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Fan connections

M

metallicafan

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - May 2010
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Mar 30, 2005
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I'm doing some cable management in my case. I have several 120mm Antec TriCool fans. They have a 3 pin connector and then also have a molex adapter. Is it safe to run a 120mm LED Tricool straight off the motherboard or do I have to use the molex adapter and hook it to my power supply? Hopefully I am being clear with my discription. Thanks.
 
well im not 100% sure but i thik you might be able to do both. im not sure about the 3pin but the molex should connect through the power supply.

is the 3 pin male or female? pins or holes?
 
Let me rephrase. I currently have them hooked up to the power supply with the molex connector. I could get rid of some wires on 2 of the fans if I just used the standard 3 pin motherboard connectors without hooking them up directly to the power supply. Thought I read somewhere on time that this might not be a good idea because the MB couldnt supply enough power or something. So anyone hook TriCools directly to the MB?
 
I NEVER put fans on the MB connections. IMHO it is not good practice to power up devices using the thin traces on a board, it’s just asking for troubles.................... :D
 
i run 4 fans from my MB with no problem. They are there because the board can run them and monitor the RPM.

You shouldn't have an issue.
 
dtess17 said:
i run 4 fans from my MB with no problem. They are there because the board can run them and monitor the RPM.

You shouldn't have an issue.
Click to expand...
That's a naive assumption. Motherboards vary drastically in their ability to power high-current fans, and until there is a defined spec or the motherboard documentation states otherwise, it's not safe to assume that the motherboard can handle it.
 
xonik said:
That's a naive assumption. Motherboards vary drastically in their ability to power high-current fans, and until there is a defined spec or the motherboard documentation states otherwise, it's not safe to assume that the motherboard can handle it.
Click to expand...

absolutely correct, there is no way i will ever run a fan other than maybe the hsf on the cpu on the mobo. this is because draining the power on the 12v on the mobo not only can mess with the mobos functionality, it can also slow down the cpu fan.
 
Considering that most modern voltage regulator modules for CPUs on desktop motherboards draw heavily from the 12 V line in particular, I would be that much more careful about running high-draw 12 V fans which share the line.
 
I read through my boards manual, seems like it's just fine for me to do so.

I don't use super high cfm fans, so maybe that is why i don;'t have an issue, that and my PS gives my board good stable clean power.

Maybe it doesn't work for everyone...To me though if a MB has the headers i expect to be able to use them.
 
thanks for the input guys. I guess I will just leave them hooked up to the PSU. I just figured maybe it would be an easy way to get rid of some of the wiring mess I have but I'd rather have messy wiring than a dead MB or CPU! :) My case dont have a window anyway. Thanks again.
 
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