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4pin CPU Fan/Heatsink to 3pin m/b connector

id3dwiz

Member
Hello,

I have Venus 12 Heatsink w/ fan and I have originally bought it for use with Tyan m/o which had 4 pin connector. Since, the m/b is not available, I went ahead and just ordered Asus a8n32-SLI, which has a 3 pin connector for CPU fan.

Take a look at the differences.

4pin
3pin

What exactly am I supposed to do now? I can't figure it out, they look very different, and i'm not sure if an adaptor will do?

Thanks
 
They don't look compatible. Sorry, I am not familiar with that HSF. Does it have a 3 or 4 pin connector? In any case I suppose what you could do is stick the mobo in the case without the CPU, attach the HSF connector to the connector on the mobo, power it up and see if the fan spins. If it does then I suppose it would work. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can give more info. My guess is you might need to get a new HSF.
 
If your 3 pin connector has 3 wires it will work on the 3 pin connector on your motherboard as power and as fan speed monitor. if it only has 1 wire it will only work for fan speed monitoring and you will have to use the 4 pin connector as power.
hope this helps..
 
If they are visually incompatable, then work out what ground, 12v and fan speed moniter is. On three pin it's predominantly black, red, yellow, respectively.

If returning it doesn't take your fancy, and you have some spare 3-pin fan lying around, get out the side cutters, wire strippers, solder and soldering iron. Whip off the conector that you're going to replace after working out which cable is which. Strip the connector off the spare fan, and wire the other one up respectively.

Otherwise, returns or a new HSF are your options.
 
Errrr, Dumber.... I guess problem is solved. I'll just use the 4 pin "MOLEX" connector and connect directly to powersupply. I think I made a mistake of confusing 4 pin ( on m/b connector with 4 pin molex.
I really don't feel like ordering a different HSF.
The fan has it's on heat sensitive control that you can attach nearby processor, or set cooling at manual speed.

Now, let's say if I have a HSF running on the same power line as let's say Hard drive, can this result in any problems? This HSF drawings around 5-6W of power if I remember it correctly.

Thanks everyone!!!
 
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