Motherboard Support for Case Fans

[carolinadad]

I am doing my first build and have run into a snag already. My case has TWO fans which was a big selling point with me. However, my motherboard has only one place to connect a fan (that I can see). Also, the accompanying owners manual show only one. Where/How do I connect my second fan?

[hitchface]

Run it from the PSU. You should have extra connections lying about.

[carolinadad]

The PSU has lots of connectors but none match up to the fan.

[Lespaul20]

What kind of motherboard to you have?

[hitchface]

I'll guess that your fan has a 3-pin connection. Your PSU has a 4-pin molex. Find an adapter, they are everywhere.

[carolinadad]

I have a Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H. Looks to be a pretty good board. Has gotten decent reviews. I'm still waiting on a few things before I can fire it up.

[Lespaul20]

Ahh.. It's a microATX board. That's why there only one Sys fan header. hitch has your answer.

[carolinadad]

Well, the mfgr's website lists this motherboard with the dimensions of 12X9 inches (actually 30.5mm X 22.9mm). Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought a micro was like 9.6 inches square?

[Alfie]

It appears your motherboard is atx and has 2 fan headers,one for cpu fan and the other for system fan.
One is near the cpu socket and the other is on the edge near the pci slots.
You can hook one fan to it and the other get an adapter to use the molex connector from the psu.

[carolinadad]

Okay, I learned something today. Went to my local German computer gadget store with the intentions of buying the adapter recommended in the above threads and the guy there showed me a splitter that enables two fans to connect to the same SYS FAN header. Set me back all of about $1.50 and works great; made by Revoltec. Highly recommend.

[liambl]

I would be cautious of running more than one fan off one header, the motherboard's PWM circuitry can only handle so much.

[Cricket]

I would be cautious of running more than one fan off one header, the motherboard's PWM circuitry can only handle so much.I agree...you would have been better off getting two 3 to 4 pin adapters and connecting the fans directly to the power supply.

:) Cricket

[carolinadad]

You know, that thought popped into my head at the store when the guy recommended this little splitter. But I asked him about the voltage and long-term effects and he said it shouldn't be a problem. I think I may err on the side of caution and take your advice. Thanks.

[hitchface]

"Shouldn't be a problem"...famous last words.