Fan-only PSU Connector

[uther]

My PSU has a power cable labeled Fan Only. I know that this is meant for use just with fans (obviously ), but is there any advantage to using it? The reason I ask is that if I connect my fans to a regular power cable, I notice that they spin much faster than when I connect them to the Fan Only cable. Is this because the Fan Only cable is not supplying enough power for all 5 of my fans, or is the Fan Only cable tied into a thermistor that will increase the fan speed as temperature increases? I am using an Antec TruePower 430 watt PSU.

Thanks!

 

[mjjohn]

I have an Antec case with the same power supply.
The fan only connectors are part of the Silent PSU. The fans - up to 3 - are speed controled by the power supply. The fan speed is raised or lowered according to the temeratures the PSU sees. If you are running cool, lower speed, less noise. More heat, faster speed, more noise.
The fans on the PSU operate the same way. At idle or little load, you will notice a small air-flow from the PSU exaust. Under a large PSU load the fan will speed up.

 

[uther]

Are you using the Antec 1080? If so, when you say that you can have up to 3 fans, did you mean up to 3 connected to the Fan-only connector? I currently have 6 fans in my case: the PSU fan, the three case fans that came with the system (2 exhaust, 1 side), and I added one in the drive bay location and the one intake on the front. If you can add up to 3 fans on the fan-only connector, then I will definitely move the two front and one side fan over there since it is variable load.

I found the info on the Ante site. I think I will run the two exhausts and the side fan off of the Fan Only wires, with the two front intakes and the CPU fan on one of the 4-pins, especially since the two fronts are thermal fans - although, I have never seen them slow down or speed up .<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by uther on 12/10/02 10:05 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[mjjohn]

Antec 880 w/430w PSU.
My PSU has two connectors marked fan only. A total of 3 fans can be run from these 2 connectors.
Try the side fan and one rear connected to these. Might be a good idea to keep one rear fan running normally - the one closest to the HSF.

Logic goes away if it is not the first or seemingly obvious answer to a problem.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

If you use quiet low speed casefans then its not of much use. If you want temp controlled fans, then go ahead and use it. Your choice.

<b>My Idea of a DOS attack is to stop posting helpful information at Toms Hardware.</b>