Noctua case fans & ASUS Z170 Pro

[za1234ki]

Perhaps I'm just overthinking, but this is truly the most frustrating part of designing my own PC.

 

I'll put 4x Noctua NF-S12A fans into my case. I've got two problems with this. First, I'm not sure which version to go with, the PWM (4-pin PWM) or the FLX (3-pins).

As far as I can understand, a PWM fan's speed can be controlled through UEFI or some application, and can adjust itself to the temperatures, while the 3 pin one can't be. Is it correct?

 

I've just ordered an ASUS Z170 Pro motherboard, which looks like this: http://www.tweaktown.com/image.php?image=imagescdn.tweaktown.com/content/7/5/7592_06_asus-z170-pro-intel-motherboard-review_full.jpg

The issue is, that I have no idea how many 4 and 3 pin thingies my motherboard has, plus some of them say CPU, or extension, or whatever. I'm completely lost here. I'm pretty sure that one socket is reserved for the CPU cooler fan.

The specs of the motherboard: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO/specifications/

These are the connectors on the Z170 pro:

1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)
1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)
2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 x 4 -pin)  ---------------->  2 x     4 x 4 ?! What?!

1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN(Extension Fan) connector

How can I use these things? The 5-pin one is the one where anything can go?

 

Which NF-S12A version should I choose, if I want to fit four of these noctuas onto the Z170 Pro, and make them adjust their speed automatically?

The articles on the web quite often contradict each other, and they require deeper knowledge than I have. So they're a bit useless.

Thanks for any help.

Matt

[Himommies]

The EXT FAN is for asues  fan expansion thing.Cpu is for the Cpu cooler and the rest are for regualar chassis fans

[Cyracus]

both 4 pin and 3 pin fans can have their speed controlled, 4 pin pwm fans do it through pulse width modulation, basically they send the full power signal in bursts, 3 pins do it through voltage modulation where slower speeds are achieved by sending less power, pwm has finer control, but both accomplish the task of controlling fan speed

[LogicalDrm]

If the price difference doesn't matter, go for PWMs. Asus has been generally very good with fan support. With that board, all 4pins have PWM function.

[za1234ki]

2 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

If the price difference doesn't matter, go for PWMs. Asus has been generally very good with fan support. With that board, all 4pins have PWM function.

Brilliant, thank you! So any 4-pin connector will do the job. Even the cpu one can be used as a case fan connector? Are these labeld just suggestions or is there any difference between them?

[za1234ki]

11 hours ago, Cyracus said:

both 4 pin and 3 pin fans can have their speed controlled, 4 pin pwm fans do it through pulse width modulation, basically they send the full power signal in bursts, 3 pins do it through voltage modulation where slower speeds are achieved by sending less power, pwm has finer control, but both accomplish the task of controlling fan speed

Thanks for the answer, it makes sense now.

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, za1234ki said:

Brilliant, thank you! So any 4-pin connector will do the job. Even the cpu one can be used as a case fan connector? Are these labeld just suggestions or is there any difference between them?

With that board, yes, any 4pin would do. Problem is that it depends on brand/model if 4pin headers have PWM or not. One needs to check manual to determine that.

 

CPU header is slightly different from others. For one, it needs to have fan installed all the time. or pump with AIOs. Otherwise mobo will give you warning at startup. You can disable warning, and add warnings to other headers too, but I'd personally still use CPU fan for that header. CPU being among the most expensive and important single parts in PC.

[Cyracus]

9 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Problem is that it depends on brand/model if 4pin headers have PWM or not

what fans have 4 pins and no pwm? Never heard of such foolery lol

[WoodenMarker]

12 hours ago, za1234ki said:

Brilliant, thank you! So any 4-pin connector will do the job. Even the cpu one can be used as a case fan connector? Are these labeld just suggestions or is there any difference between them?

1 hour ago, Cyracus said:

what fans have 4 pins and no pwm? Never heard of such foolery lol

Different fan headers on the motherboard are often wired differently and may share controls in the motherboard settings. Refer to the motherboard manual. 

In your case, all of your fan headers provide pwm.

The (4 x 4pin) line is probably just a typo.

There are plenty of motherboards with 4pin headers that don't support pwm and the 4th pin is used only for show or 5v as a 'low-noise' header.

 

[Cyracus]

5 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

There are plenty of motherboards with 4pin headers that don't support pwm and the 4th pin is used only for show or 5v as a 'low-noise' header.

huh, interesting, always nice to learn about odd things like that. Thanks for the lesson