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After a long search, I finally found fans that I like for the inside of my case, so decided to buy them. I assumed that they would have the neccessary connector cables, i.e. a 3 pin PWM or 4 pin Molex (I think that is what it is called?).

Now to my dismay it seems they only have a 4 pin PWM cable (to connect directly to the MOBO). The problem I have with them is that firstly the cables are to short to reach the MOBO and secondly there are not enough connectors on the MOBO for all the fans. Is there a cable that can convert these connections to either a 3 pin or molex, have plenty of these spare from the PSU. Alternatively, can you get a Y-split cable to connect two fans to one header on the MOBO? If so please advise where I can find them.

The plan is to use two of the fans for intake at the front and bottom and the other two as exhaust fans at the top and rear.


IMG_1691 by *Pilgrim*, on Flickr

The 3 pin and 4 pin are inter changeable.

You can buy the parts from mantech and make your own splitter but I have a feeling those 3 pin risers only come in packs of 100

The other consideration is power drawn. You may blow your Mobo header if you run 2 large fans off of it.

I have no idea where you would get those adapters other than your local computer shop? They're bound to be sold at online shops ie prophecy,landmark...

I've got some 3 pin connectors on my PSU with the molex connectors, have already checked and the 4 pin from the fan does not fit.

Just my luck...would anybody then be interested in the other 96 connectors from the pack? As for making them myself, chances are good I'll blow myself and half the neighbourhood up in the process.

I've seen cables that might work, but they're all from suppliers overseas, would prefer to buy locally.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... ts_id=1369

Check this link, I recon something like this should work?

It's dead easy mate, cut the wires and solder some wires on with a female molex connector at the other end. You only need the black and the red wire to power the fan, the other two are there only for automatic power management (if connected to the mobo).

Edit: and rpm sensing.

Hman wrote:It's dead easy mate, cut the wires and solder some wires on with a female molex connector at the other end. You only need the black and the red wire to power the fan, the other two are there only for automatic power management (if connected to the mobo).

Edit: and rpm sensing.

+1

If you have a fan controller, leave the yellow wire intact with the connector and plug that into the controller.

My coolermaster fans i bought for my case came with 3 pin to molex connectors, so not sure why coolermaster never provided any... i have all 6 fans connected directly to fan headers on my mobo, and only one running off molex... and we have the same case.... but damn those cables a seriously short...

So how many fan headers do you have on your mobo, or are you running more than one per header? I've only got three (excl. the one for the cpu fan).

It seems the fans I bought are aimed more towards replacemnt fans for aftermarket cpu coolers, hence the short cables.

i think i have 7 or 8 headers... running one per header.... ahhh and what u say make sense.... i bet those are perfect fans to replace the fans on the coolermaster v6,v6gt and v8.... k just been to coolermaster site and confirmed... they for cpu coolers hence the 4 pin cable as well...

i did some googling around on some of the online stores, and u can only find 3 pin extenders.... i think u are gona have to mod those fan cables as said above... i know it must be crap to take something out the box new and cut it up, but thats ur only option and think of it as a project... will be fun...

and incase u wanted to know for interest sakes what the 4 cables do here's a spec sheet....(more than u will ever need to know)

http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5C ... M_Spec.pdf

The_Jelly wrote:and incase u wanted to know for interest sakes what the 4 cables do here's a spec sheet....(more than u will ever need to know)

http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5C ... M_Spec.pdf

Ok, that was a mouthful, very interesting read even though only half of it made any sense to me.

Thanks for the link Jelly.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I understand it the only difference between a 4 pin PWM and 3 pin is the ability to control the fan speed via BIOS/software?

If that is the case then I think this cable should work for my fans, although they will then probably be running at full speed...
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8881/ ... WM-3F.html

Suppose I could use these cables and connect them to something like a 5.25" bay fan controller...so any recommendations for one of these?

Oh yes, I've also edited the topic so feel free to post anything regarding fan controllers, cables, etc.

*Pilgrim* wrote:

The_Jelly wrote:
Ok, that was a mouthful, very interesting read even though only half of it made any sense to me.

Thanks for the link Jelly.

all good bro, and ya that was really technical..... and ya that cable should work dude.... but where are u gona buy it from?

I''ll still prefer to source one locally, but seems that is not going to happen. If all else fails I'll order a few from Frozen CPU (looks like they're based in the US but do ship globally.)

just think about how much the shipping will cost dude.... not worth paying extreme prices for shipping for, 4 cables.....

Not sure if this is possible.... but why not buy this 3pin extender cable (only 20bucks)

http://rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_p ... ts_id=1648

use a stanley knife to cut away the housing on the male side of the cable so the pins are exposed... then plug it directly into your fans 4 pin female, with 1 pin hole not being used?

The_Jelly wrote:just think about how much the shipping will cost dude.... not worth paying extreme prices for shipping for, 4 cables.....

Not sure if this is possible.... but why not buy this 3pin extender cable (only 20bucks)

http://rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_p ... ts_id=1648

use a stanley knife to cut away the housing on the male side of the cable so the pins are exposed... then plug it directly into your fans 4 pin female, with 1 pin hole not being used?

Thanks for that. I ordered them from Rampage Gaming today (first time I use them, so lets see how the service is). Their delivery costs were far less than the other stores (some places would have charged me more for delivery than what 4 of these cables cost, scary!). Should have it by Friday...

With these cables my fans will obviously be running at full RPM, so can anybody recommend a fan controller.

Hope it works out for u bro! Let us know how it goes dude... And if its noise u worried about just plug them in and see how loud they actually are . Cause I haven't touched my speeds yet and I'm quite sure that they running full speed but the fans are so quiet...

Have finished installing the fans and the new cables. Just need to clean up the cables and put all the panels back. Will post some photos when everything is done.

@ The_Jelly: Thanks again for the advice, it worked out perfectly to cut the one side of the housing and connect the fans.

Got the cables this afternoon at about 16:00, a little over 24 hours after I ordered them (very impressed with the service and the speed from RG).

And here is the end result:


IMG_1696 by *Pilgrim*, on Flickr

IMG_1695 by *Pilgrim*, on Flickr

IMG_1693 by *Pilgrim*, on Flickr

IMG_1698 by *Pilgrim*, on Flickr

Very happy with how it turned out. The fans are noticeably louder than the ones the case came with, but still nothing compared to the fans from my old case. Next I'll get for some red cable sleeves to round off the inside and perhaps two more fans for top and bottom...

Ah looks awesome pilgrim!!! Very glad that the fan cables worked out! Looks very good bro! And good job with the cable management! Some sleeving will top it all off for sure! And just glad I could help!
I see u removed the Hdd drive bays gives a way spacious finish And I'm liking the red I might just go that route, but will have to mod my cpu coolers led from blue to red. Not sure if I can do this but will consult with dae, or samaya...
But for ur case I'd def add some sleeving and maybe a new cpu cooler... Well done dude!

That stock cooler is hurting my eyes.

Ya dude smash a cooler on there and ur rig will look so much better... That green light on ur mobo is super bright hey!

Sojourn wrote:That stock cooler is hurting my eyes.

You're telling me! I want to replace it, but can't decide on an aftermarket cooler, have taken a liking to the Corsair H60, but then again I've also always been a huge fan of Zalman coolers. Add to this that I want to get another GPU for SLI and it only makes the choice more difficult...

The_Jelly wrote:That green light on ur mobo is super bright hey!

It is some boot sequence lights (there are actually 6 or 7 of them) and they can't be turned off. I've already turned off all the lights that I can on the mobo.

W.r.t. your CPU cooler fan Jelly, can't you just replace the fan with another one that has the red LED's? I'm not to familiar with it, but looks like it is removable/replaceable.

What are ur system specs dude?
and its a bummer about the lights kinda messes with ur colour scheme...

My cooler i havent had a look at it throughly but the fan is 120mm but its not a normal 120mm like the ones uv bought. its intergrated as moulded shape of the cooler is moulded around the fan.... the fan has no 'housing' as such... if u get what i mean.....

Ok, I've added my specs to my sig. I wish they would release a bios update that can control those lights.

Zalman being so famous for their aftermarket modding, etc. I'm very confident you might find a replacement fan. Have a look at this link, a few posts down the page. Looks like there are only a few screws holding the fan.

http://www.overclock.net/computer-cases ... f-x-2.html