Help please... can I use any mobo plug for case fans?

[trots]

Excuse my ignorance, but I have what is probably a stupid question...

I currently have no case fans. My mobo (Asus KA-7) has four fan connectors: 1 & 2 for the cpu fan(s) (only #1 is occupied by the twin Athlon fan); #3 for the "chassis fan" and #4 for the "power fan." Are all these connectors the same? Can I use both 3 & 4 for case fans? Or should I just get one 3-pin fan for the #3 chassis connector, and one 4-pin fan for the other side?

Also, is it only the chassis connector that performs monitoring?

Thanks

 

[ObiDon]

All of the 3-pin fan headers *should* support RPM monitoring. After all, if you didn't want RPM monitoring you could just use 4-pin fans.
Also, you can pretty much plug your fans into any of the headers you feel like. Just try to avoid plugging 120mm fans into your motherboard!

 

[Lmandrake]

To expand on the previous post - using a fan that draws a lot of current (amps or milliamps) may exceed the current carrying capacity of the traces on the motherboard. If this happens you will burn out the fan connector or the circuits to the fan connector and perhaps take down the whole mobo. See if you can find some spec for the current capacity of the connectors and compare it to the specs for your fan.

A high capacity 80mm fan can easily draw enough current to fry some mobos.

 

[ObiDon]

Yeah..what he said!

If you have a 3-pin fan that draws a lot of current but you MUST have RPM monitoring, it can be powered from a 4-pin power supply connector but still be monitored through the fan header. I have a post about it that might still be on the forums somewhere. Maybe I'll look for it in a bit...