Connect 3 pin Case fans to MB 4 pins or to a PWM Hub?

[manolaren]

Hi.
I have the Enthoo Phanteks Proo http://www.phanteks.com/enthoo-pro.html which comes with 2 x 3 pin fans (1x200 front, 1x140 rear). It also includes a PWM Hub http://s1272.photobucket.com/user/Joseph_Cosello/media/...

I also have a Asus Z170-A https://www.asus.com/gr/Motherboards/Z170-A/specificati... which has the following connectors 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin) - 1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin) -
4 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 x 4 -pin) - 1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN(Extension Fan) connector.

Which way is the best to connect the fans in order to control them either through Bios or Asus Fan Expert 3? Each one on a separate 4 pin on MB or through the PWM Hub?

If its via the Hub, how the connections must be made? Is there a problem when Hub has to control fans having different sizes and RPM?

Thank you very much.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hi.
I have the Enthoo Phanteks Proo http://www.phanteks.com/enthoo-pro.html which comes with 2 x 3 pin fans (1x200 front, 1x140 rear). It also includes a PWM Hub http://s1272.photobucket.com/user/Joseph_Cosello/media/...

I also have a Asus Z170-A https://www.asus.com/gr/Motherboards/Z170-A/specificati... which has the following connectors 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin) - 1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin) -
4 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 x 4 -pin) - 1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN(Extension Fan) connector.

Which way is the best to connect the fans in order to control them either through Bios or Asus Fan Expert 3? Each one on a separate 4 pin on MB or through the PWM Hub?

If its via the Hub, how the connections must be made? Is there a problem when Hub has to control fans having different sizes and RPM?

Thank you very much.

Don't use the Phanteks hub for 3-pin fans. It will only run them at full-bore, and you won't be able to control them.

Instead, use the motherboard fan ports and preferably those designated as "case-fan" or "system fan" ports. The ASUS boards will handle fan-control for either 3-pin or 4-pin fans from those ports.

Use the CPU_FAN and CPU_FAN_OPT ports for PWM fans or for the fan-control plug of the hub. As far as I understand -- could be mistaken but it seems almost certain -- the Phanteks hub works like either the Swiftech 8-port PWM splitter or the Akasa and other brands which do the same thing.

I recommend PWM fans at least for the CPU, possibly for the rear exhaust if you control it together with the CPU fan. And if you have more than two PWM fans that also follow the recommendation I just gave, you can control them through the hub together with the CPU fan and even the exhaust fan configuration I also mentioned.

There is no problem controlling PWM fans of different amperage and RPM or size from the hub. Likely, you will only be able to monitor one of those fans. the remainder will simply follow the fan-control signal from the motherboard at the percentage variation you would only see in RPM from the single monitored fan. You could even control both fans and water-pumps through such a hub, and their speed will vary up and down with temperature as a percentage of their top-end speed and output.

AFTERTHOUGHT ABOUT MONITORING: If you can carefully separate the yellow tach wire of unmonitored PWM hub-connected fans from the four-pin plug, I think you can connect it to the tach pin of any free fan port on the motherboard. So if you had one free mobo fan-port and two types of fans controlled on the hub, you could monitor one of each.