Can I control the rpm of my fans?

[ThijsgamingNL]

I have a new gaming pc with the cooler master mb520 rgb. It sits on my desk but it makes 'a lot of noise' when it's on. When I'm studying this is a bit annoying. The 3 front fans are connected to the power supply and are running full speed, I think. I looked up what fans they are and I think they are Masterfan Pro 120's. But those have a 4-pin connector and mine have a 3-pin. As far as I know, there's only 1 fan header on my motherboard (gigabyte a320m-h).

Is there a way to control my fan speed?

[Votivee]

Holy hell that has to be loud.

 

It looks like your motherboard has 2 fan headers, one for the CPU and one for a system fan.

You're going to have to get a fan hub to control all of your case fans.

[ThijsgamingNL]

Just now, Votivee said:

Holy hell that has to be loud.

 

It looks like your motherboard has 2 fan headers, one for the CPU and one for a system fan.

You're going to have to get a fan hub to control all of your case fans.

Well, if you say so, I think it's not that bad then. It's not blowing like a vacuum cleaner or something. But it just annoys me when I'm studying.

Can you link me a fan controller maybe?

[Votivee]

Just now, ThijsgamingNL said:

Can you link me a fan controller maybe?

I've never had to use one, so I don't have any recommendations for you. Maybe someone else on this forum can pitch in with a link.

Otherwise, a google search of "Case Fan Hub" should get you started.

[ThijsgamingNL]

Just now, Votivee said:

I've never had to use one, so I don't have any recommendations for you. Maybe someone else on this forum can pitch in with a link.

Otherwise, a google search of "Case Fan Hub" should get you started.

I've done some research and found this one: https://www.newegg.com/cooler-master-mfy-rcsn-nnudk-r1-black/p/N82E16811999379

But the hub has 4 pins and my connectors have 3 'holes'.

[AndrewB121]

6 minutes ago, ThijsgamingNL said:

Well, if you say so, I think it's not that bad then. It's not blowing like a vacuum cleaner or something. But it just annoys me when I'm studying.

Can you link me a fan controller maybe?

Alternately to a fan controller (expensive), a simple fan splitter will allow you to connect all of those fans to that motherboard header.

[AndrewB121]

Just now, ThijsgamingNL said:

I've done some research and found this one: https://www.newegg.com/cooler-master-mfy-rcsn-nnudk-r1-black/p/N82E16811999379

But the hub has 4 pins and my connectors have 3 'holes'.

4 Pins means it is for PWM fans, which have controllable speeds. If you don't have PWM fans it seems pointless to get a speed controller.

[ThijsgamingNL]

3 minutes ago, AndrewB121 said:

4 Pins means it is for PWM fans, which have controllable speeds. If you don't have PWM fans it seems pointless to get a speed controller.

But can you control the speed with a splitter from 4-pin to 3-pin?

[Votivee]

2 minutes ago, ThijsgamingNL said:

But can you control the speed with a splitter from 4-pin to 3-pin?

Yes you can. With a splitter however, all fans will run at the same RPM since the system will only see it as one fan. If these fans are all mounted in the front of your case then you would probably want them all running at the same speed anyways.

[ThijsgamingNL]

1 minute ago, Votivee said:

Yes you can. With a splitter however, all fans will run at the same RPM since the system will only see it as one fan. If these fans are all mounted in the front of your case then you would probably want them all running at the same speed anyways.

Yes, so if I understand it right, I can buy a 4-pin to 3-pin fan splitter, connect it to the fan header and connect my 4 fans to it. And then I can control the speed through software or something?

[alyen]

You should check in BIOS what settings you have for fan controls and to see if it works for one 3 pin fan. It looks like that motherboard can detect which type of fans. I never had to check if a 4 pin fan splitter provides speed for 3 pin fans while its connected to a 4 pin header. 

[LogicalDrm]

13 hours ago, AndrewB121 said:

4 Pins means it is for PWM fans, which have controllable speeds. If you don't have PWM fans it seems pointless to get a speed controller.

This isn't correct. Its acutally other way around. There aren't many fan controllers (hardware) which support PWM. There are plenty which support 3pin fans. So getting controller is a thing when your mobo lacks 3pin control support. Getting one for PWM isn't as most modern mobo's offer full PWM support already.

 

I think best thing here is to either get 3-way splitter and Y-splitter, and connect all fans to mobo. Are you sure that those fans are just 3pin? Usually RGB fans are PWM.

[AndrewB121]

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

This isn't correct. Its acutally other way around. There aren't many fan controllers (hardware) which support PWM. There are plenty which support 3pin fans. So getting controller is a thing when your mobo lacks 3pin control support. Getting one for PWM isn't as most modern mobo's offer full PWM support already.

 

I think best thing here is to either get 3-way splitter and Y-splitter, and connect all fans to mobo. Are you sure that those fans are just 3pin? Usually RGB fans are PWM. 

Ah so a controller is to control 3-pin fans, while the motherboard can control PWM fans?

[LogicalDrm]

2 hours ago, AndrewB121 said:

Ah so a controller is to control 3-pin fans, while the motherboard can control PWM fans?

Most modern mobo can control both 3pin and PWM. Controllers are usually for more than 6 fans, and older mobos. So this isn't so much yes/no question. But usually controllers are for 3pins. Hubs and splitters are for both.

[ThijsgamingNL]

I asked someone on yt who posted a review of the cooler master rgb controller what the cheapest way to control the fan speed or make them spin less fast. He said that you can buy noctua's fan noise adapters. Is this maybe a better option? Because if he said it right about how it works, I think that is what I need. My fans don't need to spin that fast, because I tested with front fans off and my gpu hit 74 degrees and my cpu 48 degrees, which is pretty good.

[alyen]

Did you test if your motherboard has fan control for both 3 pin and 4 pin fans? I know my ASRock board can work with both, but not 2 types on the same header. If it does then all you need is a cable splitters to use the fans you already have.

 

[LogicalDrm]

On 5/20/2019 at 5:31 PM, ThijsgamingNL said:

I asked someone on yt who posted a review of the cooler master rgb controller what the cheapest way to control the fan speed or make them spin less fast. He said that you can buy noctua's fan noise adapters. Is this maybe a better option? Because if he said it right about how it works, I think that is what I need. My fans don't need to spin that fast, because I tested with front fans off and my gpu hit 74 degrees and my cpu 48 degrees, which is pretty good.

Noctua would be premium way to buy resistors. You can get those for much less. Resistor essentially limits max voltage delivered to fan to either 7V or 5V (so 60% and 40% of 12V max).

[ThijsgamingNL]

On 5/20/2019 at 4:45 PM, alyen said:

Did you test if your motherboard has fan control for both 3 pin and 4 pin fans? I know my ASRock board can work with both, but not 2 types on the same header. If it does then all you need is a cable splitters to use the fans you already have.

 

No not yet, couldn't find the time for it because I had school work to do.

 

10 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Noctua would be premium way to buy resistors. You can get those for much less. Resistor essentially limits max voltage delivered to fan to either 7V or 5V (so 60% and 40% of 12V max).

Hmm ok. I'll check if there are some other ones that to do the same job. Otherwise, they're only 8 or 9 euro's here. So it's not such a big deal.

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, ThijsgamingNL said:

No not yet, couldn't find the time for it because I had school work to do.

 

Hmm ok. I'll check if there are some other ones that to do the same job. Otherwise, they're only 8 or 9 euro's here. So it's not such a big deal.

That would be quite much more than 3 for €6 I see on local store. If those are 3-packs too, then sure.

[ThijsgamingNL]

My father made a switch between the molex connector and the fan connectors to break up the power if I click the switch. So I can trun my fans on and off now. I don't need a adapter or fan hub anymore. But thanks for the useful information. I definitely learned something from this thread.