3 PIN MOLEX CONNECTOR SOFTWARE

No fan controller cost, no issue with customer forgetting to turn up the fans and calling me about BSOD when gaming, just plug it into any 3 or 4 pin motherboard header and forget it. I love the thermostatically controlled fans on high performance builds with a budget. So you basically have the right idea but I just wanted to let you know about some of the less common options out there. You cannot plug a 4 pin pwm fan into a 3 pin fan header - will not run. see above for CPU motherboard header operation. Other thoughts, you can plug a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin motherboard header. These dont work well for intake fans as the room air is usually always so cool, even in summer, the fans run at their lowest speed. Some work really well, and some are crap as they dont rev up until it is IMO too damn hot. There is also a class of 2 and 3 pin fans that have a built in temp sensor that reads the temp of the air blowing through the fan and adjusts (hotter = faster) the fan speed. You an disable CPU fan control and it will run 100% speed for a plain fan or go 'legacy' in which typically the motherboard will use the 'CPU temp' thermal sensor located somewhere near the CPU to automatically adjust fan speed based on old speed step or cool n quiet temp vs fan speed curves. Say a 3rd party heatsink in which you supply your own fan and it is 3 pin. Also in the bios of some boards for the CPU fan - there is a 'Legacy' fan speed control setting that will adjust the CPU fan speed by voltage control in case you do not use a CPU heatsink with a pwm 4 pin fan. 95% of the time your statement is correct but it can be done and is done on some products. Server boards in particular, Abit boards had (they are in process of being out of business) excellent fan speed control through the bios. However it is possible for the motherboard/bios to control the voltage of the motherboard fan headers and thus the fan speed on a few motherboards. I would have thought 4-pin fans would be the default choice due to the extra control, but perhaps thats a cost issue. Should I understand what that means?Īlso, it appears 3-pin fans are more common. One of the reviews for the Silverstone FM122, which I'm leaning towards, states the fan is powered directly from the system PSU via the Molex connector.

3 PIN MOLEX CONNECTOR SOFTWARE

Speedfan, bios, other software won't have any affect on the speed fan).Ĥ-pin fan - the fan is controlled by pulse-width modulation (pwm), which seems to mean you can adjust fan speed through the motherboard using software/bios. It's not possible to adjust the fan speed through the motherboard (i.e.

I think that means fan speed is adjusted by some physical means, such as a knob to turn. I'd appreciate it if anyone can confirm/correct the following.ģ-pin fans - the fan is controlled by voltage. I'm in the process of upgrading to an Ultra-120 Extreme, which requires the purchase of the fan separately. The world of case/CPU fans is new to me, and I want to make sure I understand what I've read about 3-pin and 4-pin fans.

3 pin molex connector