Connecting Fans

[Phalanx]

Hi there, I will be a first time building and I wanna check up on absolutely everything to make sure errors can happen, it may seem like quite a nooby question but anyway;
Is there a limit to how many fans you connect?
I wanna know because this is something I have no idea about, I ain't absolutely sure where you connect them either although I think it is the PSU, also, what happens if you run out of wires coming from the PSU, can you add more?

[Cricket]

There are three kinds of fan power connectors...the 2 pin, 3 pin and 4 pin molex. The most common is the 4 pin molex pass-through type. I've connected up to 4 fan in a daisy chain (one after the other) but I don't think I would connect more than that. These fans connect to the power supply 4 pin molex connectors.

With the 2 pin and 3 pin power connectors, you can't connect several fans together...you just connect one fan to the fan header on the motherboard. But you shouldn't connect high speed, high volume fans to the motherboard or you could burn the header out.

:) Cricket

[Phalanx]

Originally posted by Cricket
There are three kinds of fan power connectors...the 2 pin, 3 pin and 4 pin molex. The most common is the 4 pin molex pass-through type. I've connected up to 4 fan in a daisy chain (one after the other) but I don't think I would connect more than that. These fans connect to the power supply 4 pin molex connectors.

With the 2 pin and 3 pin power connectors, you can't connect several fans together...you just connect one fan to the fan header on the motherboard. But you shouldn't connect high speed, high volume fans to the motherboard or you could burn the header out.

:) Cricket

thx for help so how would I connect a large amount of fans to my power supply? like in a daisy chain for example?

[Cricket]

Yes, you can daisy chain a number of fans together (if they have the 4 pin pass-through type power connector).

How many fans do you want to install in your case?

:) Cricket

[Phalanx]

Originally posted by Cricket
Yes, you can daisy chain a number of fans together (if they have the 4 pin pass-through type power connector).

How many fans do you want to install in your case?

:) Cricket

well the case I am getting has 4 (2x80mm 2x90mm) but I wanna keep open because Fans look really nice in cases

[Designer]

If you have enough power branches coming from your power supply and it's rated high enough there's no real limit to how many fans you can fit. In mine i've got 2 at the front on one power branch. One at the side and another at the rear on another branch from the power supply. Just don't connect too many items to one branch.

I assume "branch" is the correct term to use but you know what I mean

[FLG]

One thing, do NOT connect the fan(s) to the same molex your hdd is getting power from.

Dont do something like this

Molex from psu to Fan to HDD

Connect all your drives and what not, if you have leftover molex's (which you should) use them, if not go through things that arent critical components.

[cocotazo245]

Originally posted by Cricket
There are three kinds of fan power connectors...the 2 pin, 3 pin and 4 pin molex. The most common is the 4 pin molex pass-through type. I've connected up to 4 fan in a daisy chain (one after the other) but I don't think I would connect more than that. These fans connect to the power supply 4 pin molex connectors.

With the 2 pin and 3 pin power connectors, you can't connect several fans together...you just connect one fan to the fan header on the motherboard. But you shouldn't connect high speed, high volume fans to the motherboard or you could burn the header out.

:) Cricket

If you connect the 4 pin type case fan to your case, will these fans turn on when you turn the computer on or when the power supply is switched on? My computer has the power button on the front of the case and also a power switch on the power supply itself. The reason I ask is because this type of connector is not attached to the motherboard. I am also building a new computer for the first time.

[FLG]

The only time anything will turn on is when the switch on the front it pushed, the switch on the back of the power supply if in the "on" position will give the power supply power, yet nothing will be turned on.

[cocotazo245]

Thanks a million for the info!!

[Preston]

Originally posted by FLG
One thing, do NOT connect the fan(s) to the same molex your hdd is getting power from.


Why do you suggest that? Will the (pass through) fan connector draw too much power and hurt the performance of the drive?

[Designer]

It's unlikely but possible, it's not worth creating possible problems for yourself. It's all about current, you are limited eventually by the cable size as to how much current it can carry, as hard drives are power-hungry then you don't want to load that branch from the power supply to heavily.