Enermax PS Connection Question

[GTaudiophile]

I've got the 431w Enermax PS with an ASUS P4B266. The mobo has three fan connectors: CPU, chasis, and power. The CPU fan connector is obvious, but I'm not too sure about the other two. The Enermax PS has a connector that looks like it would fit into either the chasis or power fan sockets on the mobo. Into which do I put it? Then I have three other case fans (Enermax FS-710 case). Do I just connect those directly to the PS?

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

same ps here. is that connector just for monitoring, or does it actually power the fan? i assume it was for monitoring. have it hooked up but think im just going to unplugg it, just gets in the way.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I'm not talking about the power connectors to the mobo or the drives. This connector looks exactly like the one on the HSF. I am pretty sure it's for monitoring. I just want to know if it connects to the power or chasis connector on the mobo.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

yup me too, the one with the brown end and a black/white wires right? i have mine connected to the chasis 1 connector. i guess i could go look to see if it's actually sensing it...

 

[GTaudiophile]

Yeah, that's the one. I just think it would be easier to put it in the pwr fan connector.

 

[bearmeat]

I think it controls the speed of the 2nd fan by monitoring the temp.

 

[joecool]

i've got the 350w version of this psu & here's my observations, based on several months of use:

the connector you're referring to must be plugged in to give power to the bottom fan on the ps.

enermax claims that this fan (actually, i think they claim that both fans) are thermally controlled, however, i don't notice the fans changing speed that much. they are both pretty quiet, but not as quiet as i was hoping.

despite the fact that the bottom fan is supposed to provide fan speed monitoring (via the connector in question), neither my bios OR CPUCool or MBM pick it up, even when i enable low-speed fan monitoring. guess it's just running too slow.

hope this helps, please correct me if you think i've gotten some of the details wrong.

joe

 

[GullyFoyle]

Most new motherboards contain at least three fan headers.

CPU fan header goes to fan on CPU.
PWR fan header goes to power supply. Many powersupply fans don't draw power from this, but do report RPM to the motherboard. Some might use it for power but don't report RPMs!
Chassis fan header is for an extra fan in your case, like an intake fan in the front.

You don't really HAVE to use them in this order, but if your BIOS has a function that shows you the fan speeds, the display will be accurate if you have them hooked up in the conventional order (CPU fan speed in the BIOS displays RPM from the fan header labelled CPU fan).

 

[mschell]

Enermax makes a few different models in any paticular wattage PSU's. Any Enermax I've had ran the bottom fan without connecting anything. I belive the 2 pin plug is solely to provide a RPM reading from one of the fans in the PSU. You might try reversing the wires in the MB plug if you get no read out. Some Enermax models modulate the speed of their fans using a thermistor in the PSU, if you don't notice a change in speeds then the power supply is probably running the fans at the minimum speed and needs quite a temp. increase to speed them up.