Couple case-fan questions

[Dario D.]

Hi, all. I have a couple questions regarding case fans.

1: When a fan comes with multiple plugs, do you have to plug them all in, or just one? [example]

2: Some fans say they're manually adjustable. Is this something you do in the Bios (if the fan plugs straight into the mobo), or should there be something on the fan itself?

3: Typically, does a 120mm fan fit on the back of a mid-size tower, or are we talking 80mm fans only? (I'm assuming most mid-size towers have a same or similarly-sized back grill where the air flows)

4: Is air supposed to exit out the back, or be pulled in? What about the openings on the side panel? (mine has two openings there)

5: My motherboard has a whole ton of slots that look like where you plug in CPU fans. Since I'm too lazy to dig up the manual, can I safely assume that these are all where I plug in case fans? Or, could some of these potentially be for other things? ...in which case I have no choice but to actually get up and find the manual, to see which ones are for fans. (SIGH! I'm thinking about early retirement!)

6: Here's a cookie.

Thanks.

 

[skandaluz]

1. In the picture you linked, you plug in the molex connector and the other plug with the yellow wire is optional. That wire is for monitoring the fan's speed for when it is plugged in.

2. As far as manually adjustable, i'm assuming they've included some sort of controller with it?

3. Depending on the case, some take 120 mm fans and some take 80 mm fans. Really depends.

4. The general idea for most cases is to intake air from the front and exhaust through the back or top depending on the case. As for the opening on the side, I prefer to pull air in to cool the chips on the board and such.

5. Generally, those slots are used for fans. You can use them to power the fans or if the fan like the one you linked earlier is used, just plug the power into molex and yellow wire into the motherboard to monitor the fan speed. Technically, you could plug in all of your fans into the motherboard but I wouldn't recommend that as it draws current through the board rather straight from the psu itself potentially harming the board. Speaking of which, you also might want to be careful as to what fans you plug into the motherboard as some high output fans draw alot of power and should really be power via the molex connector.

P.S. I want more cookies!!!! haha