Building new system...some questions on case fans/fan controllers.

[xydin]

Hello,

Right now I have 3 case fans, a 120mm front intake, 120mm back exhaust, and a 230mm side fan. All 3 fans have a 4-pin molex male and female connector. I was wondering if a fan controller would be able to handle these fans or if it would burn out? I have heard that some fan controllers go out with more than one 120mm fan, so yeah..

Would it be better if I just hook up my fans straight to my PSU? and if so.. would it be ok to just attach them all together and then onto one 4-pin connector on my psu or should I separate them?


Here is my case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133062

and my psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022


Thanks in advance for any help ^^

 

[xydin]

Am I posting this in the wrong section? ;x

 

[photonboy]

I'd need more details about the fans.

You want your fan speed control to be automated.

With graphics cards able to shunt most out their heat out the rear, and CPU fan speed control from the motherboard most case fans should simply be low flow running at a single speed.

If you find the fans you bought run a little high I'd look for a fan controller that uses a 3.5" or 5.25" bay, hook your fans into it and turn down the speed. I might increase it slightly for the summer time when it's hotter.

Burn out? That's why you read the specs. Fan controllers are designed to control fans. you need the correct connection and to know your fan current.

attach them to a single motherboard input?

No. You never, ever do that. your motherboard manual will specifiy the current draw supported for each fan connector it has but you'd almost certainly wreck your motherboard with all three of these.

You can also plug them directly into your power supply which is very common. if the idle noise is acceptable. Most people do a combination of motherboard fan speed control, motherboard without fan speed and just plugging into the power supply. Again, fan speed control for the hot components and low-flow single speed to keep air moving through the case.

 

[xydin]

Sorry if I worded it weird, I didn't mean plugging all three into the same port on the motherboard, I meant plugging all three into the same connection on the power supply, like "piggybacking" them onto each other.

Would it be ok to unplug the 4 pin connector from the fan and replace it with a 3 pin connector?

I'll take some pictures in a second to show you what I mean.


Edit:

at the bottom of the picture you can see where the 4 pin connector detaches from the fan cable, could I just take it off and replace it with a 3 pin one?

 

[photonboy]

Yes on the the 3 fans.

If that's a 4-pin power connector for a fan, you should be able to just plug your 3-pin fan into it directly:

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/cs-012074.htm

 

[xydin]

Thanks, I figured it out

 

[mikeny]

Was this bad? I plugged my four fans into the motherboard. The motherboard had 7 male connectors on it for "sysfan." So I plugged the 4 case fans into 4 out of the 7 sockets. When I get to the BIOS ( I havent fired up my system yet), I will let the fans run constantly (Forgot the setting from my motherboard manual at the moment).

 

[xydin]

if your motherboard supports it, it should be fine, I don't see why not.

 

[photonboy]

Fans all have draw different amounts of power/current.

Your motherboard manual will specify the limits for each slot. Your fan should have come with a paper saying what the max current draw is.

 

[mikeny]

I'll have to look but all of my fans are running.