fans

[upquark]

Ok im in the middle of my first build and nothing has gone majorly wrong. Im wondering were I should plug the case fans into. they have a plug on the end that will go right in to the psu but that is an adapter on it so if I took it off it would go into Mobo. Im using asus p5b delux. and there are like 5 different places to plug that case fans into. which one should i do for intake fan and outtake fan. thanks for your help i realy appreciate it.

[flanzig1]

Generally I don't plug case fans into motherboards. If you want some control and monitoring of fans, I would plug the exhaust fan to the mobo. Check the mobo manual to see if any of the jacks have speed control. Intake to the PSU.

[SpydaMan]

Generally I don't plug case fans into motherboards..

Working on my first build now, but where else can you plug them into???

If you want some control and monitoring of fans, I would plug the exhaust fan to the mobo. Check the mobo manual to see if any of the jacks have speed control. Intake to the PSU.

So you can monitor and alter the fan speed from the motherboard??? Is this done in bios or by some other means??? (I hate bios, but then again, never messed with it yet!!!)

[Alaron]

We generally recommend attaching your fans directly to the PSU. Motherboards include connections, but that means the board has lots of excess power running through it, which can lead to problems such as instability.

If your fan supports speed control and your motherboard does too, yes you can control the speed. I've never felt this is necessary though, its easier to just use fewer fans, then making the fans you have run slower.

[SpydaMan]

We generally recommend attaching your fans directly to the PSU.

What connectors does one use when connecting them to a power supply??? Still didn't get that far with my build.

[Alaron]

Just use the regular 4pin molex connectors from the PSU to power the fans. Most case fans come ready for these connections instead of the 3pin motherboard connections anyway.

[SpydaMan]

These are the connectors shown for the power supply I am looking at...

1 x Main connector (20+4 pin)
1 x 12V (4/8pin)
7 x peripheral
6 x SATA
1 x Floppy
2 x PCI-E

Which of these are you referring to???

(I feel like I am asking such stupid questions at times!!!)

ENERMAX Noisetaker II EG495P-VE ATX12V 485W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817194009

[Alaron]

They are the 'peripheral' connectors. The photos show them labeled as 4pin molexes. :)

[SpydaMan]

The photos show them labeled as 4pin molexes. :)

Oh yeah, photos...should have looked at them...If you have more than one fan, do you then use the MB, or do power supplies have more than one 4pin molex cables???

[Alaron]

Look closer at the list: "7 x peripheral". So that PSU has 7 of them. Thats plenty. :)

[mbco2001]

I hate to jump in on someone elses post, but reading through it brought up a very interesting question that the initial poster may even be wondering.

On just about every fan in my case, I have the standard 4pin connector and also a small, very thi 3-pin wire that connects to the motherboard. Are both of these power? Or is the 3-pin that goes to the motherboard a "speed monitor"? My DFI lanparty UT ultra-d has 5 spots on the board, each labeled fan1 , fan2, and so on. Should I only be using one wire, or both? Because I currently have each fan with its own 4pin connector and also connected to the board.

[minsonngo]

You can plug in either the 3 pin or the 4 pin... never heard of anyone doing both at the same time.

If you plug the fan directly in the motherboard... the motherboard probably will have some kind of speed monitoring feature available.

[mbco2001]

You reckon its possible that the 3-pin that goes to the motherboard is to monitor the speed, and the 4-pin would be per-say for the neon light? Again, if Im supposed to only be using one, would you recommened unplugging either?


You can plug in either the 3 pin or the 4 pin... never heard of anyone doing both at the same time.

If you plug the fan directly in the motherboard... the motherboard probably will have some kind of speed monitoring feature available.

[minsonngo]

I would just leave the 4 pin hooked up to the PSU and unplug the 3 pin from the motherboard.


I don't know if using both cables will have any negative long term effects.

[Cricket]

which one should i do for intake fan and outtake fan. Lower front are intake (blow cool air into case) and upper rear are exhaust (blow warm air out of case).

Some cases have fan ports on the side panel, these are generally intakes to blow cool air on the video card and CPU heatsink.

Some cases also have fan ports on the top of the case, these are for exhaust to blow warm air out of the case.

What I normally do is install 1 exhaust fan on the back to work with the power supply fan. If the computer runs without problems I don't add any more fans. More fans mean more noise.

:) Cricket