Plugging pins incorrectly?

[Omie]

When building a PC and plugging in, say for example, a 4pin fan connector into a 4pin chassis header on the motherboard, is there a wrong way to plug it in? Like if you turn the orientation of the connector upside down or something? Or are various motherboard headers keyed a certain way so that there is only one way to connect the connector to it. 

[Lurick]

They are/should be keyed so you can only plug them in one way. Should be a couple | | on the header so it slots in just right to the header.

[ChillyPepperGuy]

3 minutes ago, Omie said:

When building a PC and plugging in, say for example, a 4pin fan connector into a 4pin chassis header on the motherboard, is there a wrong way to plug it in? Like if you turn the orientation of the connector upside down or something? Or are various motherboard headers keyed a certain way so that there is only one way to connect the connector to it. 

almost all motherboards are made in such a way that is is impossible to plug in pins wrong without forcing it

[LordofSavages]

3 minutes ago, Omie said:

When building a PC and plugging in, say for example, a 4pin fan connector into a 4pin chassis header on the motherboard, is there a wrong way to plug it in? Like if you turn the orientation of the connector upside down or something? Or are various motherboard headers keyed a certain way so that there is only one way to connect the connector to it. 

USB3.0, PWM fan headers, USB 2.0 and HD Audio are some that I know are keyed and can only go in one way. Most connectors aren't gonna damage the system (that badly) if plugged in a bit wrong

[Mira Yurizaki]

Practically every connector these days is designed to fit one way. The only except I've found so far is it's possible to force a M-keyed M.2 drive into a B keyed slot (or the other way around) with little effort.

 

Though if you have an older motherboard with an IEEE 1394 header,  it has the same pin layout as a USB 2.0 header, but are not compatible.

[Omie]

My Enthoo Luxe comes with a PWM hub and I was wondering if I should plug the hub into the CPU_OPT or Chassis Fan on my Maximus IX Hero board?

 

The CPU_OPT has shared control with the CPU_FAN which my H115i will be connected to. Would it be better to have the PWM hub (which holds my case fans) have shared control with the CPU_FAN header which holds my H115i rad fans?

 

Or should I connect the PWM hub to a fully PWM chassis header and control them separately through FanXpert?

[Tedster]

Ehh, the chassis header I think.

[Omie]

2 minutes ago, Tedster said:

Ehh, the chassis header I think.

I was leaning more towards the CPU_OPT because wouldn't it be better since all of my fans would be controlled depending on the CPU? Or is that like a bad thing lol

[manikyath]

well, do you want to have all the fans on essentially one header, or all the fans on essentially two headers?

 

fan control is -along with peripherals- so much personal preference that there's honestly not really a better way to do things.

[Tedster]

Just now, Omie said:

I was leaning more towards the CPU_OPT because wouldn't it be better since all of my fans would be controlled depending on the CPU? Or is that like a bad thing lol

The thing you have to consider is that having it controlled differently might be more beneficial - I don't think it'll help you if EVERYTHING is based on CPU temperatures the same way the CPU fan speed would be, you'll have some fans go unreasonably fast for no discernible benefit.

Having it going off the chassis fan header would be better because it would allow you to treat your case fans more reasonably, and only ramp them up when it could actually make a difference.

[Omie]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

well, do you want to have all the fans on essentially one header, or all the fans on essentially two headers?

 

fan control is -along with peripherals- so much personal preference that there's honestly not really a better way to do things.

This is what I was thinking: connect PWM hub of case fans to CPU_OPT so it has shared control with the CPU_FAN my h115i rad fans are connected to. Then I don't even need FanXpert because I can control every fan through Corsair Link right?

[Omie]

2 minutes ago, Tedster said:

The thing you have to consider is that having it controlled differently might be more beneficial - I don't think it'll help you if EVERYTHING is based on CPU temperatures the same way the CPU fan speed would be, you'll have some fans go unreasonably fast for no discernible benefit.

Having it going off the chassis fan header would be better because it would allow you to treat your case fans more reasonably, and only ramp them up when it could actually make a difference.

Hmm that's also a good idea. I think the chassis header would give me more flexible control then. That way I can control my H115i radiator fans through Corsair Link and my case fans through FanXpert. 

[LordofSavages]

12 minutes ago, Omie said:

My Enthoo Luxe comes with a PWM hub and I was wondering if I should plug the hub into the CPU_OPT or Chassis Fan on my Maximus IX Hero board?

 

The CPU_OPT has shared control with the CPU_FAN which my H115i will be connected to. Would it be better to have the PWM hub (which holds my case fans) have shared control with the CPU_FAN header which holds my H115i rad fans?

 

Or should I connect the PWM hub to a fully PWM chassis header and control them separately through FanXpert?

All Fan connectors can be controlled through the BIOS to react to CPU temperatures, connecting the hub to the CPU OPT will make it run at the same PWM percentage as the CPU cooler. However, if you connect the fan headers to a chassis fan header, you can control it independently from the CPU cooler's fans

[manikyath]

5 minutes ago, Omie said:

This is what I was thinking: connect PWM hub of case fans to CPU_OPT so it has shared control with the CPU_FAN my h115i rad fans are connected to. Then I don't even need FanXpert because I can control every fan through Corsair Link right?

mind you, you're talking to a guy that has every individual fan manually configured with minimum duty cycles, maximum ducy cycles, fan curves, actively cooled mobo VRMs to save on duty cycles elsewhere, an extra fan pointed at the GPU to reduce idle temps, and a hard drive wrapped in neopreen to eliminate noise.

 

EDIT: sitting next to a chinese 3D printer that sounds like a vaccuum-jackhammer combo.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

First make sure that the chassis header actually does PWM.  A lot of motherboards may have 4-pin headers, but use voltage control instead like a 3-pin would.  While that does work on PWM fans, the fan speed will be around 50% on idle.

 

I put all my case fans (5x 120mm intake and 3x 140mm exhaust) on the CPU header myself because my motherboard (MSI X99A Gaming 7) didn't give proper PWM control on any of the case headers. 

[Omie]

Just now, Captain Chaos said:

First make sure that the chassis header actually does PWM.  A lot of motherboards may have 4-pin headers, but use voltage control instead like a 3-pin would.  While that does work on PWM fans, the fan speed will be around 50% on idle.

 

I put all my case fans (5x 120mm intake and 3x 140mm exhaust) on the CPU header myself because my motherboard (MSI X99A Gaming 7) didn't give proper PWM control on any of the case headers. 

My board has full true PWM chassis headers. I know that some mobos have PWM headers but they have a +5V pin which makes them run at 100% all the time lol.

[Omie]

4 minutes ago, YaqinHasan said:

All Fan connectors can be controlled through the BIOS to react to CPU temperatures, connecting the hub to the CPU OPT will make it run at the same PWM percentage as the CPU cooler. However, if you connect the fan headers to a chassis fan header, you can control it independently from the CPU cooler's fans

If I connect my fans to the CPU_OPT, can I control all my fans including my radiator fans through Corsair Link?

 

OR

 

Can I control fans plugged into the chassis header in Corsair Link as well?

[LordofSavages]

2 minutes ago, Omie said:

If I connect my fans to the CPU_OPT, can I control all my fans including my radiator fans through Corsair Link?

Corsair Link is crap in my opinion, my suggestion is since you have an Asus board. Use AI suite or fan Xpert 3 to control each of your fans independently (CPU cooler, chassis and so on)

[Omie]

2 minutes ago, YaqinHasan said:

Corsair Link is crap in my opinion, my suggestion is since you have an Asus board. Use AI suite or fan Xpert 3 to control each of your fans independently (CPU cooler, chassis and so on)

Yeah everyone says CL is bad lol. But can I control my H115i's LED through Xpert or AI suite?

[LordofSavages]

1 minute ago, Omie said:

Yeah everyone says CL is bad lol. But can I control my H115i's LED through Xpert or AI suite?

No. But to answer your first question, plug it into a motherboard chassis fan header and control it through the BIOS. Corsair link only controls the pump, which is connected to the (radiator) fans as well and plugging into the CPU_OPT header may lead to complications (I think, not sure, try if you want) so I'd say that the chassis fan header is a much better choice

[Omie]

7 minutes ago, YaqinHasan said:

No. But to answer your first question, plug it into a motherboard chassis fan header and control it through the BIOS. Corsair link only controls the pump, which is connected to the (radiator) fans as well and plugging into the CPU_OPT header may lead to complications (I think, not sure, try if you want) so I'd say that the chassis fan header is a much better choice

Ok well now I'm kind of stuck because I hear Corsair Link and FanXpert conflict.

 

I'm going to just plug my PWM hub into my chassis header and control them with FanXpert.

 

But the thing is, I want to be able to control my H115i's LED, pump mode, and radiator fans with Corsair Link separately. Is there anyway to do this and also control my case fans (connected via PWM hub to chassis header) with FanXpert and have no conflicts between Corsair Link and FanXpert?

 

I would much prefer to have everything controlled in Corsair Link, but I hear you can't control the case fans as they are not connected via a Corsair Link cable.

[LordofSavages]

1 minute ago, Omie said:

Ok well now I'm kind of stuck because I hear Corsair Link and FanXpert conflict.

 

I'm going to just plug my PWM hub into my chassis header and control them with FanXpert.

 

But the thing is, I want to be able to control my H115i's LED, pump mode, and radiator fans with Corsair Link separately. Is there anyway to do this and also control my case fans (connected via PWM hub to chassis header) with FanXpert and have no conflicts between Corsair Link and FanXpert?

Well, I'm no Corsair expert but I do know a thing or two about Asus boards. Asus boards usually have FanXpert built-in to their own BIOS

1. Uninstall FanXpert from Windows and keep Corsair link for you radiator

2. Plug the Radiator pump into the CPU fan header and the fans into the splitter on the pump

3. Set your radiator to work properly

4. Plug in the fan hub to the nearest chassis fan connector

5. Enter your BIOS

6. Open up the fan control part (F6 will usually bring it up)

7. Set a fan curve for your the chassis connector that your hub is plugged into (by default the temperature is relative to CPU core temperature)

8. Exit BIOS and check if the fan curve works for the hub and Corsairlink should work for the AIO

[Omie]

10 minutes ago, YaqinHasan said:

Well, I'm no Corsair expert but I do know a thing or two about Asus boards. Asus boards usually have FanXpert built-in to their own BIOS

1. Uninstall FanXpert from Windows and keep Corsair link for you radiator

2. Plug the Radiator pump into the CPU fan header and the fans into the splitter on the pump

3. Set your radiator to work properly

4. Plug in the fan hub to the nearest chassis fan connector

5. Enter your BIOS

6. Open up the fan control part (F6 will usually bring it up)

7. Set a fan curve for your the chassis connector that your hub is plugged into (by default the temperature is relative to CPU core temperature)

8. Exit BIOS and check if the fan curve works for the hub and Corsairlink should work for the AIO

Ah ok, so basically just control my case fans through the BIOS so there is no need for FanXpert and just have my AIO be controlled through Link?

[LogicalDrm]

Take a look at connector and where it should go. Like dais, they are keyed. Besides that. Most are missing/not connected pins to help correct placing. Front panel connectors are hardest.

[LordofSavages]

4 hours ago, Omie said:

Ah ok, so basically just control my case fans through the BIOS so there is no need for FanXpert and just have my AIO be controlled through Link?

Yes