4 pin CPU fan to 2 x 3 pin splitter

thamighty213

Am I missing something here with my limited knowledge of power draws etc

 

Why can I not find one of these in existence.

 

 

Heres the issue

 

Coolermaster TX3 cooler with the single fan it comes with,   I have bought 2 x red LED Zalman ZM-F2RL's for it which I believe are 3 pin connectors.

 

Can I/Will I have to find 3 pin to 4 pin adapters and a 4 pin splitter ?

 

Alternately I can just hook them into drive bay fan controller which is the eventual plan anyway.

Cleffy

Just read the description.  There are several fan speed controllers that have a 3pin hookup.  There are also adapters for 3pin to 4pin that are usually boxed with the fan.  You can also hook 3pin connectors onto your motherboard but its not recommended.

Ridelynn

3-pin has +/- VDC and fan speed signal
4-pin has +/- VDC, fan speed, and a PWM line (better method for running a fan at slower speeds than just adjusting voltage).

So you can turn 4-pin down into 3-pin and even 2-pin, but you can't really up convert 3-pin into 4 pin if your fan really needs that PWM signal (which it doesn't, it will work without it, you just may not be able to vary the speed as well).

A fan really only needs +/-VDC to run (2-wires). Motherboard manuals will show you the pinouts for the headers, they are pretty standard. So you could make your own adapter if needed.

That being said: motherboard and fan controller headers are only designed to carry so many amps before they can be damaged: it varies from model to model. One fan connection is usually designed to power one fan not to exceed 10W (about 1A at 12VDC), and the fan controller chip not to exceed 25W total - but each controller may have 3-4 fan connections. Putting splitters on the headers can get dangerous.

If you need to just power additional fans at fixed speeds, it's better to do it straight from the power supply - a Molex to 3-pin adapter or some such - it will run at fixed speed, but no chance you'll burn anything out that way.

Alternatively, you could add in additional fan controllers (they are cheap, about $10, and allow you to control fan speed) rather than splitting off existing ones and potentially burning out the header on your motherboard or other controller.

thamighty213

Cheers guys think I'll grab that temp monitor/fan controoler a little sooner than had planned then.