# deepcool fan hub can you combine 3pin and 4pin



## lyndonguitar (Oct 30, 2017)

It's been a while since I last built a PC from scratch and with a new case and I don't have experience yet with PWM fans. I tried googling but it's hard to find results..

so I have this Deepcool FAN HUB (4pins) that came with the Captain Cool 240EX

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1W7-001E-00001

It has a free Fan hub that will be used by the radiator fans. however the case fans that came out with my case(Panzer Cougar Max) is non-PWM and uses 3 pins only. I plan to plug one in(rear case fan) together with the 2 PWM Radiator fans, my question is will it work? (3pin +2x 4pin PWM) or should I just plug in the 3pin rear fan to the front panel controller/psu? I'm not sure if it will work when 3/4pin are combined together, or if it will work on all 4pins only or all 3pins only


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## jboydgolfer (Oct 30, 2017)

The hub female plugs will be 4pin, but 4 pin ports can accept 3pin just fine. The out from the adapter will be a 4pin, which will accommodate any 4 pin fans you plug in as well as any 3 pin. You'll have control of the four pins and the three pins will be as they should as long as you plug the adapter into a four pin port on the motherboard

At least that's how the adapters Ive seen are


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## lyndonguitar (Oct 30, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> The hub female plugs will be 4pin, but 4 pin ports can accept 3pin just fine. The out from the adapter will be a 4pin, which will accommodate any 4 pin fans you plug in as well as any 3 pin. You'll have control of the four pins and the three pins will be as they should as long as you plug the adapter into a four pin port on the motherboard
> 
> At least that's how the adapters Ive seen are


ohhh, so basically I can do this?

3pin nonPWM + 4pin PWM ->>>> Fan Hub ->>>> Motherboard 4-pin Header (e.g. CPU_FAN)

and what will happen is that the 3pin fan will work without PWM(as intended), while the 4pin fan will also work with PWM still?


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## jboydgolfer (Oct 30, 2017)

lyndonguitar said:


> ohhh, so basically I can do this?
> 
> 3pin nonPWM + 4pin PWM ->>>> Fan Hub ->>>> Motherboard 4-pin Header (e.g. CPU_FAN)
> 
> and what will happen is that the 3pin fan will work without PWM(as intended), while the 4pin fan will also work with PWM still?



 As long as you power the adapter using a four pin cable and a four pin output on the motherboard ,you can plug and use the functionality of a four pin fan as well as a three pin.  It's the same thing as when you plug a three pin fan into a four pin port on a motherboard the fourth pin just sticks out, its not an issue don't worry about it.

i recommend you NOT plug your CPU cooling fan into a hub though, instead use the direct port from the CPU1 out on the MoBo to power your cpu cooler, otherwise you'll need to power the whole hub with the 4pin CPU1 port whcih unless your setup is meant to use , may suck


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## lyndonguitar (Oct 30, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> As long as you power the adapter using a four pin cable and a four pin output on the motherboard ,you can plug and use the functionality of a four pin fan as well as a three pin.  It's the same thing as when you plug a three pin fan into a four pin port on a motherboard the fourth pin just sticks out, its not an issue don't worry about it.
> 
> i recommend you NOT plug your CPU cooling fan into a hub though, instead use the direct port from the CPU1 out on the MoBo to power your cpu cooler, otherwise you'll need to power the whole hub with the 4pin CPU1 port whcih unless your setup is meant to use , may suck


My mistake, I meant the CPU_OPT for the hub, the CPU_FAN header will connect to the actual AIO Cooler block

the DeepCool Captain 240EX AIO comes with the hub (which is meant to be used with the Radiator Fans) so the radiator fans and 2 extra fans will go into the Hub

Anyway thanks! this is nice. and ohh, the adapter does get power from the mobo so I just need to plug it in to the mobo alone, reducing cable clutter.


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## jboydgolfer (Oct 30, 2017)

lyndonguitar said:


> Anyway thanks! this is nice. and ohh, the adapter does get power from the mobo so I just need to plug it in to the mobo alone, reducing cable clutter.



Np.

its nice it only needs the one cable, mine has one 4pin to mobo,& one sata power connector. Glad it worked out.


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## EntropyZ (Oct 30, 2017)

I got one of these hubs from the Captain 240 EX. Awesome and inexpensive. I bought another one separate just because it might be useful later.

Just make sure you connect the PWM fans as "Primary", what I mean by that is. Use the white port first, or the motherboard won't be able to see RPM, or worse not able to control them.

Connect the 3-pin DC fans last in the row, away from the main connector.

Note that fan control will depend highly on the fan controller used on the motherbard. Mine won't regulate 3-pin fans well. They won't control much at all if you connect them to a hub even if it is plugged in a 4-pin header, because it only works with DC voltage. Just so you know.

You can connect 3-pin fans. Just don't expect them to be user controlled through the hub.


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## lyndonguitar (Oct 30, 2017)

EntropyZ said:


> I got one of these hubs from the Captain 240 EX. Awesome and inexpensive. I bought another one separate just because it might be useful later.
> 
> Just make sure you connect the PWM fans as "Primary", what I mean by that is. Use the white port first, or the motherboard won't be able to see RPM, or worse not able to control them.
> 
> ...


thanks, yeah i dont need to control them, just need to know if they can be used, so the HUB ports won't be wasted, and I can have a better cable management


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