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How Should I Set Up My Case Fans?

Jake3231
By Jake3231
in Cooling
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I am looking into getting new case fans for my budget 2014 PC.  I just recently got a new Corsair CX650M, and now I want to modernize the fan setup. Currently, I have some very cheap fans hooked up on a Molex adapter to the motherboard.  I was about to order two Artic fans, one in an 80mm size, and one at 120mm, but I found out that I may have some connector issues.  I am using the ASRock H97M Pro4 motherboard, which has one 4-pin chassis fan connector, and another that's a 3-pin.  This linked Artic fans are both 4-pin PWM fans.  It's important to me to have motherboard fan control on all case fans, so I considered getting a fan controller.  I'd really appreciate it if someone could explain to me how I can setup a cooling system with two case fans (an 80mm and 120mm) that both have speed control.  I am willing to get a fan controller, but I don't want to spend too much money, and I've never used one, so I may need some guidance.  Thanks in advance.

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The fan speed is determined by the temp threshold you set in bios. on a 4-pin fan splitter which ever fan reports to the system doesnt matter. I set my lower speed to 55C and the duty cycle is 20 so all pwm on that header will run at their lowest rpm under 55C. my upper limit is set to 60C with 100% duty which means above 59C all fans spin at full speed

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4-pin fan connectors can go in 3-pin plugs if you have enough clearance to the side.

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3 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

The fan speed is determined by the temp threshold you set in bios. on a 4-pin fan splitter which ever fan reports to the system doesnt matter. I set my lower speed to 55C and the duty cycle is 20 so all pwm on that header will run at their lowest rpm under 55C. my upper limit is set to 60C with 100% duty which means above 59C all fans spin at full speed

Okay.  If I bought the Artic fans, and put one on the 3-pin header though, speed control would still work? That is my main problem.

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2 minutes ago, Energycore said:

4-pin fan connectors can go in 3-pin plugs if you have enough clearance to the side.

It'll certainly fit.

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2 minutes ago, Jake3231 said:

Okay.  If I bought the Artic fans, and put one on the 3-pin header though, speed control would still work? That is my main problem.

you need fan controller for 3-pin. cheaper to buy pwm & 4-pin fan splitters

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3 minutes ago, Jake3231 said:

Okay.  If I bought the Artic fans, and put one on the 3-pin header though, speed control would still work? That is my main problem.

yes, just from DC Voltage variance, instead of PWM.

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Okay.  I think I'll just order the Arctic fans, if both of them will have good speed control, even with one on the 4-pin header and one on the 3-pin.  My knowledge was that a PWM fan on a 3-pin header would just run at full speed.  If it's true that I need two 4-pin headers, then I'll just get a controller.

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10 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

you need fan controller for 3-pin. cheaper to buy pwm & 4-pin fan splitters

If I did this, are you thinking this kind of splitter?  If I do that, will both fans be registered as one, or will the motherboard see two independent fans. I plan to have one as an intake and one as an outtake, if that makes a difference.

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8 minutes ago, Jake3231 said:

If I did this, are you thinking this kind of splitter?  If I do that, will both fans be registered as one, or will the motherboard see two independent fans. I plan to have one as an intake and one as an outtake, if that makes a difference.

only one fan will report its speed to the system but both will be speed controlled

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4 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

only one fan will report its speed to the system but both will be speed controlled

Great. Just to be sure, I do need a controller, and it won't work properly if I don't have one.  If I use the splitter, both will have identical speed?

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1 minute ago, Jake3231 said:

Great. Just to be sure, I do need a controller, and it won't work properly if I don't have one.  If I use the splitter, both will have identical speed?

speed wont be identical. pwm doesnt send a signal saying run at X rpm; it just sends a square wave that results % of top speed for each fan

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2 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

speed wont be identical. pwm doesnt send a signal saying run at X rpm; it just sends a square wave that results % of top speed for each fan

Okay. Are they both independently speed controlled then?

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5 minutes ago, Jake3231 said:

Great. Just to be sure, I do need a controller, and it won't work properly if I don't have one.  If I use the splitter, both will have identical speed?

you dont need a controller with PWM. Your motherboard bios is the controller. set the min temp relative to your environment and what you want the speed to be at idle, set the max temp to when you want the fans to be at 100%. for my system my room temp maxes at 30C and my CPU has a max of 61C; at idle on lowest rpm my CPU sits at 45C so i set my min temp to 45C and my max to 60C

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1 minute ago, Jake3231 said:

Okay. Are they both independently speed controlled then?

The pwm header just says run at X% and it says that to all fans running off that header

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1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

you dont need a controller with PWM. Your motherboard bios is the controller. set the min temp relative to your environment and what you want the speed to be at idle, set the max temp to when you want the fans to be at 100%. for my system my room temp maxes at 30C and my CPU has a max of 61C; at idle on lowest rpm my CPU sits at 45C so i set my min temp to 45C and my max to 60C

Sorry, I'm using the wrong terminology. I really just need two 4-pin fans to run on my motherboard, which has one PWM 4-pin header.  Will the linked splitter do that.

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3 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

The pwm header just says run at X% and it says that to all fans running off that header

Okay.. I am aiming for dynamic speed control for each fan, really.

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2 minutes ago, Jake3231 said:

Okay.. I am aiming for dynamic speed control for each fan, really.

why. input and exhaust work together. if you increase the speed of one fan and not the other, the other will increase in speed anyway due to the difference in pressure inside/outside case.

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2 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

why. input and exhaust work together. if you increase the speed of one fan and not the other, the other will increase in speed anyway due to the difference in pressure inside/outside case.

I really just want the fans to quiet down when I'm browsing the web, and kick up the speed while I'm doing something like playing games. This upgrade would be for efficiency and noise reduction, so this is a priority.  I am totally fine with both fans changing together, as long as they can be adjusted on the fly by the computer.

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2 minutes ago, Jake3231 said:

I really just want the fans to quiet down when I'm browsing the web, and kick up the speed while I'm doing something like playing games. This upgrade would be for efficiency and noise reduction, so this is a priority.  I am totally fine with both fans changing together, as long as they can be adjusted on the fly by the computer.

yes like i said set the min temp in bios and fans will go to min rpm below that temp. no need for extra fan controller. I have a good heatsink with no fan; all my case fans are connected to the CPU header, they only speed up intermittently during games and compiling software

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1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

yes like i said set the min temp in bios and fans will go to min rpm below that temp. no need for extra fan controller. I have a good heatsink with no fan; all my case fans are connected to the CPU header, they only speed up intermittently during games and compiling software

Okay.  Please excuse my lack of knowledge, as this is my first build..  Just to make sure, there will be a fan curve, and the fans will respond that that. The fan curve is set by the minimum and maximum temperatures I define in the BIOS?  If I buy two of the Arctic fans, and the 4-pin splitter, everything will work okay?

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6 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

yes I am running 3 PWM fans off my CPU fan header. lol @ amazon is recommending most people who buy this fan also buy a fan splitter

Great. Thanks! I'll go ahead and order the two fans and splitter. My last question is are the linked fans any good? The reviews make them seem pretty good.

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