Scared of frying my mb daisy chaining case fans | Linus Tech Tips | Page 1

dapper bluff May 30, 2023, 1:33 PM

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Ive been doing research into buying new case fans for my pc and came across a 5 pack of arctic p12 120mm 5 pack for £20 which seemed like a really good deal to me. However im slighty worried by the fact it says that the fans take 12v to work, my mb specs (X570 aorus elite) say that each header can handle 2a/12v. Obviously amp wise this is absolutely fine as the fans only take 0.1a but the 12v part scared me. If i use a splitter to connect 3 fans to one header will it fry my motherboard? Im pretty new to all this so im sorry if this sounds completely ridiculous to worry about but i just dont want to risk anything

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pallid notch May 30, 2023, 1:41 PM

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That should be fine. You’ve got a pretty decent MoBo, so no problem. Also, isn’t that MoBo supposed to have way more headers? Also never feel sorry for not knowing. Everybody has to start somewhere and it is great to see new people getting into it!

dapper bluff May 30, 2023, 1:46 PM

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i think it has 4 headers, cpu_opt, cpu_fan, sys_fan1, sys_fan2. i didnt really know whether you were able to plug case fans into either of the cpu ones so i thought i would play it safe and buy 2 spiltters so i only have to use the sys fan ones

pallid notch May 30, 2023, 1:46 PM

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Nah, you can plug any fans into any fan header, no problem

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The CPU_Fan is just optimised for CPU fans as it has slightly more control usually

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And afaik also some higher amperage rating

dapper bluff May 30, 2023, 1:48 PM

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but you are sure that 12v thing is fine? surely if i have 3 fans in one splitter it will be at 36 volts or am i being dumb lmao

pallid notch May 30, 2023, 1:48 PM

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yeah all fan headers are 12V

pallid notch May 30, 2023, 1:48 PM

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dapper bluff but you are sure that 12v thing is fine? surely if i have 3 fans in one splitter...

No, they’re going to run in parallel, so voltage stays the same, current’s gonna change

dapper bluff May 30, 2023, 1:49 PM

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oh okay igu

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what actually is the difference between the amp and volt measurement then? because 0.1a seems way less than 12v

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havent done physics in a while forgive me

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its more this that is confusing me

pallid notch May 30, 2023, 1:53 PM

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So, you might remember the formula P = U * I?

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You can imagine electricity as a highway with different counts of lane. The resistance (R, unit is Ohm) is how many lanes the highway has, with more lanes meaning a smaller resistance. U (Voltage, unit is Volt (V)) and you can imagine it to be the speed limit on the highway. Then there’s I (current, unit is Ampere (A)), meaning how many cars are on the highway. Finally, power (P, unit is Watt (W)) tells you how many cars an hour go through that highway

dapper bluff May 30, 2023, 1:58 PM

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so pretty much as long as the fans say 12v i can ignore that and i just have to make sure the amps arent too high, which they arent

pallid notch May 30, 2023, 1:59 PM

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Exactly

dapper bluff May 30, 2023, 2:00 PM

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so if i plug 3 fans into one header and then 2 fans into the other i should be fine

#Scared of frying my mb daisy chaining case fans