I'm obviously new to PC building. I have a case and motherboard with 0 extra fan connections. I have the power available but nothing to plug the fans into.. what device would be the cheapest but working solution so that I can add some front intake fans.. don't need brands or anything specific just point me in the right direction.. I see all kinds of guns and controllers some as cheap as 1.50 all I really care about is getting fans in my PC that run.. everything else (fan speed/RGB) would like but not if it's an extreme price difference.. if I can't get it running for 10 bucks vs paying 50+ just for some lights .. no thanks.
#fan hub info/advice
vagrant ether
mellow mist
argb is usually daisychainable
how many fans do you have and what pinout are they (3pin or 4pin)?
vagrant ether
3pin I have zero "extra" . . Only one exhaust case fan. And my CPU cooler. That's it.
No extra connectors
And NO RGB or any kind
I don't mind it I just don't have the hookups
mellow mist
how many fan headers do you have on your motherboard (besides the cpu fan header)
mellow mist
you'll need to get fan splitters
or you can get some pwm (4pin) fan headers and use a hub
mellow mist
Oh do any work or does it need to be certain kind?
any work as long as theyre at least 3 pin (but preferably 4 pin bc theyre like the same price and can also power pwm fans if you ever get them)
vagrant ether
Sorry for my ignorance what are pwm fans? Speed control?
mellow mist
Sorry for my ignorance what are pwm fans? Speed control?
3 pin fans use dc fan control (meaning the voltage changes the speed) and their minimum speed is usually around 30%. 4 pin pwm (pulse width modulation) fans use a 4th pin connected to a chip on the fan that has much finer control over fan speed. the fans usually use 12v (not to say you couldnt plug one into 5v, i just mean it asks for 1 voltage only) and it rapidly bursts that 12v depending on what the pwm signal says
i hope that made sense
vagrant ether
Awesome thanks
So with these splitter i can connect one into another a turn my 1 header into 5?
Or will that draw to much power?
mellow mist
it should be fine with a couple splitters but dont go ham. if you need much more than that, you should switch to pwm fans and a hub
vagrant ether
Awesome thanks so much... This is exactly what I was looking for ..
mellow mist
yeah np
vagrant ether
Any suggestions of front intake fans? I assume it's preference mostly
mellow mist
arctic p12 pwm's are a good fan. its about $30 for a 5 pack
vagrant ether
That's actually not bad.. and the perfect amount
mellow mist
yeah
vagrant ether
So roughly 40 bucks and I can have all the case fans I would need ... Awesome I was thinking I was going to have to pay like 100+
mellow mist
make sure you get the pwm version because arctic sells a 3 pin variant thats much worse
vagrant ether
Ok thanks
mellow mist
yeah, arctic's fans are amazing
i think they also sell a pwm fan hub for around $10 too
lemme check
wait, are the headers on your motherboard 4 pin?
vagrant ether
What is the difference in hun vs splitter? Dedicated power?
Umm
My CPU is my sys is not
I believe
I will have to double check
mellow mist
What is the difference in hun vs splitter? Dedicated power?
splitters can speed control 3 pin fans, while virtually all hubs are 4 pin pwm only
dedicated power for a hub is a small part
vagrant ether
Oh ok
That actually makes some sense
Gimme just a sec running inside to check my system
mellow mist
the arctic fan hub i was talking about actually only has 2 pins going to the motherboard, the tach (tachometer) pin that reads the fan speed and the pwm wire for controlling speed
vagrant ether
It appears my sys fan is 4 pin but my fan is only using 3
mellow mist
thats unfortunate
vagrant ether
The header is 4
mellow mist
oh wait
i misread that
yeah 4 pin header is good
i just realized these fans are daisychainable so you dont even need the splitters
https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-ACFAN00137A-Value-Pack-Pressure-Optimized/dp/B07HC782D5
any more than 5 fans, you should probably get a hub, but these should be fine off of one header
vagrant ether
So then are the wires long? Lol I would need to do ALOT of wire management to get my header to reach the front
mellow mist
where is the header on your motherboard
mellow mist
So then are the wires long? Lol I would need to do ALOT of wire management to ge...
theyre normal length im pretty sure, they just have a little pigtail off of each of them
vagrant ether
So might need a hub just to move the header more centered in the case
mellow mist
maybe
vagrant ether
Or one splitter?
I'll figure it out.. thanks for the info.. you have been more than helpful.
mellow mist
np