like to install 3 more fans, having a total of 5


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,632
176,790
I would not connect more than two fans per splitter and never daisy chain splitters. However, if your board has a CPU_OPT header you CAN use that. In fact I recommend using that header for the rear exhaust fan on any given system as the fan response will be directly proportional to the cpu temps when using that header. What is your motherboard model?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Andrew Murdoch

Andrew Murdoch

Honorable
Mar 16, 2013
686
0
11,160


Overly taxing on the PSU? Most case fans have a draw of less than 0.2A

If a modern PSU can't handle that there is something seriously wrong. Furthermore even with fans running at 100% there is still a 50,000hr mtbf.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
L

lester2020

Honorable
Jan 28, 2014
29
0
10,530


It's a H81M-K
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,632
176,790
OEM or "cheap' PSU versus a "quality" PSU, two different conversations. Anything can push a cheap PSU over the edge, but assuming a good PSU, it's negligible. As far as the fans go, any fan running at max speeds, especially cheap fans like those included with most cases, will never have the same life expectancy as a PWM or voltage controlled fan. Plus, they'll use far more power from the wall and over time it will be reflected on your monthly bill if your system is on more than it's off. They're also a hell of a lot louder running full speed all the time than they are being PWM or voltage controlled via the headers and bios, which cannot be argued.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Andrew Murdoch

Andrew Murdoch

Honorable
Mar 16, 2013
686
0
11,160


I wasn't arguing about loudness or the fans being on 100% because they are both a given. Low quality PSUs should be binned regardless too.
It has been assumed, by me, if the OP is installing more fans that these would not be the default case fans.

I have never, in 20 years, had a fan actually die on me.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,632
176,790
Build enough systems or leave the unit running more often, you will. Heh. I've seen high quality fans fail five minutes after being connected and seen really cheap fans just run and run and run, even caked with layers of dust and grease. I've also seen everything in between. I've seen more than one case of a user having installed lot's of new hardware including a GPU with a much higher demand than the OE card, that worked fine (IF you want to call it that) but then shit the bed once they added an additional drive, fan or other really low power draw device and the only assumption that could be made was that it was the proverbial straw, so I never take any configuration for granted.

I've also seen instances of cheap PSUs that they swore were fine and installed like six new case fans, all via molex, and less than two days later had a smoldering heap. Anything can happen with these machines so I tend to stick with the procedures that are tried and true, at least when making recommendations.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Andrew Murdoch

Andrew Murdoch

Honorable
Mar 16, 2013
686
0
11,160
Haha I must have been lucky then! I generally think of myself as someone who has had *most* of the nightmare scenarios experienced first hand and corrected just never had a problem with fans dying or fan splitters, not that I use fan splitters very often!
It does seem though that the relevance of what we're both saying comes down to the quality of the PSU.

This is a side-note but I wanted to chime it in anway: I have seen some ridiculously filthy fans! Have you ever taken apart a student girls laptop to clean? Horrid!
 
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