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I only have 1 fan header on my mobo, what's the best way to connect 4 fans!

JorenBus
By JorenBus
in Cooling
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I currently have my 4 fans connected to Molexcables on my PSU.

I'm planning on buying 4 Silent Wings 2 fans (stock fans are loud and not very good), but I only have 1 fan header on my motherboard (the CPU fan header).

What's the best way to connect the 4 fans? Buy a fan splitter for 4 fans or something else?

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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1 minute ago, Technicolors said:

get an external fan controller, like the NZXT Grid+ 

Any other cheaper alternatives?

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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Just now, JorenBus said:

Any other cheaper alternatives?

a quad fan splitter. or hook them to your GPU if you can. i run a dual fan splitter to my 2 front fans, and then 2 off my GPU

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Sounds like you have a motherboard from a prebuild or a server.

 -+-+- This is a reminder to clean the dust filters of your PC! -+-+-

 

Main PC:

Ryzen 5 1600 3.8GHz - RX 570 4GB - 2x8GB DDR4 - ASUS Prime X370-Pro - Shadow Rock 2 - Define S - Seasonic Prime Gold 650W

500GB NVME SSD - 1TB SATA SSD - 1TB HDD - Windows 10 Pro

Dorm PC:

i5 4590 - GTX 960 4GB - 2x4GB DDR3 - ASUS H81M2 - Dark Rock 3 - Define R3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Seasonic S12 430W - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

NAS:

Pentium G4400 - 4GB DDR4 - Fujitsu Esprimo P556 - 250GB SATA SSD - 2 x 4TB NAS HDD - 12V PSU - OpenMediaVault

Laptop:

Dell Latitude E6520 - i5 2430M - 2x4GB DDR3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

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1 minute ago, ZeusXI said:

a quad fan splitter. or hook them to your GPU if you can. i run a dual fan splitter to my 2 front fans, and then 2 off my GPU

Okay thanks! How exactly does having 4 fans connected to 1 fan header affect performance of the fans?

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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1 minute ago, GrayTech said:

Sounds like you have a motherboard from a prebuild or a server.

Nope, mATX.

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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Just now, JorenBus said:

Okay thanks! How exactly does having 4 fans connected to 1 fan header affect performance of the fans?

they all are controlled to the same speed

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Just now, ZeusXI said:

they all are controlled to the same speed

All right, I'll look into that. Any experience with Silent Wings 2 fans? Are they silent?

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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1 minute ago, JorenBus said:

Nope, mATX.

Are you talking about the motherboard you have listed in your signature (Gigabyte Z97M)?

 -+-+- This is a reminder to clean the dust filters of your PC! -+-+-

 

Main PC:

Ryzen 5 1600 3.8GHz - RX 570 4GB - 2x8GB DDR4 - ASUS Prime X370-Pro - Shadow Rock 2 - Define S - Seasonic Prime Gold 650W

500GB NVME SSD - 1TB SATA SSD - 1TB HDD - Windows 10 Pro

Dorm PC:

i5 4590 - GTX 960 4GB - 2x4GB DDR3 - ASUS H81M2 - Dark Rock 3 - Define R3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Seasonic S12 430W - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

NAS:

Pentium G4400 - 4GB DDR4 - Fujitsu Esprimo P556 - 250GB SATA SSD - 2 x 4TB NAS HDD - 12V PSU - OpenMediaVault

Laptop:

Dell Latitude E6520 - i5 2430M - 2x4GB DDR3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

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If your fans are 3 pin

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6J35UD1210

If your fans are 4 pin

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6J32WP1382

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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1 minute ago, GrayTech said:

Are you talking about the motherboard you have listed in your signature (Gigabyte Z97M)?

Yes.

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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Just now, JorenBus said:

All right, I'll look into that. Any experience with Silent Wings 2 fans? Are they silent?

They are good fans in my experience. They are build by a be quiet! and there is already silent in the name. xD 

 -+-+- This is a reminder to clean the dust filters of your PC! -+-+-

 

Main PC:

Ryzen 5 1600 3.8GHz - RX 570 4GB - 2x8GB DDR4 - ASUS Prime X370-Pro - Shadow Rock 2 - Define S - Seasonic Prime Gold 650W

500GB NVME SSD - 1TB SATA SSD - 1TB HDD - Windows 10 Pro

Dorm PC:

i5 4590 - GTX 960 4GB - 2x4GB DDR3 - ASUS H81M2 - Dark Rock 3 - Define R3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Seasonic S12 430W - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

NAS:

Pentium G4400 - 4GB DDR4 - Fujitsu Esprimo P556 - 250GB SATA SSD - 2 x 4TB NAS HDD - 12V PSU - OpenMediaVault

Laptop:

Dell Latitude E6520 - i5 2430M - 2x4GB DDR3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

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Just now, JorenBus said:

Yes.

This motherboard has 4 fan connectors. One for the CPU fan and 3 for system fans.

 -+-+- This is a reminder to clean the dust filters of your PC! -+-+-

 

Main PC:

Ryzen 5 1600 3.8GHz - RX 570 4GB - 2x8GB DDR4 - ASUS Prime X370-Pro - Shadow Rock 2 - Define S - Seasonic Prime Gold 650W

500GB NVME SSD - 1TB SATA SSD - 1TB HDD - Windows 10 Pro

Dorm PC:

i5 4590 - GTX 960 4GB - 2x4GB DDR3 - ASUS H81M2 - Dark Rock 3 - Define R3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Seasonic S12 430W - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

NAS:

Pentium G4400 - 4GB DDR4 - Fujitsu Esprimo P556 - 250GB SATA SSD - 2 x 4TB NAS HDD - 12V PSU - OpenMediaVault

Laptop:

Dell Latitude E6520 - i5 2430M - 2x4GB DDR3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

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2 minutes ago, GrayTech said:

This motherboard has 4 fan connectors. One for the CPU fan and 3 for system fans.

I'm mistaken, it actually does have 1 system fan header. Not 3 though, I have the DS3H version.

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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5 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

If your fans are 3 pin

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6J35UD1210

If your fans are 4 pin

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6J32WP1382

Looks perfect, seems a bit more practical than fan splitters.

CPU: Core i5 4690k                                                   Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97M                     RAM: 16GB HyperX Fury Red                             

GPU: RX 580                                                             Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 240GB                  PSU: Seasonic M12II Evo 520W

Case: NZXT S340 red/black                                      Case lighting: NZXT Hue+                          Mouse: Logitech G502

Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo                     Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit

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1 minute ago, JorenBus said:

I'm mistaken, it actually does have 1 system fan header. Not 3 though, I have the DS3H version.

Oh ok! Yeah this board has only 1 system fan connector.

 -+-+- This is a reminder to clean the dust filters of your PC! -+-+-

 

Main PC:

Ryzen 5 1600 3.8GHz - RX 570 4GB - 2x8GB DDR4 - ASUS Prime X370-Pro - Shadow Rock 2 - Define S - Seasonic Prime Gold 650W

500GB NVME SSD - 1TB SATA SSD - 1TB HDD - Windows 10 Pro

Dorm PC:

i5 4590 - GTX 960 4GB - 2x4GB DDR3 - ASUS H81M2 - Dark Rock 3 - Define R3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Seasonic S12 430W - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

NAS:

Pentium G4400 - 4GB DDR4 - Fujitsu Esprimo P556 - 250GB SATA SSD - 2 x 4TB NAS HDD - 12V PSU - OpenMediaVault

Laptop:

Dell Latitude E6520 - i5 2430M - 2x4GB DDR3 - 250GB SATA SSD - Windows 10 Pro - Linux Mint

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Just now, JorenBus said:

Looks perfect, seems a bit more practical than fan splitters.

I've personally used the 3 pin and it works great. Since you have PWM fans, the 4 pin is necessary, and it should be the best solution. 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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2 hours ago, JorenBus said:

All right, I'll look into that. Any experience with Silent Wings 2 fans? Are they silent?

I haven't tried those exact fans but I have a BeQuiet! CPU cooler and the fan is dead silent. Very happy with it. (It's the Pure Rock cooler: http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/532 )

Desktop: i5-6600k w/ be quiet! Pure Rock cooler. | Gigabyte GTX 1070 Gaming G1 | ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 mobo | Patriot Viper 16GB DDR4-3000 | 240GB Sandisk SSD | Corsair 500r Case (White) | HTC Vive!! | Shitty Insignia monitor

Peripherals: Razer BlackWidow Chroma | Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum | Sennheiser 558

Phone: Nexus 5x
Tablet: Amazon Fire tablet (2015)

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Simple method: Buy a one to four PWM fan splitter (if you don't want a clutter of cables in sight then this isn't the best plan).

 

Slightly more expensive method: Buy a front panel fan controller which is a better option if you want everything cable managed since you can hide the cabled for both the fans and the fan controller out of sight.

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