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Not enough fan headers...

Krotchkoman
By Krotchkoman
in Cooling
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Hello folks! I just upgraded my case to a CoolerMaster MasterCase Pro 5, which is a beautiful case, and thankfully came with some great stock cooling options. I switched to water cooling for my CPU, so I have a single rad and fan in the back of the case, which uses the "CPU Fan" header and the "Rear Fan" Header... Unfortunately, that leaves me with only one header left... the "Front Header". Which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have room for 5 more case fans. 2 On top, and 3 in front. As of right now, I have 2 in front installed, and 1 on top. There are a few issues here.

 

1. 5 Fans into 1 header? Um...

2. The front fans don't reach far enough.

 

Should I get a gigantic splitter and start running them all on one fan header? Should I get a fan controller? Am I doomed until I get a new Mobo? (I'm currently using a m-atx, so it's a little weak)

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-SNIP-

 

A fan splitter would work great it mainly depends if your using 4 pin PWM fans or 3 pin ones, If your using 3 pin fans something like the NZXT Grid+ V2 isn't bad or using regular splitters but a good rule of thumb is no more than 3-4 fans per header.

Updated Modding FAQ

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I wouldn't run them all off one header, you'd run the risk of frying the connector. Just get a fan controller (the NZXT Sentry 3 is solid) or plug them into your PSU (you'll need adaptors for this and they'll run full speed 24/7)

Project White Lightning (My ITX Gaming PC): Core i5-4690K | CRYORIG H5 Ultimate | ASUS Maximus VII Impact | HyperX Savage 2x8GB DDR3 | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB | WD Black 1TB | Sapphire RX 480 8GB NITRO+ OC | Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX | Corsair AX760 | LG 29UM67 | CM Storm Quickfire Ultimate | Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum | HyperX Cloud II | Logitech Z333

Benchmark Results: 3DMark Firestrike: 10,528 | SteamVR VR Ready (avg. quality 7.1) | VRMark 7,004 (VR Ready)

 

Other systems I've built:

Core i3-6100 | CM Hyper 212 EVO | MSI H110M ECO | Corsair Vengeance LPX 1x8GB DDR4  | ADATA SP550 120GB | Seagate 500GB | EVGA ACX 2.0 GTX 1050 Ti | Fractal Design Core 1500 | Corsair CX450M

Core i5-4590 | Intel Stock Cooler | Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI | HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR3 | Seagate 500GB | Intel Integrated HD Graphics | Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 | be quiet! Pure Power L8 350W

 

I am not a professional. I am not an expert. I am just a smartass. Don't try and blame me if you break something when acting upon my advice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...why are you still reading this?

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  • Author

 or plug them into your PSU (you'll need adaptors for this and they'll run full speed 24/7)

I had not considered this. Let me see if I have the adaptors in my little bag of goodies...

 

AHA! I have exactly three of these. Hooray for airflow to my HD! And the rest of my case! You have saved me. I guess I forgot I could run fans directly through the PSU

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I had not considered this. Let me see if I have the adaptors in my little bag of goodies...

 

AHA! I have exactly three of these. Hooray for airflow to my HD! And the rest of my case! You have saved me. I guess I forgot I could run fans directly through the PSU

No problem :D

Project White Lightning (My ITX Gaming PC): Core i5-4690K | CRYORIG H5 Ultimate | ASUS Maximus VII Impact | HyperX Savage 2x8GB DDR3 | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB | WD Black 1TB | Sapphire RX 480 8GB NITRO+ OC | Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX | Corsair AX760 | LG 29UM67 | CM Storm Quickfire Ultimate | Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum | HyperX Cloud II | Logitech Z333

Benchmark Results: 3DMark Firestrike: 10,528 | SteamVR VR Ready (avg. quality 7.1) | VRMark 7,004 (VR Ready)

 

Other systems I've built:

Core i3-6100 | CM Hyper 212 EVO | MSI H110M ECO | Corsair Vengeance LPX 1x8GB DDR4  | ADATA SP550 120GB | Seagate 500GB | EVGA ACX 2.0 GTX 1050 Ti | Fractal Design Core 1500 | Corsair CX450M

Core i5-4590 | Intel Stock Cooler | Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI | HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR3 | Seagate 500GB | Intel Integrated HD Graphics | Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 | be quiet! Pure Power L8 350W

 

I am not a professional. I am not an expert. I am just a smartass. Don't try and blame me if you break something when acting upon my advice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...why are you still reading this?

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I also want to take a moment to note that getting these two front fans working reduced my idle temps by ~15 degrees. Wow, I guess my airflow was a little worse than I thought.

Cool, glad I helped.

Project White Lightning (My ITX Gaming PC): Core i5-4690K | CRYORIG H5 Ultimate | ASUS Maximus VII Impact | HyperX Savage 2x8GB DDR3 | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB | WD Black 1TB | Sapphire RX 480 8GB NITRO+ OC | Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX | Corsair AX760 | LG 29UM67 | CM Storm Quickfire Ultimate | Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum | HyperX Cloud II | Logitech Z333

Benchmark Results: 3DMark Firestrike: 10,528 | SteamVR VR Ready (avg. quality 7.1) | VRMark 7,004 (VR Ready)

 

Other systems I've built:

Core i3-6100 | CM Hyper 212 EVO | MSI H110M ECO | Corsair Vengeance LPX 1x8GB DDR4  | ADATA SP550 120GB | Seagate 500GB | EVGA ACX 2.0 GTX 1050 Ti | Fractal Design Core 1500 | Corsair CX450M

Core i5-4590 | Intel Stock Cooler | Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI | HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR3 | Seagate 500GB | Intel Integrated HD Graphics | Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 | be quiet! Pure Power L8 350W

 

I am not a professional. I am not an expert. I am just a smartass. Don't try and blame me if you break something when acting upon my advice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...why are you still reading this?

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Note that most fan headers (PWM or regular 3 pin) are capable of supplying up to 3A current. While most fans draw 0.25 to 0.3 A current (max draw). So you'll be fine with up to 10 fans (theoretically). Personally, I go with molex connectors from PSU to run fans at full speed. If i need to configure a PC to use PWM fans, i would not connect more then 5 to one header.

 

Normally fan controllers are cheaper then your motherboard so keep that in mind.

 
Spoiler

CPU: Intel i5-8600K 6C 3.6 GHz | MOBO: ASUS Prime Z370-A ATX Motherboard | RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3000MHz | GPU: ASUS Dual GeForce GTX 1060 OC edition 6GB | CASE: CoolerMaster MasterBox Lite 5 RGB | PSU: CoolerMaster V750 | SDD: Samsung 840 Pro 250GB | HDD: Seagate Barracuda  3 TB 7200rpm |  Sound Card: (pending)  | Speaker: Logitech Z623

 
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If you are concerned with the amperage running through the fan header, you can use something like this which will still maintain the pwm signal. 

 

87800_l.jpg

http://www.ncix.com/detail/swiftech-8w-pwm-spl-st-8-way-pwm-05-87800-1294.htm

My Build:

CPU-Z: http://valid.x86.fr/rscea2

PC Part Picker: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/FpDQHx

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Note that most fan headers (PWM or regular 3 pin) are capable of supplying up to 3A current. While most fans draw 0.25 to 0.3 A current (max draw).

Last I checked it was more around 1A per header, with some going as low as 0.7A, still good enough for 3-4 lower power fans.

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Last I checked it was more around 1A per header, with some going as low as 0.7A, still good enough for 3-4 lower power fans.

 

Sorry for that mix up. Most motherboard does have 1A max output "per header" and a total of 3A output on "3 headers".

 
Spoiler

CPU: Intel i5-8600K 6C 3.6 GHz | MOBO: ASUS Prime Z370-A ATX Motherboard | RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3000MHz | GPU: ASUS Dual GeForce GTX 1060 OC edition 6GB | CASE: CoolerMaster MasterBox Lite 5 RGB | PSU: CoolerMaster V750 | SDD: Samsung 840 Pro 250GB | HDD: Seagate Barracuda  3 TB 7200rpm |  Sound Card: (pending)  | Speaker: Logitech Z623

 
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