# Please help identify 5 pin connector



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

Sorry if this is the wrong section to post, but i was wondering if anyone would know what type of connector this is? i have an asus rampage iii board and want to connect this 5 pin on the board but there is no 5 pin connector to be seen. the 5 pin is coming from a water cooling kit. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

What is the make of the cooling kit?


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

alienware, but asetek makes it.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

Cheers im having a look now to see if i can find anything about it.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> Cheers im having a look now to see if i can find anything about it.



Thank you very much. i really appreciate it.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

IS it the area 51 thing? If so i found this.

for the Area 51 the pump has one 5-pin that connects to the PCB board on the top back of the system.

If there is nowere on the system to put this cable then it might be possible to get some kind of converter. I'm just reading up on it some more just to make sure this 5 pin thing is some sort of fan connector.

Take a look here http://fanadaptors.ecrater.com/p/8485388/dell-5-pin-4-wire-fan-connector

Am i right in thinking you had the dell/alienware system originaly then replaced the mobo?


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

close =) purchased an alienware case and water cooling system and just stuck after market stuff in. the link you provided definitely looks like it from a far, but wondering if they would have a male connect since the images show a female if im getting it correctly. thanks again for taking the time to help me out.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> close =) purchased an alienware case and water cooling system and just stuck after market stuff in. the link you provided definitely looks like it from a far, but wondering if they would have a male connect since the images show a female if im getting it correctly. thanks again for taking the time to help me out.



Sorry dident take a proper look at the adaptor, looks like we need to find a 5pin to 3/4pin mobo adaptor or at least to 4 pin molex maybe. im gonna keep looking around tho.

Hmmm i wounder if them 4 wires can be splitt and connected to a normal 4 pin fan header or is it 3 pin lol can't remeber now, I just need to make sure that the cable is defo a fan connector and if it is then i need to work out what wires are witch lol.

I see 3 main wires and one wire that is looped over into the 5th pin so my guess is.

12v power or what ever it uses
ground wire
maybe temp sensor for 3rd wire
could the loop be some kind of voltage (pwm) thing hmm need to find more info hehe


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

looks like this with the wire coming out of the block


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

After reading a few more things it defo seems to be for the fan, The prob im reading is the fan uses a lot of amps (2.3 if this info i read is correct) so might not be a good idea to mod it to fit directly to the motherboard, The other 2 main wires do seem to be ground and sensor.

Im still trying to find more info but not having much luck atm.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

i believe the 5 pin is to circulate the pump cause there is a 4 pin or 3 pin i forget that is for the fan that is attached to the radiator.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> i believe the 5 pin is to circulate the pump cause there is a 4 pin or 3 pin i forget that is for the fan that is attached to the radiator.



Ahh i see, So if its for the pump then i need to look at diffrent info.

I think your right about it being for the pump because if it was for the fan im sure it would have black/yellow/blue wires.


----------



## slyfox2151 (Jun 10, 2011)

chances are its 
+12volt
Ground
RPM Sensor 
RPM control 


there are only 4 wires.



EDIT:
on 2nd inspection, its only 3 wires....
likely 
12 Volt
Ground 
RPM Sensor


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

slyfox2151 said:


> chances are its
> +12volt
> Ground
> Sensor
> ...



Yup i understand that but now it seems its not a fan connector but maybe a power connector for the pump itself.

Also i have just noticed that the cable only realy has 3 main wires, the 4th is looped over from pin 1 to pin 5.

lol you edited ya post before i got my reply in


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

this is what it looks like with the wire coming out of the water block.
http://www.asetek.com/products/oem-custom-products/alienware-cooling.html#

it doesnt show the fan attached to the radiator.


----------



## slyfox2151 (Jun 10, 2011)

its likely Power input for the pump...


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> this is what it looks like with the wire coming out of the water block.
> http://www.asetek.com/products/oem-custom-products/alienware-cooling.html#
> 
> it doesnt show the fan attached to the radiator.



Looks like that cable goes to the psu in the pics but its hard to see so i could be wrong.

Lets assume its for the pump, Could it be moded to a 4pin molex?


----------



## slyfox2151 (Jun 10, 2011)

yes, very easily.

if it is indeed for powering the pump using 12 volt,

all you need to do is connect the 12volt line to a yellow molex and the Ground to black.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

slyfox2151 said:


> yes, very easily.
> 
> if it is indeed for powering the pump using 12 volt,
> 
> all you need to do is connect the 12volt line to a yellow molex and the Ground to black.



how would i go about doing that?

thanks again to both of you for taking the time to help me out. let me know if i need to provide more photos that could possibly help out.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molex_connector

shows pics of the layout ill update this post in a few mins to.

Ok in your first lot of pics it looks like one of them wires is red and black? If so im guessing this is the 12v power line, Next to that should be ground wire, not sure what the 3rd wire is yet inless its a second ground wire.

Now if we take your pic and take the red wire and call it pin 1 then the molex will be as follows.

Pin 1 = +12v power
Pin 2 = ground
Pin 3 = ground
Pin 4 = +5v


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molex_connector
> 
> shows pics of the layout ill update this post in a few mins to.



what type of layout? just about the pump looks like? this is the unit i purchased

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-cooli...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item415a0e0bf8

if you need more detail up close shots ill try to get that.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> what type of layout? just about the pump looks like? this is the unit i purchased
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-cooli...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item415a0e0bf8
> 
> if you need more detail up close shots ill try to get that.



No need for more pics  im now 99% sure its for the pump, Its now just a case of working out what wire is what.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> No need for more pics  im now 99% sure its for the pump, Its now just a case of working out what wire is what.



hehe just wanted to make sure.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

Can you check the wires on the cooler and see if there is any writing on the cables, I know some cables have things like +12v / GND on them.

Also what colors are the wires exactly 
cheers


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> Can you check the wires on the cooler and see if there is any writing on the cables, I know some cables have things like +12v / GND on them.
> 
> Also what colors are the wires exactly
> cheers



one sec. let me get those for ya. thanks again for the help. can't say it enough =)


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

Nothing else to do today atm so might aswell try and help someone if i can


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

each of the wires either say doowell, 80c (temperature) and 300v. cant pin point which is which on the end of the wire. and on the plastic end it says mx and 13a. all wires are black


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

I hate it when they use the same color wire for everything, But it does look like the wire going into the pin with MX writen on it is main 12v im guessing this due to the no'1 right neer the end of the connector. The other 2 wires are probably ground wires, The only thing that worries me is that loop wire as im not sure what the use is. Maybe the pump needs more than 12volts so the loop wire could well be for an extra 5 volts but this is where i get stuck. Hopefully someone else can help here.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

thx 4 all your help. hopefully someone will be able to chime in. imma hit the sack and be back on in 6 hours. 99 =p


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

If i find out anymore info i will post back to, enjoy ya sleep


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 10, 2011)

as a guess i would say the mx 1 > end would be the +/live wire
and the one below that,appears to be looped?that would be the ground
adding a 12v onto a 5v wouldn't make 17,it would make a bang!possibly loosen the magic smoke out of the PSU too...
it could have worked that way if the pump was two phase but as the second appears to be looped onto the third it would be a safe guess its a ground.
could you take a pic of the back of the connector block? so we can verify which is looped to what?


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

MightyMission said:


> as a guess i would say the mx 1 > end would be the +/live wire
> and the one below that,appears to be looped?that would be the ground
> adding a 12v onto a 5v wouldn't make 17,it would make a bang!possibly loosen the magic smoke out of the PSU too...
> it could have worked that way if the pump was two phase but as the second appears to be looped onto the third it would be a safe guess its a ground.
> could you take a pic of the back of the connector block? so we can verify which is looped to what?



From the last pic posted you can clearly see there are 3 main wires lets call them pin 1/2/3 then there is a blank then that loop wire. If you look closley the loop wire goes from pin 1 to pin 5. If pin 1 is live surely you wouldent want to ground it from the same pin? To me its still saying 12v is going thru that wire and seems odd if its a ground wire coming of. Or maybe my understanding of how things work is not upto scratch


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 10, 2011)

yes maybe your eyes are better than mine as i couldnt be sure the loop wire is going from pin1 or pin2,thats why i asked for a reverse pic-so the guy isnt advised wrongly.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

If you look at the very first pic posted it defo shows the wire coming from pin 1 to pin 5.


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 10, 2011)

Right you are!
those pics wouldnt load for me when i first looked in here,crappy interwebnet i suppose.
clearly then 1=ground and 2=live
I know dell have there own sockets/headers on there mobo's but doesnt that socket look like a cd audio type connector?


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

MightyMission said:


> Right you are!
> those pics wouldnt load for me when i first looked in here,crappy interwebnet i suppose.
> clearly then 1=ground and 2=live
> I know dell have there own sockets/headers on there mobo's but doesnt that socket look like a cd audio type connector?



From what i have been reading today there seems to be 2 types of dell connectors, The 5 pin you see here and also a 7pin, The info sugest this cable usualy connects to the PSU or some custom 5/7 pin crap dell put on there motherboards.

At first glance the connector posted here does look a lot like the old CD Rom cables we used back in the early days.

The problem is the op bought a alienware case and water colling but the rest of the pc is built from parts so the motherboard/PSU dosen't have the required connection needed.

Just noticed something to and my guess is your right about the pins. If we look at pin 2 it does say what looks to be like 13amps on the back of the block so if this was a ground wire why would it needs amps.


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 10, 2011)

I beleive the water coolers used in those machines are asetek jobbies and they take 12v,the 30a bit is a misnomer,just overspecced cable.
Molex would be fine on this,as long as the OP's motherboard boots ok without the cpu fan header operating,mine was quirky like that so i plugged a 140mm exhaust fan onto the cpu fan header.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 10, 2011)

MightyMission said:


> I beleive the water coolers used in those machines are asetek jobbies and they take 12v,the 30a bit is a misnomer,just overspecced cable.
> Molex would be fine on this,as long as the OP's motherboard boots ok without the cpu fan header operating,mine was quirky like that so i plugged a 140mm exhaust fan onto the cpu fan header.



your correct on who makes it.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 10, 2011)

thanks again. this damn thing is killing me hehe.i posted on the dell site as well as asetek, lets see if they have a response to this. if you guys have more info keep shooting =)

edit: just got an email from Zack from asetek stating it is a special alienware cable. He told me i would have to contact alienware for further assistance. booo =(


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

found an image of what the plug actually goes into on the alienware auroa






now to figure a way to be able to make a conversion.


----------



## theJesus (Jun 11, 2011)

MightyMission said:


> Right you are!
> those pics wouldnt load for me when i first looked in here,crappy interwebnet i suppose.
> clearly then *1=ground and 2=live*
> I know dell have there own sockets/headers on there mobo's but doesnt that socket look like a cd audio type connector?


Since I agree with this, I say just plug +12v from your PSU into pin2 and ground from PSU into pin1 and see what happens.  Pin3 is probably just some sort of sensor and not necessary for actually powering it.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

theJesus said:


> Since I agree with this, I say just plug +12v from your PSU into pin2 and ground from PSU into pin1 and see what happens.  Pin3 is probably just some sort of sensor and not necessary for actually powering it.



Should i leave the pin that is connected to the first slot unplugged (the pin that has a loop to slot 5)?


----------



## theJesus (Jun 11, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> Should i leave the pin that is connected to the first slot unplugged (the pin that has a loop to slot 5)?


I think so.  All you should need are power and ground.

btw, I don't claim to be 100% certain on this, so anything you do is done at your own risk, but I think it should work


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

theJesus said:


> I think so.  All you should need are power and ground.
> 
> btw, I don't claim to be 100% certain on this, so anything you do is done at your own risk, but I think it should work



Thanks theJesus. I will give it a shot later today and report back. I believe it takes 12v to power the pump from reading on other forums. Hopefully its correct.


----------



## theJesus (Jun 11, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> Thanks theJesus. I will give it a shot later today and report back. I believe it takes 12v to power the pump from reading on other forums. Hopefully its correct.


Don't thank just me, I based my post on the information already compiled in this thread 

If the pump requires more than 12v, then it will still work, just at a lower speed.  Just like a fan.  I doubt it needs more than 12v though.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

theJesus said:


> Don't thank just me, I based my post on the information already compiled in this thread
> 
> If the pump requires more than 12v, then it will still work, just at a lower speed.  Just like a fan.  I doubt it needs more than 12v though.



Thanked everyone who posted in this thread which helped, basically all of you =). Thanks again and i will report back.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 11, 2011)

I wounder if we can work out the wires 100% by downloading the motherboard PDF that has that connection on it. It might be worth a look if we can find it.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> I wounder if we can work out the wires 100% by downloading the motherboard PDF that has that connection on it. It might be worth a look if we can find it.



I believe it's not connected to the motherboard, but a separate board that controls all the fans and works with the command center software looking at the picture.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 11, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> I believe it's not connected to the motherboard, but a separate board that controls all the fans and works with the command center software looking at the picture.



That could be possible but i would still think the mobo book would have info about it, i might try and find out anyway


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> That could be possible but i would still think the mobo book would have info about it, i might try and find out anyway



thanks thanks. i will give it a look as well.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 11, 2011)

From what i read yesterday i think we will be looking for the area51 PDF, I have downloaded 2 file so far just gotta install adobe.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> From what i read yesterday i think we will be looking for the area51 PDF, I have downloaded 2 file so far just gotta install adobe.



I believe it will be based off of the alienware auroa.


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 11, 2011)

I found what looks to be the right PDF file but there is no real usefull info in there that says what wire is witch.


----------



## Frick (Jun 11, 2011)

w00tw00t said:


> I believe it will be based off of the alienware auroa.



Found a manual and nothing about it.

BTW, could it be the same as Dell fans?

http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/dell_fan_pinout.shtml


----------



## animal007uk (Jun 11, 2011)

Frick said:


> Found a manual and nothing about it.
> 
> BTW, could it be the same as Dell fans?
> 
> http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/dell_fan_pinout.shtml



Its very simler looking to the fan connector.


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

Frick said:


> Found a manual and nothing about it.
> 
> BTW, could it be the same as Dell fans?
> 
> http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/dell_fan_pinout.shtml



thats what the guys think it might be, dells proprietary crap. only thing is the loop from the first pin to the 5 slot.


----------



## theJesus (Jun 11, 2011)

Frick said:


> Found a manual and nothing about it.
> 
> BTW, could it be the same as Dell fans?
> 
> http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/dell_fan_pinout.shtml


I considered that as well.


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 11, 2011)

i have tried a dell delta fan in a normal mobo and it worked fine as long as one of the notches on the dell connector was in line and one wasnt ie pin3 was aligned with pin3 on the mobo header.
(if the upstand on the header was to the bottom then pin1 was on the right)
I cant rememer if the fan speed function worked thugh.


----------



## dr emulator (madmax) (Jun 11, 2011)

all i'll say is be aware that if the fan is 2.5 amps ,that your motherboard might not support it

i do know that their are 3 - 4 pin adaptors that have the rpm plug sepparate so that you can still monitor but not control your fans

all depends on what you want to do with it


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 11, 2011)

Molex!


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 11, 2011)

Just want to get this baby up and running. As long as it gets power im good. no need to adjust speeds or any of that.


----------



## jsfitz54 (Jun 11, 2011)

Does this help with pin assignment.

http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/dell_fan_pinout.shtml

http://www.crazypc.com/products/dell-adapter-54100.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8..._Dell_Adapter_Cable_-_8_Length_CB-PWM-D5.html

http://www.aerocooler.com/shop.cart?action=ITEM&prod_id=CBLPWMD5


Read last two posts:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/261998-12-front-panel-connections

Ditto Above:
http://www.daniweb.com/hardware-and-software/pc-hardware/cases-fans-and-power-supplies/threads/73919

Another Post:
http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19369911.aspx

TRY THIS POST:
http://www.sevenforums.com/overclocking-case-mods/126273-5pin-fan-conection-hp-z400-workstation.html


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 14, 2011)

thanks to everyone that helped. got the baby up and running. =) took a 3 pin to 4 pin fan molex and removed the red and black wires and stuck it in the first and third slot. w00tw00t~!


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 14, 2011)

Good effort!
what temps are you getting?


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 14, 2011)

30c low to high 44c. been trying to make it get pass 44c but no luck. i like it =) thanks again


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 14, 2011)

i cant see what your system is,but i guess its an intel with those temps?or are you living somewhere with high ambients?


----------



## w00tw00t (Jun 15, 2011)

MightyMission said:


> i cant see what your system is,but i guess its an intel with those temps?or are you living somewhere with high ambients?



Yea, its an intel. Live in San Diego, and my room is fairly normal. Once summer hits my room will be a sauna. not sure if i answered that correctly. =( Should my system be lower in temp since i have the WC on?


----------



## MightyMission (Jun 15, 2011)

i would expect 45-50c absolute max with a heavy overclock and watercooling,though a second fan on the other side of the radiator (in a push/pull configuration) will help another couple of degrees,though if it doesnt bother you then don't worry about it..Intel can work fine at much higher temps than amd setups.my cpu wouldnt work at 4ghz at those temps,though if i drop the temps 20c then i can get 4ghz cpu and 4ghz cpu-nb!


----------



## OneMoar (Jun 17, 2011)

looks like Its a 4pin fan with a 1 > 4 pin short(iirc makes the fan/pump run at 100%)
place the 4 pin connector on a 4pin OR 3 pin stud with the 5 pin hanging over the side ( might need to flip it )


----------

