# 3 pin fan connector



## Schpeedy (Dec 13, 2004)

So i did my mod to my ati silencer 3 and fit it onto my 9800se. The biggest problem i had with it was the fan plug on the card is a 2 pin while the one on the silencer is a 3 pin, so basicaly i just reconnected the plugs and gave myself a 2 pin connect but the yellow wire is hanging lose, just wondering if anyone knows what each of the wires do on a 3-pin fan connector.


----------



## INSTG8R (Dec 13, 2004)

well not sure on the wire Colors but I have a fan from an old GF2 440 on my 9600 and its red+, black- and blue fan control tho I too only have red and black connected


----------



## wazzledoozle (Dec 13, 2004)

The black is almost always the ground, and the other 2 are for different voltages for when you use fan control, colors vary. On a standard molex connector it is:
+12v 
Ground 
Ground 
+5v

(This is the order wires appear and are colored)


----------



## Schpeedy (Dec 13, 2004)

so from that, using my current setup im am grosly underpowering my fan? figures


----------



## fr33ze (Dec 13, 2004)

No, on a 3-wire connect for fans the red is 12v, black ground and the yellow is feedback for working out the fan speed. You are powering the fan with 12v.


----------



## Schpeedy (Dec 13, 2004)

Ahh okay thats exactly what i wanted to know, thanks fr33ze.


----------



## fr33ze (Dec 13, 2004)

no worries mate, if you still wanna get the fan rpm you can connect that yellow wire to the correct pin on one of the fan headers on the motherboard and use MotherBoardMonitor to display the fan rpm


----------



## rols (Jan 4, 2005)

fr33ze said:
			
		

> no worries mate, if you still wanna get the fan rpm you can connect that yellow wire to the correct pin on one of the fan headers on the motherboard and use MotherBoardMonitor to display the fan rpm



And now the 1.000.000 $ question: what the hell do i need a fourth pin for? My Shuttle SN95G5 barebone uses 4-pins to connect the big 92x92 case fan to the mainboard. The chipset fan is connected to it with a 3-pin fan, pin out as you described. Result: only the 4-pin fan is BIOS/software (SmartFan) controllable. Perhaps you can tell me more about the 4th magic pin. I always thought fan speed is regulated by PWM controlling the VCC fan pin. This seems to be (at least for my fan temp/control chip) not the hole truth.


----------



## fr33ze (Jan 5, 2005)

no idea rols, never come accross a fan with 4 pins.


----------



## W1zzard (Jan 19, 2005)

maybe this helps 
http://www.jmcproducts.com/products/dc_fans/pdf/92x92x25_12H_PWM.pdf


----------



## wazzledoozle (Jan 20, 2005)

rols said:
			
		

> And now the 1.000.000 $ question: what the hell do i need a fourth pin for? My Shuttle SN95G5 barebone uses 4-pins to connect the big 92x92 case fan to the mainboard. The chipset fan is connected to it with a 3-pin fan, pin out as you described. Result: only the 4-pin fan is BIOS/software (SmartFan) controllable. Perhaps you can tell me more about the 4th magic pin. I always thought fan speed is regulated by PWM controlling the VCC fan pin. This seems to be (at least for my fan temp/control chip) not the hole truth.


Maybe it uses 2 voltage lines for changing speed?


----------



## ADV4NCED (Jan 21, 2005)

I took an old cpu fan that has 4 connectors, and Im gonna plug it into my motherboard and use it as a case fan. Although the place plugging it in is for only 3 connectors, not 4. There are 4 colours, blue, green, yellow and black. Black isnt getting plugged in, can it short circuit my motherboard or cause any other damage? When I plugged it in, it seemed to spin pretty fast...


----------



## conan (Feb 4, 2005)

W1zzard said:
			
		

> maybe this helps
> http://www.jmcproducts.com/products/dc_fans/pdf/92x92x25_12H_PWM.pdf



Hell W1zzard, where'd you get that kind of manufacturers drawing?  You work for them?

Never seen the 4 pin config before though, a seperate pin/wire for control instead of using voltage


----------



## fr33ze (Feb 14, 2005)

conan said:
			
		

> Hell W1zzard, where'd you get that kind of manufacturers drawing?  You work for them?
> 
> Never seen the 4 pin config before though, a seperate pin/wire for control instead of using voltage



data sheets for pretty much everything are available if you know where to look, it's how a lot of people work out how to do voltmods, by looking at the spec sheets of IC's


----------



## Christer (Feb 17, 2005)

yeah...my Coolermaster Hyper 48 HS also has a 4 pin plug which fits my Mobo...but I am going to count the wires later...


----------



## cmarino (Jul 19, 2005)

4-pin connectors are to power 4-pin fans, also called PWM fans. PWM fans are software controlled. The motherboard controls the PWM fan speed.

The 4 pins diagram is as follows:
1= +12Vcc
2= GND
3= SPEED SENSOR (it communicates the current speed of the fan back to the motherboard)
4= PWM pulse 

The computer controls the speed of the fan thru the PWM channel (wire #4). For example, Shuttle barebones have PWM fans for silent use (the fans rotate at minimum speed; when the temperature rises, the motherboard tells the fans to speed up).
Also, some CPU fans require 4-pin connectors (the mainboard controls the speed of the fan).

These fans are backward compatible (they can be used with regular 3-pin and even 2-pin connectors). They just won't be software controlled anymore (some rotate at minimum speed, some at maximum speed, depending on the manifacturer, i believe.)


----------



## Dippyskoodlez (Jul 20, 2005)

rols said:
			
		

> And now the 1.000.000 $ question: what the hell do i need a fourth pin for? My Shuttle SN95G5 barebone uses 4-pins to connect the big 92x92 case fan to the mainboard. The chipset fan is connected to it with a 3-pin fan, pin out as you described. Result: only the 4-pin fan is BIOS/software (SmartFan) controllable. Perhaps you can tell me more about the 4th magic pin. I always thought fan speed is regulated by PWM controlling the VCC fan pin. This seems to be (at least for my fan temp/control chip) not the hole truth.



Intel is trying to push a 4 pin fan connector, similar to floppy connectors, so that they can control the fan speeds better.
(last i checked, atleast) BTX?


----------



## Carcenomy (Oct 24, 2006)

What I would like to know is how the 4-pin PWM system works, and if a controller can be build that accepts the 4-pin PWM drive to control a 3-pin generic fan. I'm wanting to get a Zalman CNPS9500LED for my new Core2, but I don't want to run the poxy FanMate2, I'd rather the motherboard control it as it sees fit.


----------



## Judas (Oct 24, 2006)

Carcenomy said:


> What I would like to know is how the 4-pin PWM system works, and if a controller can be build that accepts the 4-pin PWM drive to control a 3-pin generic fan. I'm wanting to get a Zalman CNPS9500LED for my new Core2, but I don't want to run the poxy FanMate2, I'd rather the motherboard control it as it sees fit.



Or you could always just use one of theses


----------



## Carcenomy (Oct 24, 2006)

That won't solve the issue - I want the motherboard to control fan speed, not myself.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Oct 24, 2006)

as far as i know,a fan with a 4 pin connector has a pwm built into the motor.its mostly used on intel fans only.


----------



## Carcenomy (Oct 24, 2006)

Zalman's 9500AT appears to have it too, might just have to settle.

Would be nice if there was a clean motor control module one could use to emulate a PWM motor... yes you can adjust it yourself with a fan speed controller, but in the case of something like the CPU fan I'm too lazy for turning it up/down when required, and would be far happier if the motherboard dealt with it on behalf. *shrug*


----------

