# can i plug a 3 pin or 4 pin into a 5 pin connector on the motherboard?



## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

hello everyone, yesterday i made a thread about my cpu fan being broke so i went and got a replacement fan today from my brothers place problem is its a 3 pin connector and the connector on the motherboard is a 5 pin.  so would i be ok if i plugged the 3 pin into the 5 pin slot?

and i also have a another fan that would work its 4 pin though.  would that work in a 5 pin if the 3 pin dont?

and one last thing the cpu fan had a broken blade so i broke the 2 more blades off to balance it out.  would i be able to use it if the other fans i have dont work?

thanks in advance.


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Mar 2, 2013)

Yes


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## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

thanks for the quick response, but yes to what?  plugging a 3 or 4 pin to a 5 pin connection or using my original fan with 3 less blades?


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Mar 2, 2013)

stoggs1 said:


> thanks for the quick response, but yes to what?  plugging a 3 or 4 pin to a 5 pin connection or using my original fan with 3 less blades?



Yes


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## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

yes to all i assume?  if i have to use the original fan will that decrease airflow?  or would it be fine?


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## andrewsmc (Mar 2, 2013)

Yes


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## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

ok so will i be safe if i have to use the original fan with 3 less blades?  the reason im asking is because the other two fans may not fit on the heatsink. i wont know for sure until i get home.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 2, 2013)

5-Pin...I've never seen a 5-Pin fan connector on a motherboard.  What board is this?


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## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

its a server motherboard. not sure though its an hp8400 workstation desktop server. http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/e...2132712-12132712-12431664-80699851.html?dnr=1


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## TRWOV (Mar 2, 2013)

newtekie1 said:


> 5-Pin...I've never seen a 5-Pin fan connector on a motherboard.  What board is this?



It's like this one: http://www.redplanettrading.com/Dell-P2780-Y5299-Y5299-Optiplex-755-760-780-Desktop-Case-Fan.html


OP, no, the 3 and 4 pin fans you've got won't fit in the connector. You'll need a fan that uses a molex connector, you can plug them directly to the power supply.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 2, 2013)

Interesting, I just took a look, and it seems the extra pin is a second ground, and HP just bridges the  Pin1 to Pin5, bridging the first ground to the second ground.  Kind of odd.

However, yes it does appear that a standard 3-pin or 4-pin should work with a problem.  The only problem I can see is it looks like the little plastic blade on the fan connector on the motherboard might be too wide, preventing a smaller connector from being attached.  But you should be able to bend that tab out of the way(or break it off, just remember which way the fan is supposed to go on the header).



TRWOV said:


> It's like this one: http://www.redplanettrading.com/Dell-P2780-Y5299-Y5299-Optiplex-755-760-780-Desktop-Case-Fan.html
> 
> 
> OP, no, the 3 and 4 pin fans you've got won't fit in the connector. You'll need a fan that uses a molex connector, you can plug them directly to the power supply.



Those are Dell fans, HP uses a more standard connector, be it with an extra ground pin for some reason.  See here.

And the pinout seems to be the same as a normal fan as well, unlike the Dell ones that are wired backwards.


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## TRWOV (Mar 2, 2013)

The pin spacing is different IIRC.


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## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

Ok so could i use the original fan until i get a replacement? With 3 less blades?


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## TRWOV (Mar 2, 2013)

newtekie1 said:


> Those are Dell fans, HP uses a more standard connector, be it with an extra ground pin for some reason.  See here.
> 
> And the pinout seems to be the same as a normal fan as well, unlike the Dell ones that are wired backwards.



ah, ok. I just read "5 pin fan" and inmediately thought of those Dell fans. Have never handled an hp server (it shows, right?). 

OP, disregard my comments. newtekie is tackling this one


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## stoggs1 (Mar 2, 2013)

Ok thanks but is it possible to use the old fan?


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## newtekie1 (Mar 3, 2013)

It is possible, if it is balanced enough, but I would only use it as a last resort.  Try the other fans first.



TRWOV said:


> ah, ok. I just read "5 pin fan" and inmediately thought of those Dell fans. Have never handled an hp server (it shows, right?).
> 
> OP, disregard my comments. newtekie is tackling this one



It's cool, when I saw the thread I actually through of those Dell fans too.  I had to look them up as I've never seen them before either.


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## Frogger (Mar 3, 2013)

why not just move the pins from the old 5 pin plug to the new fan just make sure you get the asignment right


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## stoggs1 (Mar 3, 2013)

So if i would have to use the old fan as as a last resort would it provide adaquite airflow?


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## andrewsmc (Mar 3, 2013)

Dunno, you will need a temp monitoring program.


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## stoggs1 (Mar 3, 2013)

Ok but it would be safe to assume that with less blades means less airflow


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## TRWOV (Mar 3, 2013)

Yeah, it's safe. Your CPU will get a little hotter and maybe throttle back but that's it.


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## stoggs1 (Mar 3, 2013)

Ok if it runs to hot itll just shut itself off right to prevent damage? Its a xeon 5160. And if i have to use the original fan for a week or so will it ok?


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## TRWOV (Mar 3, 2013)

Yes, it will first throttle to a lower speed, if that doesn't keep it from overheating it will shut down.


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## stoggs1 (Mar 3, 2013)

ok a bit of an update.  i have the use the old fan for now because the other 2 fans i got wont fit on the heatsink.  the fan is spinning quite abit faster than before i can tell by the extra noise.  

and the temps are exactly the same as before but my cpu likes to get up to 80 degrees c on a full load which it has been doing even before my fan broke.  

so since i have been having this temperature issue for quite a while and my pc is perfectly stable even after playing intense games such as far cry 3, crysis 1,2 and 3, battlefield 3 etc, do i have anything to worry about?  could the temp sensor in the cpu or mb be bad?  

i greatly appreciate all of your guys help with this issue.

full hardware specs: two intel dual core xeon 5160 cpus at 3.0ghz, nvida gtx 570, 4 gigs of ddr2 ram, 740 gig hdd, 850 watt psu, rocketfish sound card.


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## xvi (Mar 3, 2013)

Frogger said:


> why not just move the pins from the old 5 pin plug to the new fan just make sure you get the asignment right
> http://www.overclockers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/12-300x300.png



I was just going to suggest this. I've done this with good success for power supplies.

If you can, I'd just leave the CPU fan header unplugged and power the replacement fan off of a system fan header or 3-pin molex to 3-pin adapter. You'll most likely get a warning from the BIOS when you first boot up the computer that you'll have to "F1 to continue" when it boots, but it's a small price to pay.


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