Need advice with connecting Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB fan

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

Hi all

 

I'm got a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB white fan which I'm trying to connect to my motherboard, which is a Gigabyte z790 AORUS ELITE AX. I'm struggling to figure out how to do the wiring for the fan/RGB. I've got 2 white wires coming from each of the fans and one black split connector. Has anyone got this fan or can offer their help? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

I've taking a picture of the fan + wires + installation guide.

 

Thanks!

[MegaloGamiac]

yes, the wire that goes into the splitter is the wire that controls the rgb. you can daisy chain these together so you can just have one rgb connection going into your motherboard

the second wire is for the actual fan itself. on your motherboard there are usually a few places you can plug them in but i would use the connections that say CPU Fan and CPU OPT. you might have to check your manual to see where they are however they are usually at the top of the motherboard

 

if you have other fans populating the fan sockets on the motherboard i would recommend buying a fan hub. you can get a phanteks one that has ports for 3 pin and 4 pin pwm fans for £20 (I'm in UK so prices in US and elsewhere may vary but not by much) using this and a combination of fan splitters you can have all your fans populating one socket. be aware that each socket on the fan hub or socket on your motherboard if not using a hub can only have 3 fans per socket

 

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

1 minute ago, MegaloGamiac said:

yes, the wire that goes into the splitter is the wire that controls the rgb. you can daisy chain these together so you can just have one rgb connection going into your motherboard

the second wire is for the actual fan itself. on your motherboard there are usually a few places you can plug them in but i would use the connections that say CPU Fan and CPU OPT. you might have to check your manual to see where they are however they are usually at the top of the motherboard

 

Thanks very much. Do you know where the RGB connector would go for my mobo? The black splitter seems damaged so i might ask for a replacement of that but in the meantime I can live without RGB. Do i assume the 2 4 pins for the fans just go into the CPU FAN and CPU OPT places?

[MegaloGamiac]

yes, the 2 4 pins go into the cpu fan and cpu opt. the argb sockets are usually on the bottom of the board. i have a gigabyte x570 aorus pro and mine are located there but check the motherboard manual for a map because sometimes it varies

 

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

Sorry, a follow up Q. I can't seem to get that white pin out of the black connector, is there any advice on pulling it out? It seems really lodged in there.

[MegaloGamiac]

if i remember correctly the rgb connections only have 3 pins but check first as its been a while since i had to deal with the nightmare of rgb

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

1 minute ago, MegaloGamiac said:

if i remember correctly the rgb connections only have 3 pins but check first as its been a while since i had to deal with the nightmare of rgb

the black pin has 1 4 pin and 1 3 pin. I stuck one of the 4 pins in thinking it was the right one but now it doesnt seem to want to budge

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

All sorted! Could a screwdriver to loosen it up! So i've got 2 4 pins which i'll connect to mobo now

[MegaloGamiac]

2 minutes ago, ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC said:

Sorry, a follow up Q. I can't seem to get that white pin out of the black connector, is there any advice on pulling it out? It seems really lodged in there.

i dont want to say just pull it hard but if there isn't a release catch then it might be a case of giving it a bit of a pull. that being said i dont want you to pull too hard and break anything. if there is no release catch it could be either you do need to give it a bit of a pull. to clarify quickly before you do that is the black cable a fan splitter? if so then plug both fans into that and then plug the other end into cpu fan and dont worry about cpu opt. the opt is there as optional if you dont have a splitter

 

[MegaloGamiac]

3 minutes ago, ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC said:

the black pin has 1 4 pin and 1 3 pin. I stuck one of the 4 pins in thinking it was the right one but now it doesnt seem to want to budge

it has both 3 and 4 pin connections? damn now i'm not sure. it might be worth waitng for someone else to reply before trying anything

 

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

I'm really not sure. The thing is I can't use the black splitter because the 3 pin connecter has a dodgy safeguard which is bent inwards too much preventing me from putting anything in there. I'd have to cut off the plastic bit to be able to do it.

[MegaloGamiac]

looking at your manual picture there the black y cable should have 2 4pin connections for the fans. the fact it has a 4 pin and a 3 pin has confused me tbh. dont cut anything off as there is likely a reasonable explanation and maybe just hope someone else can read what i've written so far and help you the rest of the way. just be patient for now and dont cut or force anything

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

So each fan comes with 2 wires. One is a 4 pin that is a single wire. the other is a sort of daisy chain with one end being blocked off and the other end being a 3 pin. All of the pins are female on the fan. The black connect is a 4 and 3 pin male part.

 

That's why i was so confused... 

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

A second question, I've got M3 and 6-32 for mounting my mobo. Do you know which I should use? I got a Fractal Torrent case with a z790 Gigabye AORUS ELITE AX mobo

[MegaloGamiac]

do you have 3 pin males on both fans or just one?

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

I got 4 pin males for both CPU OPT and CPU FAN 

[MegaloGamiac]

the manual i'm looking at isn't very clear without having the cables in front of me. 

[MegaloGamiac]

Just now, ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC said:

I got 4 pin males for both CPU OPT and CPU FAN 

thats on the mother board correct?

 

 

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

4 minutes ago, MegaloGamiac said:

thats on the mother board correct?

 

 

Yeah 4 pin males on motherboard for CPU OPT and CPU FAN. Where do I stick my case fans in btw? Would they need to go in CPU fan slots or elsewhere usually on the mobo?

[MegaloGamiac]

the case fans go elsewhere. the cpu_fan and cpu_opt can control the speed depending on the temp of your cpu. the other fans have separate connectors at different points on the motherboard and they vary depending on mb... let me see if i can find a map for you mb online and see if i can locate those for you

 

as for the fans for your cpu cooler, the 4 pin fan connectors can just go into the cpu_fan and cpu_opt without the need for the y cable. i believe the y cable is just so it can easily be controlled in sync but as far as i know it isn't neccessary as i have a drk rock 4 pro and i dont have a y cable

 

let me find your mb manual and i'll write back in a mionute about the other loccations

 

how many case fans do you need to plug in? not including the cooler

 

[MegaloGamiac]

on the bottom of your board on the right hand side there a 4 4pin connections

 

you have sys_fan1, sys_fan2, sys_fan 3 and sys_fan4_pump

 

those are where you can plug in the case fans. the 4th one is if you need to power a pump in a aio or watercooling loop but according to the manual it can be used as a normal fan connection

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

Ah mate you're an absolute legend. I've got 3 fans at bottom and 2 large ones on the side. Not sure if they need to be daisy chained yet but if I'll sort it out and if i have questions I'll try put them back on here. I think you're right regarding the fan stuff. I'll probably email Thermalright and ask them to explain the RGB stuff and have them send a replacement black splitter since mine is faulty

[MegaloGamiac]

sorry i couldnt be more help with getting the cooler set up as i am a little confused by it. but hopefully what i have given you will allow you to get your pc up and running. you dont need both fans on your cpu cooler so if one of the wires is stuck and cant be removed then i would suggest just using the one fan with it for now and either try and figure out the best way to remove the connector from the y cable at a later date or if it is stuck then you only have 1 fan to replace. i know it's not ideal but at least it will get you up and running.

 

one thing to be aware of, make sure you connect your fans the correct way into the motherboard. one of the pins is for power. usually they are made so you cant put it in the wrong way but seeing as you have already got one stuck then perhaps the manufacturer hasnt taken the orientation into consideration. the ground wire is usually a different colour than the others going into the connector and you need to make sure it goes into the ground pin (check the diagram below)

[MegaloGamiac]

i should mention that even though you dont need both fans on the cooler it probably wont work as well so you may find that depending on your cpu a single fan might not be enough and it could thermal throttle so 2 fans may be needed to keep your rig running smoothly in heavy load situations, but it will get you going for now as long as you understand it may not be the best solution long term

[ConsolePlayerBuildingNewPC]

8 minutes ago, MegaloGamiac said:

sorry i couldnt be more help with getting the cooler set up as i am a little confused by it. but hopefully what i have given you will allow you to get your pc up and running. you dont need both fans on your cpu cooler so if one of the wires is stuck and cant be removed then i would suggest just using the one fan with it for now and either try and figure out the best way to remove the connector from the y cable at a later date or if it is stuck then you only have 1 fan to replace. i know it's not ideal but at least it will get you up and running.

 

one thing to be aware of, make sure you connect your fans the correct way into the motherboard. one of the pins is for power. usually they are made so you cant put it in the wrong way but seeing as you have already got one stuck then perhaps the manufacturer hasnt taken the orientation into consideration. the ground wire is usually a different colour than the others going into the connector and you need to make sure it goes into the ground pin (check the diagram below)

sorry not sure i understand this point. is this related to connecting the PSU? so one of the ends must go into the motherboard and the other must go into the PSU and you can't get it confused?