Just did case swap but can’t get fans to spin.

[josh the jang]

I just did a whole case swap from this old asus essentio prebuilt using the new msi gungnir 110r as i love the way it looks. The 4 included rgb fans light up, but I can’t figure out how to get them to spin. They have a connector for the front fans 3-1 that I have tried putting into the usb pins and the ones for the front panel.

I have a h81m-e motherboard and I feel like it might just not be compatible with the fans as it’s about 5 years old. Any ideas or suggestions would be great as I would love to make this case work instead of taking everything out and returning it from amazon 

[minibois]

1 minute ago, josh the jang said:

The 4 included rgb fans light up, but I can’t figure out how to get them to spin. They have a connector for the front fans 3-1 that I have tried putting into the usb pins and the ones for the front panel.

Could you maybe unplug this, snap a picture of the cable and show us what you plugged in here?

 

Are you aware of what PWM/3-pin/4-pin fan headers are?

[GhostRoadieBL]

that looks like you plugged the 3-pin fan connector into the USB header. You'll have to find a fan header 

looks like 3 pins in a row with a plastic tab which slots into the plug from the fan. 

o o o

[-rascal-]

WTF...did you plug a 3-pin fan cable into a USB port header??

If that is the situation HOPEFULLY the USB header / motherboard is not fried...

 

Look for a 3-pin or 4-pin fan header on the motherboard

SYS_FAN, CPU_FAN, or CHA_FAN

 

 

 

 

[josh the jang]

15 minutes ago, minibois said:

Could you maybe unplug this, snap a picture of the cable and show us what you plugged in here?

 

Are you aware of what PWM/3-pin/4-pin fan headers are?

These are the fan power cables I think my motherboard doesn’t have a fan header 

[josh the jang]

12 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

WTF...did you plug a 3-pin fan cable into a USB port header??

If that is the situation HOPEFULLY the USB header / motherboard is not fried...

 

Look for a 3-pin or 4-pin fan header on the motherboard

SYS_FAN, CPU_FAN, or CHA_FAN

 

 

 

 

Yea i dont see thoes on my motherboard, thankfully its not fried i think im gonna look into a newer board that fits lga 1150

[SnowyMus]

The USB header is probably fine. Most modern headers should be able to handle shorts (overcurrent protection is in the spec, for goodness sake).

 

Anyway, you can buy a SATA to 4-pin PWM adapter if you don't have any fan headers. They're cheap.

 

Here's an example connector: https://www.amazon.com/CRJ-4-Pin-Sleeved-Power-Adapter/dp/B0711CR7HV

[NickPickerWI]

1 minute ago, josh the jang said:

Yea i dont see thoes on my motherboard, thankfully its not fried i think im gonna look into a newer board that fits lga 1150

 

[minibois]

2 minutes ago, josh the jang said:

These are the fan power cables I think my motherboard doesn’t have a fan header 

It has a single fan header, you need to get a splitter though to plug in both.

 

There are a million-and-one adapters, this is an example: https://www.amazon.com/Easycargo-Splitter-Duplicator-Converter-Adapter/dp/B07K7NKX5Y

[josh the jang]

2 minutes ago, minibois said:

It has a single fan header, you need to get a splitter though to plug in both.

 

There are a million-and-one adapters, this is an example: https://www.amazon.com/Easycargo-Splitter-Duplicator-Converter-Adapter/dp/B07K7NKX5Y

Ah i see it thanks alot guys! ill order one of thoes adapters

[NickPickerWI]

2 minutes ago, minibois said:

It has a single fan header, you need to get a splitter though to plug in both.

Before they do this, OP should look at the back of the fans to make sure they, together, don't draw more than what the connector can provide, which is 1 amp.

 

Otherwise, they will have zero fan headers on the board.

[josh the jang]

1 minute ago, NickPickerWI said:

Before they do this, OP should look at the back of the fans to make sure they, together, don't draw more than what the connector can provide, which is 1 amp.

 

Otherwise, they will have zero fan headers on the board.

They say dc 12v on the back of the fans but no listing of amps

[minibois]

1 minute ago, josh the jang said:

Ah i see it thanks alot guys! ill order one of thoes adapters

You should definitely first check your accessory box for the case, it should come with an adapter:

2 minutes ago, NickPickerWI said:

Before they do this, OP should look at the back of the fans to make sure they, together, don't draw more than what the connector can provide, which is 1 amp.

Otherwise, they will have zero fan headers on the board.

I sincerely doubt the fans use more than 0.5A each, especially since the RGB is handled separately.

But always good to take precautions.

[NickPickerWI]

2 minutes ago, minibois said:

I sincerely doubt the fans use more than 0.5A each, especially since the RGB is handled separately.

But always good to take precautions.

Unless I read this post incorrectly, there will be more than two fans connecting to the header. He's trying to connect two plugs, not two fans.

 

It sounds and looks like the front three fans are already on a 3-1 splitter, and the back fan is standalone. All four need to feed from that header.

 

That said, it is entirely possible that (cheaper, older, etc.) fans can draw more than .25A per fan.

[NickPickerWI]

12 minutes ago, josh the jang said:

They say dc 12v on the back of the fans but no listing of amps

Can you take a snapshot of the back of one of the fans? It might be hidden, or I might be able to look up the model number and get a technical datasheet for it.

[josh the jang]

Just now, NickPickerWI said:

Can you take a snapshot of the back of one of the fans? It might be hidden, or I might be able to look up the model number and get a technical datasheet for it.

I tried looking it up- wasn’t able to find much

[NickPickerWI]

1 hour ago, josh the jang said:

I tried looking it up- wasn’t able to find much

I completely misread the data, and got the amperage rating wrong. Keep this in mind when reading my post below, and see the future posts further below for correct responses.

 

 

Ahhh, yes. MSI, the king of not giving you enough information.

 

If you wanted to know for sure, you'd have to contact MSI. If they (at 100%, and this is important) draw less than 0.25A each, you're barely OK. You'd want a 4-1 fan splitter. I'd hesitate to do this if they even draw 0.23A per fan, because you're right there at the limit of the header. A small blip can kill the header.

 

However, I have some bad news friendo. The RGB fans they sell, both the MSI MAX F12A-3 and F12A-3H, state that they pull 0.15A at 20%. This is ridiculous, I've never seen a fan rating given at a percent of usage, it almost seems like they're trying to pull a fast one. But the higher amperage is not surprising. It's what happens when you get a cheap motor. MSI, in my experience, is prone to cheap out on things.

 

For reference, my Corsair LL120 fans pull 0.3A each. The MSI fans are probably about the same at max. But something like Noctua NF-F12 or EK Vardar fans pull only 0.05A and 0.12A respectively.

 

My guess is the fans in your case are the exact same fans they sell. That said, I'd consider getting a different motherboard that has at least two CHA_FAN headers, or get a fan hub that uses Molex or SATA power. If you get a new motherboard, you'll be able to let the motherboard do speed control - more on that in a bit.

 

So, you could force the fans to only ever run at 20% in the BIOS, and run all four in a 4-1 splitter. That's not great, but it would work. I don't recommend this. It would be quiet, but your ability to cool your PC with fresh air will be crap.

 

A better idea for now is to disconnect the bottom fan from the 3-1 splitter in the front of the case, and plug the rear fan into where that fan was on the splitter. You'll have two intake and one exhaust fan, which should be good enough for the time being. You don't want to run without an exhaust fan. Yeah, the bottom fan won't spin, but you'll be OK for now.

 

If you do get a different motherboard, get two 2-1 fan splitters. Those are DC (3 pin) fans, so get splitters for those. You can get 2-1 PWM (4-pin) splitters and they'll work just fine, but if they're more expensive you're wasting money. Given how terrible these fans look to be on paper, I wouldn't even want to run three of them on the same header, which is why I suggest running 2 per header with 2-1 splitters.

 

If you get a fan hub, note that the fans may either be 100% or 0%. You lose speed control with most of them, because nothing is talking to the motherboard (like you'd have if the fans were plugged into headers on the motherboard). Even with a DC fan, you can set curves for them to ramp up or down in the BIOS/UEFI based on your CPU or graphics card temperature, and you'll likely lose this with a fan hub.

 

Anyway, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I hope this helps.

Edited September 10, 2020 by NickPickerWI
I screwed up reading MSI's data, and made a doof of myself.

[-rascal-]

Apparently MSi sells those RGB fans separately.

Same model number on the sticker, and physically look the same.

https://global.microless.com/product/msi-rainbow-fan-pack-3x-120mm-rgb-fans-with-rgb-controller-306-7g09f02-w57/

 

 

They are rated for 12VDC, 0.15A.

If the fan header is 1.0A, you can connect up to 6 of these fans to one header.

 

Yes, you will be safe with a 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 fan splitter.

 

@NickPickerWI @josh the jang @minibois

[NickPickerWI]

1 minute ago, -rascal- said:

Apparently MSi sells those RGB fans separately.

Same model number on the sticker, and physically look the same.

https://global.microless.com/product/msi-rainbow-fan-pack-3x-120mm-rgb-fans-with-rgb-controller-306-7g09f02-w57/

 

 

They are rated for 12VDC, 0.15A.

If the fan header is 1.0A, you can connect up to 6 of these fans to one header.

 

Yes, you will be safe with a 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 fan splitter.

 

@NickPickerWI @josh the jang @minibois

Yeah, I just re-reviewed what I wrote, and took another look at MSI's site. I'm going to strike through a lot of what I wrote. My goodness, did I screw up.

 

I misread the data. They stated their fans are 0.15A plus or minus 20%, not at 20%. That comes to .18A maximum, which is 0.72A, which means OP is fine to use a 4 to 1 splitter.

 

I feel bad for writing all that off of a mistake.

[-rascal-]

6 minutes ago, NickPickerWI said:

Yeah, I just re-reviewed what I wrote, and took another look at MSI's site. I'm going to strike through a lot of what I wrote. My goodness, did I screw up.

 

I misread the data. They stated their fans are 0.15A plus or minus 20%, not at 20%. That comes to .18A maximum, which is 0.72A, which means OP is fine to use a 4 to 1 splitter.

 

I feel bad for writing all that off of a mistake.

 

You had some good info there; I wouldn't scratch any of it out.

Leave it there for reference when people search the forums for info about daisy-chaining fans.

Or just edit/update the MSi fans parts.  

[josh the jang]

1 hour ago, NickPickerWI said:

Yeah, I just re-reviewed what I wrote, and took another look at MSI's site. I'm going to strike through a lot of what I wrote. My goodness, did I screw up.

 

I misread the data. They stated their fans are 0.15A plus or minus 20%, not at 20%. That comes to .18A maximum, which is 0.72A, which means OP is fine to use a 4 to 1 splitter.

 

I feel bad for writing all that off of a mistake.

I got sad for a sec but then I saw the replies,  gonna switch the bottom fan off for now so I can get exhaust. I just ordered a fan splitter now that I know its safe