Cougar Vortex PWM 120mm fan / HELP!

yep, you may only have 1 or 2 but it will read "fan_header" or something like that, its different for all mobos

See your mobo manual, p. 12. It has one CPU_FAN connector for the CPU cooling system, and one SYS_FAN port right next to it (middle of board) for the case ventilation fan(s). Both are shown as 4-pin types, and the configuration details for the SYS_FAN port on pages 21 - 22 indicate that it operates in PWM mode (true 4-pin type). Now, that means that this port probably cannot control the speed of any 3-pin fan plugged into it, but it CAN control any 4-pin fan. So I recommend you replace your old case fans with ones of the 4-pin type.

As a "rule of thumb", most mobo fan ports can supply up to two fans on one port, but not more. Your case came with 2 fans, I believe. So if you only have 2 case ventilation fans and are replacing them (get 4-pin types as I said above) you CAN connect both of them to that one SYS_FAN port. You simply will need to buy also a 4-pin fan Y-splitter adapter., like this one:

http://www.ncix.com/detail/silverstone-cpf01-100mm-pwm-fan-39-79525.htm

If you have more than 2 case ventilation fans to connect together, post back here for advice on a simple 4-pin hub adapter to allow that.

OK, thanks for more info. First, questions. Since the rear fan is plugged into the mobo SYS_FAN port, check two items: (a) is that fan 3-pin or 4-pin - just count the wires at its connector? (b) If you watch it, does its speed actually change as the workload changes? In a similar thought, the "normal" start-up of a fan that IS under mobo speed control is this: at start-up it runs full speed for a couple of seconds, then slows down as the automatic control kicks in. Does yours do that? This last (part (b)) is to establish whether the SYS_FAN port does or does not control that rear fan's speed. Combined with part (a), this establishes exactly what fan control system that port is using.

Regarding your two front fans without an obvious power connection, I suspect strongly that they are plugged directly into a fixed 12VDC supply line from the PSU. Very likely this is from a 4-pin Molex power output from that PSU (or it could be a SATA power output, which looks different and has many contacts rather than 4 round pins), and likely the connection uses some sort of splitter to plug both of them into one output. Sometimes it's as simple as using stacking connectors to plug 2 into 1. But that does not really matter for your purpose, which is to replace those fans and arrange to control all case fans from the single SYS_FAN port.

Now, IF those considerations establish that the port really is using PWM Mode for control, and IF you buy all 4-pin fans as replacements, then you will need a simple form of 4-pin fan hub, not just a 2-outlet Y-splitter. Something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423164&cm_re=4-pin_fan_splitter-_-12-423-164-_-Product

This device has 5 plugs on it. One is a male 4-pin Molex connector that plugs into a female Molex power output from the PSU (quite possibly the one that your old front fans are using now) to get power fro all this unit's output connectors. (There is a similar device for use if your PSU has no Molex power outputs, and you have to use SATA power output for this purpose.) The second is a common female 4-pin fan connector that would plug into your only mobo SYS_FAN port. This gets the PWM signal from Pin #4 to share with all of the fans being connected, and also feeds back to the mobo the speed signal of ONE of the three fans. The other three are male 4-pin fan output connectors for your fans, but two of them are missing their Pin #3 so that only one speed signal gets sent back. Using this device, power for all 3 of your fans comes from the PSU which can provide MUCH more power than a limited mobo port, but control (via the PWM signal) for all 3 fans comes from the SYS_FAN port.

Post back with the replies to my questions for final confirmation of how this can work. My GUESS is that all 3 of your case vent fans are 3-pin, whereas the SYS_FAN port is a true 4-pin port using PWM Mode. If that is correct, all three of those fans will be running full speed all the time and never slow down. But that remains to be seen - your observations will settle that question.

Well, that may be bad news. No true 4-pin fan port operating in PWM Mode can change the speed of a 3-pin fan. Only a port in Voltage Control Mode can do this. You say the rear fan IS 3-pin and you say that its speed DOES change. You might want to verify that just to be sure. To do this, go into BIOS Setup with the system running and find the place where you can configure the SYS_FAN port - probably the MIT Tab and PC Health Status. For this test set its mode to Manual operation. The go to Fan Speed Percentage and note its current setting so you can restore that. Now try changing the setting to several values in the possible range and observe whether the rear fan's speed changes or not. If it does, that confirms that the SYS_FAN port is NOT using PWM Mode. Reset the Fan Speed Percentage and return the mode to Automatic.

Now, if that test confirms your port is operating in Voltage Control Mode you can NOT use that PWM splitter I linked to. It MUST have a PWM signal to share with its 4-pin fans. If that is the case, you have a dilemma. You CAN connect two fans to the SYS_FAN port using a Y-splitter, but not more. Thus you have one too many fans to control.

I can suggest a couple of ways to deal with this. But I need to know what type of connector is on the ends of the wires from the two front fans. Do they each have a common 3-pin female fan connector, and then use an adapter to change that to a 4-pin Molex male? Or, are the fans' connectors both just 4-pin Molex males (maybe even stacking Molex connectors)? What I'm thinking is how to connect both front fans to the SYS_FAN port to control them, and then use a different adapter device to semi-permanently slow down the rear fan so it is quieter but moves less cooling air. Post your reply here and I can provide details.

Well, the hub adapter connects to one mobo 4-pin port to get a PWM signal for its fans, and to a PSU Molex output to get power. The issue is that such a hub MUST have PWM signal to share. Your posts say that the only SYS_FAN port you have is supplying the rear 3-pin fan AND that the port is successfully controlling that fan's speed, causing it to change. The ONLY way to change the speed of a 3-pin fan is if the port it's connected to is operating on Voltage Control Mode as a 3-pin port. This means that the port is NOT a true 4-pin port operating in PWM Mode, and does NOT provide a PWM signal on its 4th pin! Thus, the hub adapter thing should NOT be able to control even 4-pin fans if it is plugged into that SYS_FAN port.

There are two ways to handle this, each not quite perfect, but good solutions anyway. Since you will have 4-pin fans all around, one way is to make sure you DO have a valid PWM signal to use from a true 4-pin mobo port operating in PWM Mode. The only port your mobo has like that is the CPU_FAN port. This would put all your fans under a control system based on the temperature measured inside the CPU chip. That is ideal for cooling the CPU itself. It is not quite ideal for cooling the rest of your case interior (a different sensor, mounted on the mobo, guides the SYS_FAN port), but after all, the heat generation by mobo components is closely related to overall system workload and hence to the CPU heating. So doing this is OK.

There are just five things you'll need to do right for this.
1. Get a hub adapter cable set that can handle all of your fans - I believe you have four, one for CPU cooling, two in the case front, and one at case rear. Here's one with 4 outputs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812423165&cm_re=4-pin_fan_adapter-_-12-423-165-_-Product

2. Plug its 4-pin female connector into your mobo's CPU_FAN port. This allows it to pick up a PWM signal that it can share to its four fans, and send back to the CPU_FAN port the speed signal of ONE of its four fans.
3. Plug its Molex connector (only has 2 of the "regular" 4 pins) into a mobo female 4-pin Molex output to give the fans a power source.
4. Plug your CPU cooler specifically into the only hub output connector that has all 4 pins in it. This ensures that the mobo CPU_FAN port and its failure monitoring functions DO see the actual speed of the CPU cooler.
5. Plug your other (3?) case fans into the other outputs of the hub. Now all 3 of these AND the CPU cooler will be under the control of the CPU_FAN port. You do not need to use the mobo SYS_FAN port for anything.

The other option is to keep the three case fans separate from the CPU cooling system. This would involve connecting two of the to the SYS_FAN port via a Y-splitter, and the third to a fixed DC suuply that is NOT under automatic control. It also might use a speed reducer adapter for that last one to make it slower and quieter. IF you prefer this option rather than the hub system above, post back for more details.

See my April 11 post from later, about 8:30 pm, 1st paragraph. That tells you how to manually manipulate the speed of the fan plugged into the SYS_FAN port IF it can be changed. If that's not clear enough, post back and I'll help.

If that test shows that the fan is NOT changing its speed as you manually change settings in BIOS Setup, then the port truly is a 4-pin port using PWM Mode, and you can go ahead with your 3 new 4-pin fans connected to that port via the hub adapter wire set, and it should be able to control the speed of the new fans.

If that test shows the fan speed changing as you alter the settings in BIOS, then it is not a PWM Mode port.

One of the confusing things in some instructions and PR blurbs is that mobos say they will automatically control fan speeds without clarifying that it only works that way IF your fans match your mobo ports.

I presume that second photo is a close-up of one of the output connectors of the hub adapter. That is NOT wrong!What it shows IS a male (with pins) 4-pin fan output connector missing Pin #3. If you look closely at the three (or four?) male output connectors you will find that only ONE of them has all four pins. The rest are missing Pin #3. This ensures that the adapter forwards to the mobo SYS_FAN port the speed signal of ONLY the one fan plugged into the connector with Pin #3 present. The mobo cannot handle speed signals from more than one fan.

Besides the male output connectors, the adapter should have two other cables. One (the one that's much wider than the others, with 2 pins only) goes to a 4-pin Molex female power output from your PSU to get power for the fans. The only cable with four wires to a FEMALE fan connector must plug into one of your mobo SYS_FAN ports. This connector picks up the PWM signal that all the fans on the hub can share for control, and returns to the mobo the speed signal from ONE of your fans.

If that is how you have the connections made, go into BIOS Setup to the MIT tab. See your manual Section 2-2 on p. 21. For the System Fan Speed Control make sure it is set to "Normal", then SAVE and EXIT. This should allow your mobo to control the speed of all the fans connected to the hub adapter.

No, no. You're confusing speed measurement with speed control. A mobo port suitably designed can control the speed of a fan. Note that, although we all talk about speed control, the systems really are TEMPERATURE control systems. For case fans, for example, the mobo has a temperature sensor built into it by the mobo maker. The control system checks that measured temperature against its target and manipulates the speed of a fan connected to the SYS_FAN port to generate just the right amount of air flow to keep that measured temperature on target. It actually does not care about what the speed is, it only cares about temperature. But it happens that the tool it can manipulate is fan speed.

Separately, the mobo can measure the speed of a fan on that port. This feature is mainly for info to the user who might be interested. But it also is used for fault detection: if the port sees NO speed signal coming in from the fan, it sends out a warning that the fan has failed, and MAY (depending on mobo design) also take more drastic actions to prevent permanent damage by overheating. Interestingly, the actual fan control system does not even use the speed signal information - remember, it really only cares about temperature.

For fan speed measurement, every fan generates a speed signal as a series of two pulses per revolution sent out on the wire to Pin #3 of the port. The mobo counts these to get speed. You cannot send the mobo port the combined pulse train signals from more than one fan, or it gets completely confused.

The WAY that a port controls a fan's speed is different for 3-pin and 4-pin fans. A 3-pin fan's speed is controlled by varying the voltage sent to it on the power supply line from Pin #2. (Pin #1 is Ground.) The voltage ranges from 12 VDC max down to about 5 VDC normally. It does not go lower because then the fan would stall and take a while to re-start after that "failure" is detected.

A 4-pin fan works differently. Pins 1 and 3 are the same. Pin #2 has a constant 12 VDC supply, not a varying voltage. Then Pin #4 supplies the PWM control signal. Inside the motor case is a printed circuit card for several functions. One of them applies the PWM signal to modify the 12VDC power supplied before it is passed through the motor winding, effectively reducing the power to the motor and hence its speed.

So what happens if you plug a 3-pin fan into a 4-pin port? The fan finds its voltage supply on Pin #2 is always 12 VDC so it runs at full speed. It never gets the PWM signal from Pin #4 because it could not use it, anyway. Now, the other way around - a 4-pin fan plugged into a 3-pin port. That fan gets no PWM signal to modify its voltage supply, so it just uses that voltage. BUT the port is not sending it constant 12 VDC, it is sending varying voltage to reduce the motor speed. So this mis-match still allows the 3-pin mobo port to control the speed of the 4-pin fan.

The limit on multiple fans per port comes from the fact that the circuits in the mobo for that SYS_FAN port typically can supply up to 1 amp at 12 VDC (or less) to the fan. A "normal" case vent fan consumes about 0.25 to 0.3 amps when running full speed, but can take twice that much or more for a few seconds at start-up time. Therefore the "rule of thumb" is that you can use a Y-splitter to connect up to two fans to one port, but no more. For 3-pin fans whose speed is controlled entirely by the voltage supplied on Pin #2, there is no other option.

For 4-pin fan systems, however, there is another option. The particular circuits inside the motor case that use the PWM signal from Pin #4 to modify the incoming DC power supply do NOT consume large currents from that signal source. So it IS permissible to have many 4-pin fans share one PWM signal source. Still, we also need DC power for running the fans. To avoid the "max 2 per port" limit, a 4-pin fan hub does NOT take the DC power from the mobo SYS_FAN port. It gets it directly from a much stronger source, a PSU output at a fixed 12 VDC. Remember, the 4-pin fan needs it power supply on Pin #2 to be a full 12 VDC always, not reduced the way 3-pin fans need. So for 4-pin fans running off REAL 4-pin SYS_FAN headers that use the PWM control system, a hub can allow many such fans to be controlled by one SYS_FAN header.

Now, we come back to the problem you describe, which is that all your case fans seem to be running at full speed all the time. This REALLY suggests that the so-called 4-pin SYS_FAN header on your mobo is not a true 4-pin header operating with a PWM signal. It may be a "fake" 4-pin header that really is a 3-pin header operating in Voltage Control Mode and NOT sending out a PWM signal on Pin #4. Your mobo manual does not mention this, but look again where your SYS_FAN port is configured in BIOS Setup. There are some mobos that actually let you change the operation mode of the port to choose either DC Mode (aka Voltage Control Mode) or PWM Mode. IF your mobo has this feature, set to PWM.

Check also for the fan control software application included on the CD that came with your mobo. I don't remember its name. It is a way to examine and alter fan settings while Windows is running, rather than in BIOS Setup. See if it has any tools you can use.

If all this leads to the conclusion that the only SYS_FAN port you have really is a 3-pin port with an unused 4th pin, then there is one other option for you. Use a Y-splitter or your fan hub adapter to connect TWO of your fans to the SYS_FAN port, but do NOT connect the hub's 4-pin Molex male to a PSU output. Instead use another adapter to plug your third fan into a PSU Molex output. That third fan will always run at full speed. But the other two connected to the SYS_FAN port should run under mobo control as long as the hub or adapter does connect the DC power from Pin #2 to the fans.

If that lsst plan works, here's another tool you could try. You can buy small "low noise adapter" modules for fans. They are really little resistors that you insert into the fan connector to slow the fan down. Using one of those on the single fan that is plugged into the PSU constant 12 VDC supply can slow it down to make it quieter, although that also means it is providing less air flow for cooling.