Where to connect molex connectors of my case fans?

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Sushrut_Thakur

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I bought a new case namely Circle CC821 Gaming.It came with 3 fans included.2 in front and 1 at the back.The 1 at the back has a 3 pin connector which can be attached to the motherboard directly.The 2 front fans have 4 pin molex connectors which are fairly new to me( this is my first time PC build).I want to know how to connect those to my motherboard(Whether I should use some adapters or something).Or rather I should connect them to my PSU itself.Also tell me how important is controlling the speed of the fans is?? And one more thing.. The molex fan connectors have 2 sides.One is like the one which is there on the PSU(Female) and the other one(Male) is like the one which seems like it is to be used to connect with the connector of the PSU.Tell me their uses and importance,

Rather,Tell me everything you know about these connectors guys.

Your reply is most awaited.

I thank in advance to the people who will reply to this thread in case I am unable to thank you later.
 
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thehutti
Hi Sushrut_Thakur,

the molex connectors are to connect the fans directly to the PSU. The female part of the Fan-Molex-Connector to the male connector of the PSU. The male part of the fan is just so you don't lose a connector by using the fan and can connect to any other molex female connector in your setup to supply power. Fans connected by molex are normally not speed regulated and run at 12V all the time with the connection to the PSU. In some rare cases the PSU supplies extra FAN-Molex connectors that supply regulated voltages. If your PSU is one of these (its unlikely), then you should use the extra fan-molex ones to connect the fans. The problem with fans directly connected to the PSU is that they normally run at full speed and...
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thehutti

thehutti

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Hi Sushrut_Thakur,

the molex connectors are to connect the fans directly to the PSU. The female part of the Fan-Molex-Connector to the male connector of the PSU. The male part of the fan is just so you don't lose a connector by using the fan and can connect to any other molex female connector in your setup to supply power. Fans connected by molex are normally not speed regulated and run at 12V all the time with the connection to the PSU. In some rare cases the PSU supplies extra FAN-Molex connectors that supply regulated voltages. If your PSU is one of these (its unlikely), then you should use the extra fan-molex ones to connect the fans. The problem with fans directly connected to the PSU is that they normally run at full speed and are loud. There are some Options out there that reduce the voltage and make the fans slower but it's generally better to buy new fans that are connectable to the mainboard and use the mainboard regulation.
 
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Sushrut_Thakur

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Your answer is quite satisfactory, but i need one more question of mine to be answered.A tiny problem has occurred. My PSU,namely Corsair VS550 has only female molex connectors.Is there a problem if I connect the male fan connectors to these female PSU connectors?
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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You're mixing the definition of male/female up mate.
The corsair psu connectors are male , you plug them into the female socket of the fans.
They will only fit one way so you can't so it wrong.

If the fans seem too loud for you there is an easy way to downvolt them to 7v & run at 70% speed by just pulling the pins i n thevconnectora on the fans & moving them over.
 
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thehutti

thehutti

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Sorry, i got them switched ^^ just plug them together, there should be no problem. Best way is to plug the Male of the first fan to the female of the second fan and then just plug the PSU female to the left male of the fans

My thought was because the plastic casing of the female goes into the plastic of the male it should be the male one, but the electric connectors are switched ^^
 
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Sushrut_Thakur

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Correct me if I am wrong..
The male connectors are the ones with pins or spikes and the female connectors are the ones with the holes right??

my PSU has connectors with the 4 holes and the fan connectors have both 4 holes on one side and 4 pins on the other side.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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You see mate there's a discrepancy here regarding what's classed as female & what's male.

I would argue that the molex with holes coming from the psu are male because as a whole they slot inside the larger connector with the pins in.
Other people would say its the other way round.

Irregardless of this , because of the shape of the external casing of the molex (because the top is curved)& the fact that one has pins & the other doesn't , it's near impossible to plug them together wrongly.

They only fit together in one orientation, the definition of which is male or female is insignificant.

 
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