How much voltage does the 3 pin cpu fan connector on the motherboard supply?

[step-dawg]

Does it supply the same 12V that the power connectors from the Power supply do? Or is it less? Thanks.

 

[Jeff7]

Yes, 12v. The biggest issue with them is that they don't usually provide enough current; they supply enough power for 60mm and smaller fans, but some more powerful 80mm fans (Deltas maybe), and anything larger generally draw too much power, and may actually damage the circuitry supplying power to the pins.

 

[boyRacer]

It ranges from 4-6 watts so look at how much your fan draws...usually on the sticker.. and if it's below that you should be fine. I think the 80mm Deltas draw around 8-9 watts so that's a big no-no. You should also check your motherboards manual...the specs for the fan headers should be mentioned as well.

 

[skotskmann]

Not being an electronics expert, not sure about the volts, but I do know the 3-pin motherboard headers vary in power from 2-5 watts.

For example, my A7M266 board supplies 4.2 watts on each header, that is 350mA (milliamps), or 0.35A. Any fan plugged into the 3-pin header on this board shouldn't exceed 0.35A. I managed to buy a slower speed Delta that only uses 0.30A for my CPU heatsink.

Hope this helps.

 

[lenjack]

Definitely 12v, but as mentioned check the current draw. Volts X amps = watts.