4 pin fan connector into a 3 pin slot?

[Spewky]

Hey,

 

I'm prepping for my build and I have a Cooler Master Nepton 240M and I was setting up the fans when I saw that both of the fans on the radiator have 4 pin fan connector plugs and when looking at the headers on the motherboard, above to the right of the CPU slot there is a 4 pin and a 3 pin slot. Will a 4 pin connector work with that 3 pin and if so, does it matter which pins go in which slot (for example slots 1, 2 and 3 and not 4 or 2, 3 and 4 and not 1)? 

 

Motherboard is the ASRock Z97 Extreme 4. 

 

Please reply if you have any advice on what to do, this is my first time build. 

 

Thanks

[W-L]

Hey,

 

I'm prepping for my build and I have a Cooler Master Nepton 240M and I was setting up the fans when I saw that both of the fans on the radiator have 4 pin fan connector plugs and when looking at the headers on the motherboard, above to the right of the CPU slot there is a 4 pin and a 3 pin slot. Will a 4 pin connector work with that 3 pin and if so, does it matter which pins go in which slot (for example slots 1, 2 and 3 and not 4 or 2, 3 and 4 and not 1)? 

 

Motherboard is the ASRock Z97 Extreme 4. 

 

Please reply if you have any advice on what to do, this is my first time build. 

 

Thanks

 

4 pin fans can run in 3 pin fan slots and will only go in one way since the header is keyed but will only run via voltage control. Most fans don't mind but have slightly less range of speed control but others may have some noise if you run PWM fans on a voltage control and which header you use doesn't really matter other than the CPU of course, as long as it's easy to cable manage.

[Spewky]

4 pin fans can run in 3 pin fan slots and will only go in one way since the header is keyed but will only run via voltage control. Most fans don't mind but have slightly less range of speed control but others may have some noise if you run PWM fans on a voltage control and which header you use doesn't really matter other than the CPU of course, as long as it's easy to cable manage.

Okay, so I can put the 4 pin on the 3 pin, but it would have less range of speed... I don't think that's too bad.

 

So there is only one way to plug it in, correct? 

[W-L]

Okay, so I can put the 4 pin on the 3 pin, but it would have less range of speed... I don't think that's too bad.

 

So there is only one way to plug it in, correct? 

 

Yeah it's a keyed connector so it can only go in one way like this here, the 4 pin connector will overhang the last pin that's the PWM one since it won't be used.

[Enderman]

Okay, so I can put the 4 pin on the 3 pin, but it would have less range of speed... I don't think that's too bad.

 

So there is only one way to plug it in, correct? 

yes, you can put a 4 pin fan into a 3 pin header and still be able to control it

some fans will have a connector that only lets it go in the right spot, but I have seen several PWM fans that dont, and this means you could plug it into the wrong pins

 

double check that the black cable from your fan is going into a pin

the blue cable (on the opposite side of black) should be off the connector

[Spewky]

Yeah it's a keyed connector so it can only go in one way like this here, the 4 pin connector will overhang the last pin that's the PWM one since it won't be used.

Okay, I understand more now.

 

Thanks

[Enderman]

Yeah it's a keyed connector so it can only go in one way like this here, the 4 pin connector will overhang the last pin that's the PWM one since it won't be used.

 

There are a lot of PWM fans that have a keyed connector that spans the whole plug and will not prevent you from plugging it into the wrong side of the 3 pin port

 

like this:

[W-L]

There are a lot of PWM fans that have a keyed connector that spans the whole plug and will not prevent you from plugging it into the wrong side of the 3 pin port

 

like this:

-PIC-

 

Yeah I've seen a few of those but not particularity on motherboards headers, 4 pins are usually keyed for 3/4pin use while 3 pins you can usually overhand the connector as long as there isn't anything in the way.

[Enderman]

Yeah I've seen a few of those but not particularity on motherboards headers, 4 pins are usually keyed for 3/4pin use while 3 pins you can usually overhand the connector as long as there isn't anything in the way.

the issue is not the motherboard header...

 

the issue is that the 4 pin connector on the fan can be plugged into a 3 pin header on either the left OR right...which would not be very good and probably break your fan and/or motherboard

[W-L]

the issue is not the motherboard header...

 

the issue is that the 4 pin connector on the fan can be plugged into a 3 pin header on either the left OR right...which would not be very good and probably break your fan and/or motherboard

 

Oh the fan plug itself, yeah that's true there are some non standard ones out there where that could happen, but in most situations it will just not work until things get switched, damage is a possibility but very unlikely as long as you change it immediately