Powering Case Fans - WHich Way?

[Sentinel]

Hello,

I am going to be starting a new build soon and have taken delivery of the case (Coolermaster Cosmos). While familarising myself with the case I have noticed a couple of things relating to the connection of the case fans.

All the fans appear to have 3 connectors; a male molex, a female molex and what looks like a small 3-pin that is mated to another connector in a male-female type arrangement and can be pulled apart to reveal the 3-pin end.

Can someone please clearly explain how and which connectors to use?

Can I assume that the 3-pin connections are for motherboard chassis fan headers? If so, I have 4 case fans and only 2 chassis fan headers - what should I do?

Finally, I am confused as to what the difference between a "chassis fan" and "power fan" connector is on my motherboard.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[flanzig1]

The "power fan" header is probably for a connection from the PSU to read the PSU fan RPMs, if the PSU has that type of connection. Case fans I connect direct to the PSU. Chassis fan headers are generally rated for one fan so you don't want to daisy chain a bunch of fans to the Chassis fan header.

[Sentinel]

Originally Posted by flanzig1 The "power fan" header is probably for a connection from the PSU to read the PSU fan RPMs, if the PSU has that type of connection. Case fans I connect direct to the PSU. Chassis fan headers are generally rated for one fan so you don't want to daisy chain a bunch of fans to the Chassis fan header.

Since I have 4 case fans (1 intake and 3 exhaust) and only have 2 chassis fan headers, could you recommend what I should do please.

[not important]

It really doesn't matter which fans are hooked to what connectors. Sometimes the location of the fan connections on the MOBO and the length of the fan wires will dictate where a fan gets connected. When you get the MOBO installed in the case you wcan see what fan will reach what connector.

[shadowpr]

I would just connect all the fans directly to the psu.

That's what I do with all my builds.

[thefultonhow]

Sentinel posted another thread with more information; anyone who wants to help him can read his post there before responding back here:

COnnecting & Controlling Fans

[phigdon]

I have the case you are talking about. I have found the best fan configuration is:

top two fans set as exhaust
rear fan set to exhaust
bottom fan set to intake

I also replaced two of the fans with scythe ultra kraze 133cfm fans. I use one as the intake and one as a top exhaust. the system runs the coolest when the top fans are moving more air than the bottom intake.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185054

as for fan power connector you can try this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812195004

Or I used one of these fan controllers in black. with some patience I laid out the holes in the top of the case behind the from I/O panel and mounted all six controllers there. right now I have the three the controller runs an a silverstone 120mm from another built. right now I can run four fans manually. I'll post a pic later.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999047

[Sentinel]

Thanks for all the info.

However, I would like to have all the case fans controlled automatically (as if they were all connected to chassis fan headers). Is there a way I can achieve this as I really want to avoid those manual control-knob type fan controllers.

Any further help appreciated.

P.S. I am not based in the U.s, so newegg.com om would not be a good place to source hardware for me.

[flanzig1]

As I said earlier, the mobo headers generally rated for one fan. As to which 2 fans to connect to the mobo, would do an exhaust and intake to the PSU and the other 2 exhaust to the mobo. A 3 pin connector on the mobo for fans is probably not controlling the fan speed, just monitoring the RPMs and providing power.

[not important]

If I wanted all of my fans to be speed controlled, I would connect as as many fans as the MOBO has headers for and leave the remaining fans disconnected. Most likely the other fans won't be needed anyway. And, you will have a quieter PC.

[glc]

If you want to control that many fans, you need a fan controller. Do not depend on the motherboard to do it.

[liambl]

The motherboard tends to make a mess of controlling fans anyway. A fan controller is the best way to go, as you can carefully tweak each fan to the best performance:noise by trial and error.

[glc]

It's also too easy to overload the motherboard by using all the fan headers. Maybe today's boards can handle the load better than in the past, but I've had boards give up trying to power too many fans.

[Alex06]

By using a high quality CPU case fan, you will ensure that the computer operates at its best state therefore making its processing faster and also keeping the temperature of the computer casing low while the machine runs also ensures that there is no overheating which can easily destroy your computer.