Where do these cables go?

[Whateverchan]

I'm having a problem figuring out where to plug these cables.

These are from the case fans.

https://i.ibb.co/5kLx9X1/20200706-021200.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/xYcT1Nc/20200706-021143.jpg

The middle wire is a sata cable. That goes to somewhere on the motherboard as well? Not the sata ssd? The manual didn't say anything except to plug the fans into the controller in the right order.

 

This is included with the motherboard.

https://i.ibb.co/yBRz0bp/20200706-021650.jpg

 

What cable do I plug into those two transistors?

https://i.ibb.co/D7D678C/20200706-021431.jpg

 

Thanks in advance!

[mariushm]

Ok, a lot of confusion in your head.

The rectangular box is a fan controller.  It allows you to control the speed of lots of fans.

 

The box needs power to work, and it receives this power through the middle connector called power. Because it's convenient, the box comes with either a connector or a cable that has a SATA power connector at the end - the idea is that this connector mates with a SATA power connector from your power supply. From the power supply's point of view, this rectangular box is like a mechanical drive or an optical drive, the power supply doesn't care. 

 

On the left side of that connector labeled POWER, you have a connector labeled PWM.  Most likely that's a connector in which you plug a cable, which then connects to a fan header on your motherboard.

The basic idea is that a motherboard can send a command to a fan and a chip inside the fan reads that command and then adjusts the speed of the fan accordingly. Only fans with 4 wires in the connector have this chip and can adjust the speed by reading this command.

By connecting the the fan controller (the box) to a 4 pin fan header using that cable which goes in the connector called PWM,  the motherboard thinks the fan controller (the box) is a fan, and a chip inside the box listens for commands from the motherboard.

When the motherboard says 'set the fan speed to 75%' , the fan controller then simply sends this command to ALL fans connected to the fan controller.   

Basically, the fan controller box acts like a network hub, it accepts the command and simply passes it forward to each fan connected to the box.

The connector to the right of the connector labeled POWER, is labeled AURA which is a standard for RGB lights on fans.

You can use a cable (the one with 3 round metal things and a hole, the one to the right) to make a connection between the motherboard and the box - you need to have an AURA (or similar) header on the motherboard and use that cable to connect the box to that header.

Through the AURA header on a motherboard, the motherboard sends a series of pulses (bits) to the box, which tells the box how to light up the leds on fans (set fan color, brightness and so on). The fan controller box simply passes those bits to the fans you connect to the box.

 

So... at the very minimum, you need to power that rectangular box with... connect middle cable to a SATA connector on your power supply.

AURA (rgb) cable is - my guess - completely optional. If you don't have header on motherboard or don't connect that cable, the fans will either not turn on the leds, or the leds will show some solid color or some random pattern.

The PWM cable is probably also optional ... if you connect it to a 4 pin fan header on the motherboard, the motherboard will be able to control speeds of all fans. IF you don't, probably all fans connected to that box will run at 100% all the time.

 

Read the manual if you actually want to learn more.

 

[Bombastinator]

You’re dealing with the standard obnoxious problem of proprietary rgb.  The sata cable on the fan rgb controller box is to power it.  The fans are probably best all plugged into the controller.   The controller needs to talk to the motherboard (usually usb) and time recieve power so it can run.  For power the sata connector should be plugged in to a PSU cable I think. That’s the way it usually goes anyway.  I personally make a point of not paying a whole lot of attention to the particular varieties of proprietary rgb.   I don’t think it would even plug into an ssd. Wrong gender.

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Ok, a lot of confusion in your head.

The rectangular box is a fan controller.  It allows you to control the speed of lots of fans.

 

The box needs power to work, and it receives this power through the middle connector called power. Because it's convenient, the box comes with either a connector or a cable that has a SATA power connector at the end - the idea is that this connector mates with a SATA power connector from your power supply. From the power supply's point of view, this rectangular box is like a mechanical drive or an optical drive, the power supply doesn't care. 

 

On the left side of that connector labeled POWER, you have a connector labeled PWM.  Most likely that's a connector in which you plug a cable, which then connects to a fan header on your motherboard.

The basic idea is that a motherboard can send a command to a fan and a chip inside the fan reads that command and then adjusts the speed of the fan accordingly. Only fans with 4 wires in the connector have this chip and can adjust the speed by reading this command.

By connecting the the fan controller (the box) to a 4 pin fan header using that cable which goes in the connector called PWM,  the motherboard thinks the fan controller (the box) is a fan, and a chip inside the box listens for commands from the motherboard.

When the motherboard says 'set the fan speed to 75%' , the fan controller then simply sends this command to ALL fans connected to the fan controller.   

Basically, the fan controller box acts like a network hub, it accepts the command and simply passes it forward to each fan connected to the box.

The connector to the right of the connector labeled POWER, is labeled AURA which is a standard for RGB lights on fans.

You can use a cable (the one with 3 round metal things and a hole, the one to the right) to make a connection between the motherboard and the box - you need to have an AURA (or similar) header on the motherboard and use that cable to connect the box to that header.

Through the AURA header on a motherboard, the motherboard sends a series of pulses (bits) to the box, which tells the box how to light up the leds on fans (set fan color, brightness and so on). The fan controller box simply passes those bits to the fans you connect to the box.

 

So... at the very minimum, you need to power that rectangular box with... connect middle cable to a SATA connector on your power supply.

AURA (rgb) cable is - my guess - completely optional. If you don't have header on motherboard or don't connect that cable, the fans will either not turn on the leds, or the leds will show some solid color or some random pattern.

The PWM cable is probably also optional ... if you connect it to a 4 pin fan header on the motherboard, the motherboard will be able to control speeds of all fans. IF you don't, probably all fans connected to that box will run at 100% all the time.

 

Read the manual if you actually want to learn more.

 

Heh.  You wrote yours faster than I did and it’s twice as long.  I’m not sure which is slower.  Me or the phone keyboard.

[Whateverchan]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

So... at the very minimum, you need to power that rectangular box with... connect middle cable to a SATA connector on your power supply.

AURA (rgb) cable is - my guess - completely optional. If you don't have header on motherboard or don't connect that cable, the fans will either not turn on the leds, or the leds will show some solid color or some random pattern.

The PWM cable is probably also optional ... if you connect it to a 4 pin fan header on the motherboard, the motherboard will be able to control speeds of all fans. IF you don't, probably all fans connected to that box will run at 100% all the time.

 

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

You’re dealing with the standard obnoxious problem of proprietary rgb.  The sata cable on the fan rgb controller box is to power it.  The fans are probably best all plugged into the controller.   The controller needs to talk to the motherboard (usually usb) and time recieve power so it can run.  For power the sata connector should be plugged in to a PSU cable I think. That’s the way it usually goes anyway.  I personally make a point of not paying a whole lot of attention to the particular varieties of proprietary rgb.   I don’t think it would even plug into an ssd. Wrong gender.

Thanks for detailed explanation. I think I know where to connect the fan cables now.

 

What about the cable that came with the motherboard? What's that even for?

And that transistor at the bottom of the case? Which cable connects to it?

 

[mariushm]

2 minutes ago, Whateverchan said:

What about the cable that came with the motherboard? What's that even for?

And that transistor at the bottom of the case? Which cable connects to it?

 

You'll have to be more specific, I don't know what cable you're talking about.

 

And whatever you think it's a transistor, it's not.  A transistor will have 3 contacts / pins. I don't know what you're referring to, maybe take better pictures.

In the last picture ... no idea what that is. It makes me think it could be a "detect if case is opened alarm" or something like that (if a case panel touches those pins then motherboard knows case is closed)

 

Did you read the manual of the motherboard and the manual / user guide of the case? if you didn't get paper copies, they are available online, just go to the manufacturer of mobo  / case and get it.

[Whateverchan]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

You'll have to be more specific, I don't know what cable you're talking about.

Did you read the manual of the motherboard and the manual / user guide of the case? if you didn't get paper copies, they are available online, just go to the manufacturer of mobo  / case and get it.

This one, the one that was included with the motherboard.

https://i.ibb.co/yBRz0bp/20200706-021650.jpg

 

In the last pic, I'm talking about the two metal pins sticking out. Those wires lead to the top where a bunch of USB ports, power button, and audio jack are.

 

I'm sure I've read the manuals but they didn't explain what those are. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think I did. I'm at work right now, so I'll double check and take better pictures when I get home tonight.

[mariushm]

The one on top in your picture is a fan header , the connector with round metal bits is for rgb/aura/whatever.