Case fans: power from mobo or power supply?

[intricate45]

I have an ABIT KG7 mobo and will be adding (2) 80mm or 120mm case fans to the side panel.
Is it better to get case fans with the (3) pin connector and attach the power leads from the case fans to the mobo connectors or get (2) case fans with (4) pin connectors and attach them to the power supply connector? Also, I am adding amother HDD and will need (1) 4-pin power supply connector to attach the new HDD to.
Thanks.

 

[PCHPlayer]

The "safe" answer is: Run all case fans off the power supply. You can run them off the motherboard as long as they don't draw too much current. Unfortunately I do not know how much is too much. Low RPM 80mm fans like the Panaflo L1A can be run off the motherboard. I have two such fans, but I'm planning on changing one of them to the power supply just to be safe.

 

[MoFunk]

I had a problem with my Epox 8k7a and an 80mm fan. I tried to plug it into the cpu fan header and I could not get it to boot. I would say to be safe and run them from the power supply.

 

[ModelM]

I think the best way to do it is to wire the fan to the PSU, and plug the tach into the motherboard so you can still monitor RPMs.
Just be careful since the same color wires do not always connect together!