Jump to content

Why do people dislike daisy-chained fans, and is this any problem to me?

hanouzz
 Share
Go to solution Solved by Stahlmann,

The only downside is that you can only read out the RPM of one fan, so you can't directly account for manufacturing differences. For example 3 daisy chained fans report 1000 RPM, but it's only the readout from the 1st fan. Most fan motors have a tolerance of +/- 10% so that means the other two could be running 900-1100 RPM. With 3 "standalone" fans you can match the RPM (and thus noise level) more closely. But I'd say this is far into nitpicking territory for silent PC enthusiasts like myself.

 

Also, you have to check how much power they draw so they don't go over the power draw spec of one single motherboard connector. That's not a downside, but more of a thing to keep in mind.

 

Generally I'd say there are little to no downsides and pretty big upsides so daisy-chain away.

Posted

The case I am looking into buying for budget reasons, the Montech AIR 100 argb, has its fans connected in a daisy chain. I have heard a lot of hate towards daisy-chained fans online, and I was wondering, why do people dislike it so much, and is there any potential risk for me?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I haven't heard any hate towards daisychained fans? In fact this is an ideal situation. You just need to watch and make sure you don't daisy chain too many and overload whatever you are plugging them into. It's only a problem if people think they can plug an unlimited amount of them together. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
7 minutes ago, hanouzz said:

The case I am looking into buying for budget reasons, the Montech AIR 100 argb, has its fans connected in a daisy chain. I have heard a lot of hate towards daisy-chained fans online, and I was wondering, why do people dislike it so much, and is there any potential risk for me?

The only hate I've seen is for dumb fans all plugged together using passthrough cables, as its a lot of points of failure and a PITA to cable manage. 

 

Actual daisy-chaining, I see nothing but praise, especially these modern fans which plug directly into each other so you only need a single cable back to the motherboard/fan controller.

Router:  Intel N100 (pfSense) WiFi6: Zyxel NWA210AX (1.7Gbit peak at 160Mhz)
WiFi5: Ubiquiti NanoHD OpenWRT (~500Mbit at 80Mhz) Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, MS510TXPP, GS110EMX
ISPs: Zen Full Fibre 900 (~930Mbit down, 115Mbit up) + Three 5G (~800Mbit down, 115Mbit up)
Upgrading Laptop/Desktop CNVIo WiFi 5 cards to PCIe WiFi6e/7

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Solution

The only downside is that you can only read out the RPM of one fan, so you can't directly account for manufacturing differences. For example 3 daisy chained fans report 1000 RPM, but it's only the readout from the 1st fan. Most fan motors have a tolerance of +/- 10% so that means the other two could be running 900-1100 RPM. With 3 "standalone" fans you can match the RPM (and thus noise level) more closely. But I'd say this is far into nitpicking territory for silent PC enthusiasts like myself.

 

Also, you have to check how much power they draw so they don't go over the power draw spec of one single motherboard connector. That's not a downside, but more of a thing to keep in mind.

 

Generally I'd say there are little to no downsides and pretty big upsides so daisy-chain away.

If someone did not use reason to reach their conclusion in the first place, you cannot use reason to convince them otherwise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I've not seen this hate of daisy-chaining, either. The points above are all valid, so I'll just add that DCing all of them may not work well since doesn't areas may have different airflow needs. 

I've been using computers since around 1978, started learning programming in 1980 on Apple IIs, started learning about hardware in 1990, ran a BBS from 1990-95, built my first Windows PC around 2000, taught myself malware removal starting in 2005 (also learned on Bleeping Computer), learned web dev starting in 2017, and I think I can fill a thimble with all that knowledge. 😉 I'm not an expert, which is why I keep investigating the answers that others give to try and improve my knowledge, so feel free to double-check the advice I give.

My phone's auto-correct is named Otto Rong.🤪😂

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Well thanks everyone! I will keep the info here today in mind when I build my gaming PC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Cases and Mods

×