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4-pin PWM to Molex fan, Does it exist?

Weak1ings
By Weak1ings
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I have been looking for a way to control my Antec 900's case fans beyond the simple 3-way switch... primarily to enable my motherboard's ability to shut the fans off completely in very low loads.  (is this even a good idea?, CPU fans will still be turning & GPU fans.

I have haven't been able to find an adapter yet and I am wondering:

 

Does it exist/ is it even possible?
Thanks for any help you have, and I'd appreciate that the adapter be black.
 

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

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Yes my Z87 G45 came with one

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Yes my Z87 G45 came with one

unfortunately, my Z97 PRO Gamer didn't, How do I tell which way they go online, or can the adapters go both ways? (motherboard power the fan)

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

The OS is like a kind food, Try it before saying if you like it or don't.

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waait what

4 pin on the motherboard with molex fan or 4 pin fan with molex power?

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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waait what

4 pin on the motherboard with molex fan or 4 pin fan with molex power?

PWM to Molex

from mobo to fan

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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PWM to Molex

from mobo to fan

you cant PWM control a non-PWM fan

 

thats not how it works

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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you cant PWM control a non-PWM fan

 

thats not how it works

It was voltage control

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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It was voltage control

why is he asking for PWM then

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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why is he asking for PWM then

Most people call the motherboard fan headers PWM

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Most people call the motherboard fan headers PWM

why...

only 4 pin headers are PWM

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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Posted

why...

only 4 pin headers are PWM

Fan control is fan control who cares if its PWM

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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why is he asking for PWM then

I want a way to control my 4-pin MOLEX fans with my motherboard that has 4-pin PWM ports, the way I control them is unimportant (DC is fine.) I just need to know if an adapter is reversible, or where I can find one that will work this way. 

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

The OS is like a kind food, Try it before saying if you like it or don't.

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If it doesn't exist you can wire one yourself easily enough. Pin 1 (the right-most pin when the indentations are down) is 12v, which is what fans take, Connect that to pin 2 (the middle pin) on the fan's cable. Then connect Pin 2 of the molex (ground) to Pin 1 of the fan (ground), and everything should work great, although you won't have RPM readout.

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If it doesn't exist you can wire one yourself easily enough. Pin 1 (the right-most pin when the indentations are down) is 12v, which is what fans take, Connect that to pin 2 (the middle pin) on the fan's cable. Then connect Pin 2 of the molex (ground) to Pin 1 of the fan (ground), and everything should work great, although you won't have RPM readout.

you are definitely more knowledgeable than I about this, can the adapters work in reverse?

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

The OS is like a kind food, Try it before saying if you like it or don't.

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I want a way to control my 4-pin MOLEX fans with my motherboard that has 4-pin PWM ports, the way I control them is unimportant (DC is fine.) I just need to know if an adapter is reversible, or where I can find one that will work this way. 

molex 4 pin is not the same as fan 4 pin

 

molex only carries +5v and +12v and two grounds

 

fan PWM carries tachometer, +12v (usually variable), ground, and PWM 5V

 

a fan that has a molex connector cannot be PWM controlled

the most you can do is get a 3 pin fan to molex adapter and if your motherboard has fan control you can probably change the speed by adjust the voltage

but no, you cannot use PWM control

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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Fan control is fan control who cares if its PWM

PWM is very different from DC control

people who care about silence care about PWM

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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PWM is very different from DC control

people who care about silence care about PWM

I have 0 fan mode with DC so eh

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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I have 0 fan mode with DC so eh

yeah but you dont have anything between 10 and 40% fan mode with DC

and you dont get much airflow with 0rpm fans...

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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I have 0 fan mode with DC so eh

 

 

yeah but you dont have anything between 10 and 40% fan mode with DC

and you dont get much airflow with 0rpm fans...

Would something like this work?

3-pin Female to Molex Female

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

The OS is like a kind food, Try it before saying if you like it or don't.

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yeah but you dont have anything between 10 and 40% fan mode with DC

and you dont get much airflow with 0rpm fans...

Right now my CPU fan is setup to not be at 15% until the CPU reaches 60C and 100% when the CPU reaches 85c

The case fans are setup to be at 0% until 50c then they go to 15% until the CPU reaches 90C then they gradually go to 100%

Now if only my PSU wasnt so noisy and my CPU fan bearings werent dying..

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Would something like this work?

3-pin Female to Molex Female

yes

that would allow you to control the voltage (if your motherbord supports that) but there is no way of knowing the fan rpm

 

tbh if the fan you have only has a molex connector and not even a tachometer then its a serious POS fan and you should buy a new one

you can get a decent fan for just a few $ which will actually cost the same as that adapter and will have a tachometer for proper speed control

im not 100% sure if a motherboard can control the fan voltage without knowing its rpm...

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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I have been looking for a way to control my Antec 900's case fans beyond the simple 3-way switch... primarily to enable my motherboard's ability to shut the fans off completely in very low loads.  (is this even a good idea?, CPU fans will still be turning & GPU fans.

I have haven't been able to find an adapter yet and I am wondering:

 

Does it exist/ is it even possible?

Thanks for any help you have, and I'd appreciate that the adapter be black.

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812311001

 

I use this to run my Delta Fans. I just use the CPU fan header (4pin / PWM) and it controls the Delta Fans. The Molex powers the fans themselves. Do note that three pin non PWM fans with this cable will run at full speed.

 

Yeah, if I were to plug the Delta Fans into my mobo, the mobo would short out. haha....

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yes

that would allow you to control the voltage (if your motherbord supports that) but there is no way of knowing the fan rpm

 

tbh if the fan you have only has a molex connector and not even a tachometer then its a serious POS fan and you should buy a new one

you can get a decent fan for just a few $ which will actually cost the same as that adapter and will have a tachometer for proper speed control

im not 100% sure if a motherboard can control the fan voltage without knowing its rpm...

Just so you know, this is definitely a valid point but if I were looking for a fan, I'd look at one :)  The Antec 900 stock fans are good but OLD...  It shows the quality Antec put in them since none of them in any of 6 cases (Antec 900s) of heavy daily use have failed or become noisy, post-6 or 7 years!

Do you think I would be able to plug in more than one fan into the adapter and have them still run fine?

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812311001

 

I use this to run my Delta Fans. I just use the CPU fan header (4pin / PWM) and it controls the Delta Fans. The Molex powers the fans themselves. Do note that three pin non PWM fans with this cable will run at full speed.

 

Yeah, if I were to plug the Delta Fans into my mobo, the mobo would short out. haha....

I don't think that's what I was looking for, just Molex to PWM so I can control my stock (and Molex only) fans via my motherboard.

Thanks anyways!

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

The OS is like a kind food, Try it before saying if you like it or don't.

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-snip-

 

Oh sorry, I read your post wrong...hmm, I don't know of any adapters that feed out to Molex...that's kind of rare. You might be stuck getting whole separate fan controller.

 

I know this would work for three pin fans, but I don't know how to turn three pin into Molex:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811984004&cm_re=phantek_fan_hub-_-11-984-004-_-Product

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Oh sorry, I read your post wrong...hmm, I don't know of any adapters that feed out to Molex...that's kind of rare. You might be stuck getting whole separate fan controller.

 

I know this would work for three pin fans, but I don't know how to turn three pin into Molex:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811984004&cm_re=phantek_fan_hub-_-11-984-004-_-Product

it could work using this perhaps

I am trying to figure out if I can get away with buying a single one, or if I will have to hook one up to every fan...  Ebay does seem to have other options too, but all more expensive and uglier.

[link in previous posting]

For the Best builds and Price lists here is a world where many points of the price have been predefined already for your convenience!

The Xeon E3 1231 V3 IS BETTER Than the Core i5 4690K and a Significantly better value for the non-overclockers or value shoppers.

The OS is like a kind food, Try it before saying if you like it or don't.

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