Case fan stops spinning after boot process

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Silentcat32

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Nov 14, 2015
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So I was a bit dumb since it's my first time building. I didn't notice I had a front fan in my case.
I recently hooked up the front fan cable to a peripheral connector from the power supply. The front fan spins for a few seconds on startup but stops when it reaches the desktop. Though, the LED is still on. I checked the BIOS, the fan isn't detected. Am I suppose to plug this into the motherboard?

As a side note, I notice that the front fan kinda makes a weird noise. I'm guessing I need to get it replaced?

UPDATE : That stock case fan was broken. I bought a new Cooler Master case fan and slapped it on the front. Hard drive temperatures dropped from 51 to 43 degrees or below. I can now have peace of mind.
 
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You can plug it directly into the psu if the fan needs full 12V (most of them do) but then it runs at top speed the whole time, and if that's what it was doing so far, probably the bearing has worn out, which might account for the noise and lack of spinning.
You can check this though, unplug from the psu and plug into one of the fan headers on the motherboard. Keep in mind, if the fan is 4 pin, it won't work on a 3 pin header, though a 3 pin fan will work on a 4 pin header. Check your motherboard utilities for support on controlling how fast this fan will spin. More info on 3 vs 4 pin here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/340825-28-case-fans-4pin-3pin-molex
If you plug it into the motherboard and it just doesn't work, and continues...
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Sedivy

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You can plug it directly into the psu if the fan needs full 12V (most of them do) but then it runs at top speed the whole time, and if that's what it was doing so far, probably the bearing has worn out, which might account for the noise and lack of spinning.
You can check this though, unplug from the psu and plug into one of the fan headers on the motherboard. Keep in mind, if the fan is 4 pin, it won't work on a 3 pin header, though a 3 pin fan will work on a 4 pin header. Check your motherboard utilities for support on controlling how fast this fan will spin. More info on 3 vs 4 pin here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/340825-28-case-fans-4pin-3pin-molex
If you plug it into the motherboard and it just doesn't work, and continues making funny noises, replace the fan. They're not very expensive:
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case-fan/
 
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Silentcat32

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Nov 14, 2015
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I'll try that and see how it goes.
I've been wanting to get the front intake fans to work since my hard drive doesn't have any cooling and normally goes up to 50 degrees.
I heard that WD drives can work on a temperature below 70?
 
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Sedivy

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Dec 17, 2016
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Typically they can take higher temps, but some may have issues working at higher temps. You want to try and cool them somewhat, and besides that's your primary intake fan, you really should have it working for the sake of all of your components.
 
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Silentcat32

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Nov 14, 2015
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Uh, okay.
So this front fan uses a molex connector , but my power supply has a cable with a connector for it as stated before. I tried plugging that cable into the motherboard and the computer didn't boot at all. Took it out and it boots again.
I guess I'll have to get a new fan?
 
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Silentcat32

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I guess my temps are on the 'neutral range'. The temps that I normally get are :

CPU : 38-45 degrees (idle) / 50-70 degrees (gaming)
GPU : 38-45 degrees (idle) / 50-80 degrees (gaming)
HDD : 38 degrees (on startup) / 51-52 degrees (4-5 hour usage)
 
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Sedivy

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Your temps are actually surprisingly acceptable for only a single non-working front fan. As for the molex connector, you...don't need the molex connector for connecting to the mobo. Where would you even plug it in? Just the thin little fan connector connecting to the fan connector on the motherboard. Do NOT plug it into the CPU_FAN one however. That is reserved for your cpu cooler and if you disconnect the existing one plugged in already, your computer won't start. Use one of the SYS_FAN connectors. Should altogether look something like this:
http://www.buildcomputers.net/images/connecting-case-fan-to-motherboard.jpg
http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/201311/LGA1156_DSCF5055.jpg
http://cdn2.alphr.com/sites/alphr/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/2016/01/motherboard-connect-second-fan-power.jpg?itok=kVkhIOpd
 
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