Asus z270h fan headers

coolsujjan786

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Sep 29, 2017
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Hi, so I recently purchased an Asus Z270H motherboard. I am fitting this inside a NZXT S340 elite case. The case comes already with 2 fans fitted as exhausts ( I believe they are the FN V2 120mm fans). I want to install 2 additional fans as intakes (NZXT Aer 120mm) though I only noticed after purchasing the motherboard that it has only 2 system fan headers and 1 AIO fan header and 2 CPU fan headers. I wanted to know if it is possible to fit all 4 fans onto the motherboard by a fan splitter or by putting 1 fan in the AIO header. I also wasnt sure if these fans that come with the case are PWM (first time builder :) ).
 
Solution
FN V2 fans are 3-pin DC fans (https://www.nzxt.com/products/fn-v2). AER fans are 4-pin PWM fans (https://www.nzxt.com/categories/aer-series).

Asus Z270H has a total of 5 fan headers (all 4-pin PWM but can be configured in BIOS to work in either PWM-mode or DC-mode, and assign fan curves, individually). You can use the AIO_PUMP header as a fan header as they work/are wired similarly as far as this motherboard is concerned (see |Chapter 1-Page 16| and |Chapter 3-Page 7| of your manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/STRIX_Z270H_GAMING/E12509_STRIX_Z270H_GAMING_UM_V3_WEB.pdf?_ga=2.256605131.1579778359.1506703560-643997671.1502818833).

Since your two FN V2 fans are DC fans, make sure you change the setting of your chosen...
FN V2 fans are 3-pin DC fans (https://www.nzxt.com/products/fn-v2). AER fans are 4-pin PWM fans (https://www.nzxt.com/categories/aer-series).

Asus Z270H has a total of 5 fan headers (all 4-pin PWM but can be configured in BIOS to work in either PWM-mode or DC-mode, and assign fan curves, individually). You can use the AIO_PUMP header as a fan header as they work/are wired similarly as far as this motherboard is concerned (see |Chapter 1-Page 16| and |Chapter 3-Page 7| of your manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/STRIX_Z270H_GAMING/E12509_STRIX_Z270H_GAMING_UM_V3_WEB.pdf?_ga=2.256605131.1579778359.1506703560-643997671.1502818833).

Since your two FN V2 fans are DC fans, make sure you change the setting of your chosen fan header to connect the fans to DC-mode in order to control the speed/noise of the fans. If DC fans are plugged on a header in PWM-mode, they will spin at full speed 24/7 (noisy).

Here's a sample configuration, plugging everything in the motherboard, with 5 fans = 5 headers:

CPU_FAN (in PWM-mode) <---- Your CPU Cooler, which is usually a 4-pin PWM fan (though there are some 3-pin DC as well)
CPU_OPT (in DC-mode) <---- Top Exhaust FN V2 3-pin DC fan (it's the header nearest to the top)
AIO_PUMP (in DC-mode) <---- Rear Exhaust FN V2 3-pin DC fan (its' the header nearest to the rear)
CHA_FAN1 (in PWM-mode) <---- One of your AER fans at front
CHA_FAN2 (in PWM-mode) <---- One of your AER fans at front
 
Solution

coolsujjan786

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Sep 29, 2017
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510
Thanks for your suggestion, I'll try it out and get back to this thread if it works or not. From what you're saying it doesnt matter which fan i put on which header as long as I change the setting accordingly in the BIOS. So I could put the AER fans as exhausts and the FN V2 fans as intakes and it should work fine?
 
Yes it would also work that way.

Though it is recommended that you have positive airflow into your case by ensuring the CFM (airflow) of the intakes is greater than that of the exhausts.

The FN V2 fans are rated at 45 CFM at 1200rpm max. speed; the AER fans (depending if you got the Aer P or Aer F) are rated at 73 CFM at 2000rpm for the Aer P or 63 CFM at 1500rpm for the Aer F.

If you decide to put the AER fans as exhaust, you want to adjust the fan curves so that the CFM of the exhausts will be lower than that of the FN V2 fans you put as intakes.
 
It depends on how you configure the speed of the fans. The rated airflow (in CFM) of each fan is dependent on the speed at which the fans are set to spin (in percentage).

The AER RGB 120mm is rated at max. 1500rpm that will produce 52CFM of air. On the other hand, the AER P 120mm is rated at max. 2000rpm that will produce 73CFM of air.

If you were, say, install the two AER RGB fans as exhaust and two AER P fans as intakes, all set to spin at their max. speeds, then, you will exhaust 52CFM + 52CFM = 104CFM of air (with AER RGB spinning at 1500rpm) and you will intake 73CFM + 73CFM = 146CFM of air (with AER P spinning at 2000rpm). This is ideal as more air are going in than going out (positive airflow).

But, if say, you find the AER P too loud and configure it to run at 50% (i.e., 1000rpm), then, the approx. corresponding CFM will be 50% of 73CFM which is only 36.5CFM each. This will result in negative airflow if you don't adjust the speed of the exhaust to a certain percentage that will produce a lower CFM than the intakes.

So, the positive or negative airflow can be obtained depending on how fast you run the individual fans themselves (whatever the max. ratings the fan has on its specs).

On another note, regarding the AER RGB fans:

Though both AER P (non-RGB) and AER RGB can be plugged directly to the motherboard's fan headers for the fans to spin, the RGB version requires the NZXT HUE+ controller for you to enable and control the lighting (http://www.nzxt.com/products/aer-rgb-hue).

Though you can use the AER RGB without the HUE+, it defeats the purpose of getting the RGB version. So, for the two AER RGB you will get, (which are both 4-pin PWM fans), the fans are plugged into the HUE+ controller (with both fans can be linked) and as such will only use up one PWM fan header of your motherboard (as opposed to two). The HUE+ controller itself is then powered via a DC adapter (Molex directly to the PSU) and communicates with the motherboard/CAM software via an available USB2.0 9-pin header (http://blog.nzxt.com/2016/10/how-to-install-nzxt-aer-rgb-fans/).

So, with this setup (AER RGB with HUE+ at intakes and AER P at exhausts), you will only be using 4 out of the 5 fan headers of your motherboard. Here's a sample configuration:

CPU_FAN (in PWM-mode) <---- Your CPU Cooler
CPU_OPT (in PWM-mode) <---- Top Exhaust AER P PWM fan (it's the header nearest to the top)
AIO_PUMP (in PWM-mode) <---- Rear Exhaust AER P PWM fan (its' the header nearest to the rear)
CHA_FAN1 (in PWM-mode) <---- Linked two AER RGB PWM fans at front intake (connected to the HUE+ controller)
CHA_FAN2 <---- not used (available)
USB2.0 (9-pin) header <---- HUE+ controller (for data communication)
PSU's Molex connector <---- HUE+ controller (for power)
 

coolsujjan786

Prominent
Sep 29, 2017
4
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510


I just finished my build and it seems that the AER RGB exhaust fan I put into the AIO pump fan header is just spinning at full speed and I am not able to configure it in the BIOS. I also don't understand how you could link both AER RGB fans to 1 fan header. Only thing I could daisy chain was the HUE+ to the fans.