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How many fans can I have in my system?

x697
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Hey guys,

I was planning on buying fans for my system, however I don't know how many my system can support. There are 3 fan inputs on my motherboard but my case says it has an integrated fan controller to support up to 3 fans. Does this mean I can use 6 or can I only use 3. 

Thanks.

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What case do you have?

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well technically you can have your PSUs wattage divided by about 4 but thats probably not what you want. it depends on how many motherboard headers you have, what case you have and if you feel like buying and using fan splitters / fan hubs

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If you have 3 headers on the motherboard and 3 mechanically controlled case headers 6 is definitely possible

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1 minute ago, Damascus said:

If you have 3 headers on the motherboard and 3 mechanically controlled case headers 6 is definitely possible

6 should be possible but usually 3-4 is more than enough for the average air cooled build

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33 minutes ago, x697 said:

Hey guys,

I was planning on buying fans for my system, however I don't know how many my system can support. There are 3 fan inputs on my motherboard but my case says it has an integrated fan controller to support up to 3 fans. Does this mean I can use 6 or can I only use 3. 

Thanks.

Actually if you use a simple splitter, you can at least double number of motherboard-supported FANs without giving up on anything. Some 3x1 splitters also exist, but might reduce the max RPM from fans.

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Just now, Shiv78 said:

6 should be possible but usually 3-4 is more than enough for the average air cooled build

Yeah, most cases don't have the space unless we get into push/pull

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3 hours ago, Jack Kaye Pc Gamer said:

What case do you have?

Fractal Design R4

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2 hours ago, Shiv78 said:

6 should be possible but usually 3-4 is more than enough for the average air cooled build

My computer mines, so the fans are needed lol :) 

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1 hour ago, x697 said:

Fractal Design R4

Means you can have max 6 if you are using windowed model and 8 if you have normal sidepanel. If you were to populate all slots, I'd go for powered hub and use single header to control maybe 6 of them and rest from another header. Or two powered hubs if you want to have different curves to different areas. Depending on does your mobo have support for advanced controlling.

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4 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Means you can have max 6 if you are using windowed model and 8 if you have normal sidepanel. If you were to populate all slots, I'd go for powered hub and use single header to control maybe 6 of them and rest from another header. Or two powered hubs if you want to have different curves to different areas. Depending on does your mobo have support for advanced controlling.

I have the normal side panel but I usually leave the side panel open because it mines so I assume open case mining is better. Does that mean I have max 7 system fans? And also big question do premium fans make a difference ?

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7 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Means you can have max 6 if you are using windowed model and 8 if you have normal sidepanel. If you were to populate all slots, I'd go for powered hub and use single header to control maybe 6 of them and rest from another header. Or two powered hubs if you want to have different curves to different areas. Depending on does your mobo have support for advanced controlling.

How did you get max 8 if I have the normal side panel?

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3 hours ago, x697 said:

How did you get max 8 if I have the normal side panel?

2 front, 2 top, 1 bottom, 1 rear and 2 side panel. Means 6 with window and 8 with normal. I have same case. If you are using case with open side panel, you gain very little by filling all fan slots. You should think it as bit more restrictive test bench. Use fans to direct airflow for components needing it.

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20 hours ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

2 front, 2 top, 1 bottom, 1 rear and 2 side panel. Means 6 with window and 8 with normal. I have same case. If you are using case with open side panel, you gain very little by filling all fan slots. You should think it as bit more restrictive test bench. Use fans to direct airflow for components needing it.

I see your point. I bought one premium noctua fan at 3000 RPM and around 200 CFM and that will be directing air towards the main GPU. I also bought a cheap 4 pack of rosewill fans just for some extra flow around the case. The side panel fits 2? I thought it only fit one because there is only one mount.

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2 years ago I contacted Fractal's support regarding the fan controller on my NAS' Define R5, and they advise to avoid connecting more than 1 fan to each of the connectors coming from the built-in fan controller.  Something to do with the wiring being thin and not being able to handle much electrical current.

 

You may get away with 6 fans if they don't draw too much power, but I wouldn't trust drawing more than 1A total from that controller.  if you're going for any serious fan setup I'd suggest plugging some of them into the motherboard's headers and/or using a 3rd party fan controller.

 

I ended up using a Lamptron fan controller to power my 6 fans (2x 140mm in front, 1x 140mm in the side, 1x 140mm in the rear, 2x 120mm ziptied to the back of the drive cages).

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2 hours ago, x697 said:

I see your point. I bought one premium noctua fan at 3000 RPM and around 200 CFM and that will be directing air towards the main GPU. I also bought a cheap 4 pack of rosewill fans just for some extra flow around the case. The side panel fits 2? I thought it only fit one because there is only one mount.

Could be you are right about that (*goes to check*), yeah, only one for side. I must thought about some other version or case.

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17 hours ago, Captain Chaos said:

2 years ago I contacted Fractal's support regarding the fan controller on my NAS' Define R5, and they advise to avoid connecting more than 1 fan to each of the connectors coming from the built-in fan controller.  Something to do with the wiring being thin and not being able to handle much electrical current.

 

You may get away with 6 fans if they don't draw too much power, but I wouldn't trust drawing more than 1A total from that controller.  if you're going for any serious fan setup I'd suggest plugging some of them into the motherboard's headers and/or using a 3rd party fan controller.

 

I ended up using a Lamptron fan controller to power my 6 fans (2x 140mm in front, 1x 140mm in the side, 1x 140mm in the rear, 2x 120mm ziptied to the back of the drive cages).

Interesting. I plan to hook up 3 rosewills, a total of 0.48 A. That seem okay?

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Yeah, that sounds good.  The fan controller has 3 connectors for fans (I'm assuming the R4 has the same controller as the R5), so you can just hook up a fan to each of those.

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2 hours ago, Captain Chaos said:

Yeah, that sounds good.  The fan controller has 3 connectors for fans (I'm assuming the R4 has the same controller as the R5), so you can just hook up a fan to each of those.

I connected them, but for some reason they are not getting power. Could I be doing something wrong? What are the necessary connections 

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On 7/28/2017 at 5:04 AM, Captain Chaos said:

There's another cable that provides power to the controller.  Looks like it's a molex plug on the R4. 

 

innercablesfan.jpg

Yup, found it thanks.

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