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Active 4pin PWM fan splitter

RejZoR
By RejZoR
in Cooling
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Posted

Is there a cheap fan splitter on eBay or AliExpress that can split 1x 4pin PWM into many 4pin outputs in active way opposed to usual passive Y ones? I'd need the following:

 

  • 1x 4pin input
  • 1x SATA power input (to supply the juice needed for more fans)
  • 3+ 4pin outputs

 

What I want to achieve with this is run several PWM fans of same model on one motherboard 4pin connector under certain RPM without overloading it or having problems with RPM as you're splitting it with regular Y cables? It's stupid to have cables routed all over my case to use all the 4pin headers where I could use just one to run my whole front panel of 3x fans. I was searching a bit, but I'm not sure under what terms I should be searching for this kind of gadget...

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Thx, this is exactly what I need. I basically need 2 zones, one for CPU cooling and the other one for chassis. It would also make fan curves in BIOS easier since I'd only need to have 1 for several fans.

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Kje si stari? :)

 

Something like this?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4Pin-PWM-To-PWM-Computer-Case-Fan-Power-Splitter-Adapter-12v-3pin-4pin-Cable-CO/292147952601
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-Fan-Hub-4pin-PWM-Hub-PC-Fan-Large-4P-Power-Supply-Splitter-Adapter/173806411095

 

I'm aslo looking how to test a fan speed and noise without the need to plug it into PC? Any wall - USB converters?

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What motherboard and fans are you using? 

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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2 hours ago, Tadej Danev said:

Kje si stari? :)

 

Something like this?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4Pin-PWM-To-PWM-Computer-Case-Fan-Power-Splitter-Adapter-12v-3pin-4pin-Cable-CO/292147952601
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-Fan-Hub-4pin-PWM-Hub-PC-Fan-Large-4P-Power-Supply-Splitter-Adapter/173806411095

 

I'm aslo looking how to test a fan speed and noise without the need to plug it into PC? Any wall - USB converters?

Oj :)First one feeds from the same 4pin so it's a no-no. But the second one is good. I just wish they were in a plastic case like Silverstone one so I could have them tossed somewhere inside the case and not worry about any shorting. Or I could just stick them easier on things coz PCB is really not sticking well. Had a fan speed controller similar to this and it kept falling off. 3M tape sticks really well to stuff, but not to the back of PCB.

28 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

What motherboard and fans are you using? 

MSI X99A Gaming 7. I need to power 6 fans, 1 pump and 1 chipset fan. It only has 5 fan headers and I'm using Y splitters all over the place already. And I'm also having weird resonating noise issue when using fan curve which I'm suspecting could be from Y splitting.

 

I literally want to run front 3 fans on 1 4pin header, rear and top rear on another. So I'm then left with bunch for CPU and auxiliary cooling like chipset. And the power would come from SATA plug instead of loading 4pins on mobo. Plus so much easier to set fan curves, coz right now it's a nightmare. Hell, I could just tie all on CPU fan and it would ramp up ALL the case fans under high CPU load and keep it nice and quiet when not under load. I used to have it like this with smaller cases that didn't have this many fans...

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Just now, Tadej Danev said:

What with other fan headers on mobo? Taken?

What other headers? Board has 5 of them. I need to hook up 8 components :P 6x chassis fan, 1x AiO pump and 1x dedicated VRM fan (I said chipset above, but it's for VRM).

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13 hours ago, RejZoR said:

MSI X99A Gaming 7. I need to power 6 fans, 1 pump and 1 chipset fan. It only has 5 fan headers and I'm using Y splitters all over the place already. And I'm also having weird resonating noise issue when using fan curve which I'm suspecting could be from Y splitting.

Resonating is usually from a bad mount from vibrating fans that can be mitigated with soft mounting screws or hdd's. 

11 hours ago, RejZoR said:

BeQuiet SilentWings 3 140mm

The fans should only pull 0.06A per fan so you can comfortably run them off of a single splitter since each header can support up to 1A or more. 

You can group them onto two splitters or two groups of splitters by plugging the splitters you already have into each other. 

As for the pump and chipset fan, those can go off of a separate header. 

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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No, it only resonates when fans are in curve mode. If I use fixed RPM speed of any kind, they don't do that. Also mounting more fans to the same 4pin makes things weird. If I hook 3x fans on 1x 4pin, they'll often not spin at all at lower RPM where single will spin at same value. I shouldn't have such issues with these hubs that have fixed power delivery to each one of them and is then just dictated by the PWM pulse. Or it's just this mobo that's weird.

 

Anyway, I ordered 2 hubs, the fancy ones with bunch of capacitors for each output. Probably same shit, but it was cheap anyway so why not.

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Posted

Even with "active" hub, you still apply one PWM signal over whole hub. Mobo still only gets one signal from hub. You'd need USB connection and software to tell signals apart. So only thing this might eliminate is if you have over 10% variation between the fans (which would be hard to impossible to know as you are still getting only one signal to monitor). 10% is what manufacturers give as error marginal.

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7 hours ago, RejZoR said:

No, it only resonates when fans are in curve mode. If I use fixed RPM speed of any kind, they don't do that. Also mounting more fans to the same 4pin makes things weird. If I hook 3x fans on 1x 4pin, they'll often not spin at all at lower RPM where single will spin at same value. I shouldn't have such issues with these hubs that have fixed power delivery to each one of them and is then just dictated by the PWM pulse. Or it's just this mobo that's weird.

Are they all same 4pin fans? Are you sure that there isn't a particularly fast fan on a specific header?

By resonating, did you mean that the fans are ramping up and down aggressively or is the case vibrating excessively?

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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Posted

Using the swiftech and Silverstone hubs. Work great as all my fans are 4pin. Mixing with 3 pin doesn’t work for me. Seems to run the 3 pins at max so I sold those and only run the same pin count. 

Main RIg Corsair Air 540, I7 9900k, ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero, G.Skill Ripjaws 3600 32GB, 3090FE, EVGA 1000G5, Acer Nitro XZ3 2560 x 1440@240hz 

 

Spare RIg Lian Li O11 AIR MINI, I7 4790K, Asus Maximus VI Extreme, G.Skill Ares 2400 32Gb, EVGA 1080ti, 1080sc 1070sc & 1060 SSC, EVGA 850GA, Acer KG251Q 1920x1080@240hz

 

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3 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Using the swiftech and Silverstone hubs. Work great as all my fans are 4pin. Mixing with 3 pin doesn’t work for me. Seems to run the 3 pins at max so I sold those and only run the same pin count. 

Yes, 2-3pin fans lack the 4th pin and pwm ic to modulate the incoming 12v signal so they run at 100% rpm. 

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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11 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Using the swiftech and Silverstone hubs. Work great as all my fans are 4pin. Mixing with 3 pin doesn’t work for me. Seems to run the 3 pins at max so I sold those and only run the same pin count. 

any links where to buy them? thanks.

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18 minutes ago, Tadej Danev said:

any links where to buy them? thanks.

Literally anywhere.

 

 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=swiftech+fan+hub&ref=is_s

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m4084.l1313&_nkw=silverstone+fan+hub&_odkw=silverstone+fan+hib

Main RIg Corsair Air 540, I7 9900k, ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero, G.Skill Ripjaws 3600 32GB, 3090FE, EVGA 1000G5, Acer Nitro XZ3 2560 x 1440@240hz 

 

Spare RIg Lian Li O11 AIR MINI, I7 4790K, Asus Maximus VI Extreme, G.Skill Ares 2400 32Gb, EVGA 1080ti, 1080sc 1070sc & 1060 SSC, EVGA 850GA, Acer KG251Q 1920x1080@240hz

 

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Assumed amazon and eBay were world wide by now. 

Main RIg Corsair Air 540, I7 9900k, ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero, G.Skill Ripjaws 3600 32GB, 3090FE, EVGA 1000G5, Acer Nitro XZ3 2560 x 1440@240hz 

 

Spare RIg Lian Li O11 AIR MINI, I7 4790K, Asus Maximus VI Extreme, G.Skill Ares 2400 32Gb, EVGA 1080ti, 1080sc 1070sc & 1060 SSC, EVGA 850GA, Acer KG251Q 1920x1080@240hz

 

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Just now, Mick Naughty said:

Assumed amazon and eBay were world wide by now. 

What you see on American Amazon is not universally available in Amazon Germany or Amazon UK...

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10 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

What you see on American Amazon is not universally available in Amazon Germany or Amazon UK...

Yea but you have vendors and other options. Unless you have looked and there’s nothing available to that region via google or eBay. 

Main RIg Corsair Air 540, I7 9900k, ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero, G.Skill Ripjaws 3600 32GB, 3090FE, EVGA 1000G5, Acer Nitro XZ3 2560 x 1440@240hz 

 

Spare RIg Lian Li O11 AIR MINI, I7 4790K, Asus Maximus VI Extreme, G.Skill Ares 2400 32Gb, EVGA 1080ti, 1080sc 1070sc & 1060 SSC, EVGA 850GA, Acer KG251Q 1920x1080@240hz

 

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  • 1 month later...
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So, I bought this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32903324952.html

 

Received it just now, installed it, connected the signal cable to the SYSFAN1, connected 1 fan to red connector and the rest to black ones. All fans are PWM and of same type. RPM of fans is always maxed regardless of what I set in motherboard BIOS. WTF?! It's like PWM signal goes nowhere. It is reading the correct fan RPM though. What the hell am I doing wrong or is this thing just fake PCB that literally does nothing with PWM signal routing. Weird.

 

EDIT:

Turns out stupid MSI X99A Gaming 7 board only sends PWM RPM command from the CPU header. All 3 SYSFAN headers, despite being PWMs don't do anything so all fans end up spinning at max speed no matter what you set it at. Slow clap MSI. Slow clap. So now I have case fans on CPU header and CPU fan on SYSFAN header. Coz logic...

 

Resonating fans at variable RPM are also gone now, apparently this excellent board didn't like fans being hooked through Y splitter as it was causing some electrical problems and made fans resonate weird. Now on this hub, nothing. Now I have a different problem. In idle, fans are basically inaudible and the slight rattling of the water pump is the loudest part in the system...

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