- Joined
- Apr 26, 2004
- Location
- The Netherlands
I rebuilt my cooling system today, and i was left with a blowhole on the side of the case, without a fan. I took apart some old PSU, ripped the fan out, and cleaned it. It had no molex connections or fan stuff, just bare wires - i ripped it straight off the PCB.
On 12v, the fan was *very* noisy, but it also moved a great deal of air. My fancontroller and all MoBo ports were already filled with fans, so i thought of another way to slow it down a bit.
Looking at a standard ATX plug, from left to right, it is yellow-black, black-red.
Yellow = +12v
Black = 12v gnd
Black = 5v gnd
Red = +5v
On 5v, the fan ran much too slow to provide any cooling, and on 12v it was way too much. Hmz. Well, time for physics!
Voltage = the potential difference between two points. Connecting a device to the Yellow (12) / Black (0) ATX ports, provides 12v, since the difference between 12 and 0 is 12. Same with +5 and 0, the difference is 5v, so theres 5v provided.
Now if we connect something to the +5v and the +12 leads, what will happen? The difference is 7 (12-5=7), so it should be 7 volts...guess what..right! Physics is easy, isn't it
So if i connected the fan to the Yellow and Red wires, it would be running on 7v, a nice average for cooling / loudness. I took another nosedive in my box of parts, and came up with an old ATX plug set.
I stripped the Red and Yellow wires, and soldered the red / black fan wires onto them. (Yellow = Red, Red = Black. bit confusing ) After that, i just connected the ATX plug to the PSU, mounted the fan in the sidepanel, and voilá, all is up and running fine.
A small, but satisfactoring (whatever the word) mod, speaking from myself
Next is a pic of the solder job - really easy
On 12v, the fan was *very* noisy, but it also moved a great deal of air. My fancontroller and all MoBo ports were already filled with fans, so i thought of another way to slow it down a bit.
Looking at a standard ATX plug, from left to right, it is yellow-black, black-red.
Yellow = +12v
Black = 12v gnd
Black = 5v gnd
Red = +5v
On 5v, the fan ran much too slow to provide any cooling, and on 12v it was way too much. Hmz. Well, time for physics!
Voltage = the potential difference between two points. Connecting a device to the Yellow (12) / Black (0) ATX ports, provides 12v, since the difference between 12 and 0 is 12. Same with +5 and 0, the difference is 5v, so theres 5v provided.
Now if we connect something to the +5v and the +12 leads, what will happen? The difference is 7 (12-5=7), so it should be 7 volts...guess what..right! Physics is easy, isn't it
So if i connected the fan to the Yellow and Red wires, it would be running on 7v, a nice average for cooling / loudness. I took another nosedive in my box of parts, and came up with an old ATX plug set.
I stripped the Red and Yellow wires, and soldered the red / black fan wires onto them. (Yellow = Red, Red = Black. bit confusing ) After that, i just connected the ATX plug to the PSU, mounted the fan in the sidepanel, and voilá, all is up and running fine.
A small, but satisfactoring (whatever the word) mod, speaking from myself
Next is a pic of the solder job - really easy