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Fans and fan hub connections

Protomesh
By Protomesh
in Cooling
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Posted

So I am in a bit of a pickle. I have an excessive amount of fans and nowhere to connect them if I want to actually control the fan speeds.

 

I've read somewhere that each motherboard fan header supports a maximum of 3 daisy-chained fans (max 2 if using really powerful ones).

 

So I don't have enough headers to connect all. The fix is fanhubs. But then I have a question of, are they safe? Can I connect 6 fans into a fanhub, and then connect said fanhub into a singular motherboard fan header (i.e sys_fan) ? Will it go boom? I don't wanna brick my motherboard.

 

Also, are there some special kind of fan hubs that allow me to control the fan speeds without requiring me to connect the fan hub to the motherboard? Like inbuilt RPM controller? So all it needs is a power connection to the PSU...

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1 hour ago, Protomesh said:

Can I connect 6 fans into a fanhub, and then connect said fanhub into a singular motherboard fan header (i.e sys_fan) ? Will it go boom? I don't wanna brick my motherboard.

The hub does not power all 6 fans from the mobo fan header, it will use a SATA power connector to power the hub. The fan header will be used to "copy" the pwm signal from the motherboard so all 6 fans run at the same speed.

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1 hour ago, Protomesh said:

an I connect 6 fans into a fanhub, and then connect said fanhub into a singular motherboard fan header (i.e sys_fan) ?

Yes. As long as the hub has external power, which basically all of them do.

1 hour ago, Protomesh said:

Also, are there some special kind of fan hubs that allow me to control the fan speeds without requiring me to connect the fan hub to the motherboard? Like inbuilt RPM controller? So all it needs is a power connection to the PSU...

I think so, but I couldn't find any. They're also just kind of inconvenient, because you have to set the speed manually.

Just use a PWM fan hub that connects to the mobo.

English is not my first language, so please excuse any confusion or misunderstandings on my end.

I like to edit my posts a lot.

 

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GPU 1: RTX 2070 Super

GPU 2: GTX 1060 3GB

PSU: Gigabyte P450B EVGA 600BR EVGA 750BR

Cooling: 2x Delta GFB1212VHG w. PWM

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Hello!

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A fan header doesn't support a specific amount of fans. It supports a maximum amount of CURRENT.

 

Fans have the current amount specified on their labels.. ex 12v 0.25A ... 0.25A is the current. If it's not listed like that, it may be listed as watts ex 12v 3w .. current is 3w/12v = 0.25A

At spin-up, a fan may consume a bit more current for just a few seconds, like in the example above the fan may consume 0.4-0.5A for 2-3 seconds as it spins up.

 

Unless motherboard maker says otherwise, a typical fan header is rated for 1A of current. Fan headers advertising being water pump header are usually rated for 2A or more, because there's thicker traces (wires) in the motherboard as pumps can often consume more than 1A of current.

 

 

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Did they satisfactorily answer your questions? If not, I'll have them flogged. 😉

 

Seriously, if anything is still unclear, let us know. 

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.🤪😂

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On 1/24/2024 at 3:43 PM, RevGAM said:

Did they satisfactorily answer your questions? If not, I'll have them flogged. 😉

 

Seriously, if anything is still unclear, let us know. 

Yes I am happy with the answers sorry for late reply I have been busy since I left the post. 

 

It gives me peace of mind knowing the PSU is the one powering the fans 🙏🙏

 

My motherboard was $350 so I don't want to break it.

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