Could someone explain fan connectors please

When looking at different case and CPU fans I have noticed different connectors like 3-pin, 4-pin, molex, etc. Could someone explain them all to me because I am confused and have searched the net for answers but found nothing. Also the different shapes, big white, small round brown ones, small flat brown ones, it is all confusing. I am most interested in the connector that allows RPM monitoring and speed variation. I want to understand them all but essentially I want to know because of some fans I want to buy.

I want to install a DigitalDoc 5 Thermal Sensor in my new PC I am building and I want to hook up my three case fans, my CPU fan, and my PSU fan. I want to be able to slow them all down for when I sleep so it is quieter. The CPU fan I want to buy is the Vantec 80mm Tornado Fan (which is noisey, hence the reason I will need to slow it while I sleep, but it is great at cooling too). The case I am going to buy comes with three fans. It is the Lian Li PC65B Aluminum ATX Midi Tower. Finally, the PSU I intend to buy is the Enermax 430W ATX PSU (FMA).

So my question is will all these fans be able to connect to the thermal sensor and allow me to adjust their speeds and switch them on and off?

I hope you do not think I am just here for some quick advice, I want to learn about the connectors too, not just get an answer. I am going to stick around here. Also any comments about the items I am going to buy are welcome, any recommendations about other similar items that are better.

Thankyou in advance!

PS - this is my first post

Welcome to the forums!


well mostly you'll get fans with 3 pin connectors that connect directly to your motherboard fan headers, 1 black, 1 red and 1 yellow wire(this one for rpm monitoring)

if you don't have a converter then you have to plug this into your motherboard, it will get power from teh mobo and will also let you monitor rmps in the bios or through software such as asus probe, mbm5, speedfan...

you can get the molex that convert 3pin to 4pin and some even allow you to monitor your rmps, you plug your 3 pin fan into this adapter then you plug the adapter into the psu, not the motherboard, here's a link to buy one of these but they are relatively easy to make http://www.svc.com/3pinto4pinad1.html

the single yellow wire would plug into the fan header into your motherboard allowing you monitor your rmps


if you're an extreme overclocker i highly recommend using a 3 to 4 pin adapter since getting power from the motherboard can cause instabilities when extreme overclocking

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i'm not sure if the digidoc5 lets you speed up/down fans but i do know that it will start a fan if a certain temp gets too high

i do konw that the vantec nexus fan controller lets you speed up/down 4 fans http://www.wiredbeans.com/Vantec Nexus 4 Channel Fan Controller.htm

there is also the vantec nexux multifuction panel which has 3 thermal sensors but you can only control the speed of 1 fan http://www.wiredbeans.com/Vantec Nexus Multi-Control.htm

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nice case, i wish i had an aluminum one... i'm thinking about buying a chieftec dragon blue one myself

i'm using an ernermax psu myself, no complaints

i think you could do is buy a Thermaltake Smart Fan II instead of the tornado, the Tt fan is 75.7CFM and the tornado is 84.1CFM but the Tt smart fan comes with this thing that allows you to adjust the fan speed

also if you wanted, you could use the thermal sensor on the Tt smart fan and it would speed up/down your fan as the cpu gets hotter/colder

Thanks for the help, I now understand about the cables

login211 said:

i'm not sure if the digidoc5 lets you speed up/down fans but i do know that it will start a fan if a certain temp gets too high

i do konw that the vantec nexus fan controller lets you speed up/down 4 fans http://www.wiredbeans.com/Vantec Nexus 4 Channel Fan Controller.htm

there is also the vantec nexux multifuction panel which has 3 thermal sensors but you can only control the speed of 1 fan http://www.wiredbeans.com/Vantec Nexus Multi-Control.htm

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The Digidoc5 wont let me do that? Hmmm :\
What I am looking for is a control panel that fits in one large drive bay, and will allow me to manually alter fan speeds and to detect temperatures. I will have:

3 case fans
PSU fan
CPU fan
RAM cooler fan
HDD cooler fan
PCI slot exhaust fan

I will want to be able to switch each fan on or off and manually adjust fan speeds so they are slow (quiet), medium and fast (loud). In the same unit I also want an LCD screen so I can monitor temperatures of the CPU and case (maybe one at the front and one at the back). Having fans come on automatically isnt important, as long as I can view temperatures. I also do not like the look of having lots of knobs sticking out of the front of my case so something clean and simple looking like the digidoc5 is ideal. Oh and it also needs to be black to match my case. Damn, that seems like a lot of requirements lol If I have to have all the knobs then I will, so if you could suggest something I would be grateful.

login211 said:

i think you could do is buy a Thermaltake Smart Fan II instead of the tornado, the Tt fan is 75.7CFM and the tornado is 84.1CFM but the Tt smart fan comes with this thing that allows you to adjust the fan speed

also if you wanted, you could use the thermal sensor on the Tt smart fan and it would speed up/down your fan as the cpu gets hotter/colder

Click to expand...

The tornado comes with a 3-pin connector so I will be able to adjust its speed manually and its got the bestter airflow and although its loud I can adjust it (I like the idea of being able to crank it up to extreme cooling and blow my friends away at the same time lol).

I am planning on getting the Thermalright SLK-800 and as the smart fan comes with a heatsink I wouldnt use it so that would be money wasted.

Thankyou for all the help, I appreciate it!

nobody welcomed me to the forums...

oh btw the 92mm tornado is the best ^^

Cypress said:

nobody welcomed me to the forums...

oh btw the 92mm tornado is the best ^^

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Hi! Welcome to the forums lol

Yeah but the 92mm version wont fit on a SLK-800 and the SLK-900 wont fit on an Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 Motherboard (Rev. 2.00)

wait, im not sure you can control PSU fan speeds... might want someone elses reply. I can't do taht to my True Power anyway.

The only way to control PSU fan speeds is to mod it... replace the fans with your own fans and connectors. It can make your computer a lot quieter, though.

the psu that he is buying has a nob at the back, you can in/de crease rmps...

the slk-900u will fit on that board ONLY if you are prepared to bend some caps and bend you nb heatsink... that's the reason why i went with the slk-800a

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i'm just not familiar enough with the digidoc5, i know that it has a thing that turns on fans if temp reaches a certain point but i'm not sure if you can actually control the speed of a fan

my guess is that the loudest thing in your case will be the tornado, only thing i can think of is the vantec multifunction panel, it lets you monitor 3 temps only(5 less than the digidoc5) and lets you control the speed of 1 fan

unless your 3 case fans are extremely loud, you won't have a problem since the ram cooler, pci slot blower, and the hd cooler are usually pretty quite.... the tornado is your enemy here....

stan03 said:

wait, im not sure you can control PSU fan speeds... might want someone elses reply. I can't do taht to my True Power anyway.

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You can mod it, but that is dangerous and can break it with in-experience. Let a PSU sit for 2 days or so un plugged from the wall so the capacitors can de-charge. PSU's like mine have fans that adjust speed according to temp. I paid 26 bucks for mine and its 300 watt AMD & Intel Compatible and the fan adjust depending on temp...

login211 said:

the psu that he is buying has a nob at the back, you can in/de crease rmps...

Click to expand...

I realised that but it also has a 3-pin connector to monitor the fan's RPM, so would I not be able to adjust the fan speed via that if I connected it to a rheobus?

login211 said:

the slk-900u will fit on that board ONLY if you are prepared to bend some caps and bend you nb heatsink... that's the reason why i went with the slk-800a

Click to expand...

I read a guide that said it would fit but "extreme" bending of capacitors was required. Then I read somewhere else about some capacitors do not have much give to bend them. I do not like the idea of bending things on my new motherboard so I am not willing to risk it.

login211 said:

i'm just not familiar enough with the digidoc5, i know that it has a thing that turns on fans if temp reaches a certain point but i'm not sure if you can actually control the speed of a fan

Click to expand...

You are right. All the reviews I read were not too clear but I found another last night that said it will not allow you to adjust fan speeds.

login211 said:

my guess is that the loudest thing in your case will be the tornado, only thing i can think of is the vantec multifunction panel, it lets you monitor 3 temps only(5 less than the digidoc5) and lets you control the speed of 1 fan

unless your 3 case fans are extremely loud, you won't have a problem since the ram cooler, pci slot blower, and the hd cooler are usually pretty quite.... the tornado is your enemy here....

Click to expand...

I am thinking I will get the digidoc5 and connect the RAM cooler fan, HDD cooler fan and PCI slot exhaust fan to it so I can just switch them on and off as I require them. I will use the thermal sensors on the digidoc to detect the temperatures of the CPU, PSU, graphics card, RAM, HDD and front and back case temperatures. I will have to adjust the PSU fan speed from the knob on the back although I really wanted something easy access on the front. Then I will buy a rheobus to control the speeds of the 3 case fans and the CPU fan. I was looking at this Noise Isolator Rheo-Bus Fan Controller. Would this be suitable? Can it handle the Tornado? Or is there a better "all in one" alternative to what I require?

I just found this unit: Black A5 Enermax 5.25" System Monitor Transfer Panel. That would be perfect. Does anyone know how good they are? I just need to find a site that sells them in the UK now.

Sorry, if you mentioned it, but if your getting an Intel system, you can mount the 900U without bending capacitors. The chart you say was prolly this one. (Which are only AMD motherboards. It is designed to fit on all Intel boards with no bending.)

stan03 said:

Sorry, if you mentioned it, but if your getting an Intel system, you can mount the 900U without bending capacitors. The chart you say was prolly this one. (Which are only AMD motherboards. It is designed to fit on all Intel boards with no bending.)

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That page wont load but my motherboard is a Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 Motherboard (Rev. 2.00) so no it wont fit without bending.

hmm, the link works for me, but yea your right it won't fit. sorry

It works now (my Internet has been acting funny the past two days) and yes it was that table I saw.

7h3r4py ask about where to get the enermax monitor thingy at vendor discussion http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=10 or at cyber deals http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=19

edit: uk and us online dealers from vendor disc. http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100544

Concerning the PSU... you should of gotten the Antec TrueControl 550w.. that's what I have now.. and it has the front Fan rpm adjustments... ALSO with the 3 voltage output rail adjustments.. very sweet psu!!!

squale said:

Concerning the PSU... you should of gotten the Antec TrueControl 550w.. that's what I have now.. and it has the front Fan rpm adjustments... ALSO with the 3 voltage output rail adjustments.. very sweet psu!!!

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I havn't actually bought any of this yet, it is what I plan to buy as soon as the £££ starts rolling in from my summer job.

As for that front panel, why do they need a 5.25 drive bay for those few small buttons? They should have made it 3.5 because people always have those drive bays spare and never use them. 5.25 bays are too valuable.

well you can mount a 3.5 harddrive in that front panel they give you.. check it out..

yea, but now with that bay taken up you can't mount a cd/dvd/anything else ... i think thats what he means