I just built a new rig tonight and it's experiencing some birth pains.
On the plus side, aside from not booting the first time due to an errant power switch connector come loose, it booted on the second try and installed XP without issue. I'm grateful for that.
Now on to the problems.
First, I bought a new Radeon X1900XT and replaced the fan with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. Well, the thing has yet to spin up. I connected its female 3-pin plug to the male that the 3-pin plug of the stock unit was connected to, and nothing. I flipped the plug around, since it's one of those that fits on either way, and nothing. The unit also comes with a 2-speed speed control, but it requires a 3-pin connector on the motherboard, and my new Gigabyte P965 doesn't seem to have one. In fact, it has few connections for fans at all -- more on that in a moment -- and what is there is 4-pin, not three.
Now, I recognize that there are many possible explanations for the above -- the Zalman could be broken, the Radeon could never have heated up enough for the Zalman to kick in, I need an adapter for the fan plug, etc. -- but I don't have the experience to know which. And I'm reluctant to run the machine without a spinning GPU fan; the unit is simply too costly for that.
The other fans are my next concern. I have two 120 mm case fans, and at least the front one is variable speed, but, again, the MB has no 3-pin connectors for it (though it's running fine, connected via molex to the PSU, as is the rear fan). So, what's the solution -- some sort of 4-pin compatible multi-fan controller? This assumes that there is a solution.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
ELB
On the plus side, aside from not booting the first time due to an errant power switch connector come loose, it booted on the second try and installed XP without issue. I'm grateful for that.
Now on to the problems.
First, I bought a new Radeon X1900XT and replaced the fan with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. Well, the thing has yet to spin up. I connected its female 3-pin plug to the male that the 3-pin plug of the stock unit was connected to, and nothing. I flipped the plug around, since it's one of those that fits on either way, and nothing. The unit also comes with a 2-speed speed control, but it requires a 3-pin connector on the motherboard, and my new Gigabyte P965 doesn't seem to have one. In fact, it has few connections for fans at all -- more on that in a moment -- and what is there is 4-pin, not three.
Now, I recognize that there are many possible explanations for the above -- the Zalman could be broken, the Radeon could never have heated up enough for the Zalman to kick in, I need an adapter for the fan plug, etc. -- but I don't have the experience to know which. And I'm reluctant to run the machine without a spinning GPU fan; the unit is simply too costly for that.
The other fans are my next concern. I have two 120 mm case fans, and at least the front one is variable speed, but, again, the MB has no 3-pin connectors for it (though it's running fine, connected via molex to the PSU, as is the rear fan). So, what's the solution -- some sort of 4-pin compatible multi-fan controller? This assumes that there is a solution.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
ELB
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