Learned a lot from this video. Thank you for making it. One suggestion is to adjust the background music volume down to maybe half. It was a little difficult to understand the dialogue throughout the video.
I got a lot of comments about it. In the future I will not. My voice does not carry well... but at the same time I do not want the video to be super boring!
@@thefrozencpu Ah! I've just spotted this. I've also made a comment about the BGM. I think your presentation and the content is excellent. I've just forced my wife, who has NO interest in PWM fans, to watch your video and she says it's boring. The BGM did not help. :)
I've watched a few other videos to better understand the key difference between the 3 and 4-pin setup. You have made the best video by far. It is simple and direct to the point. Thank you for your explaination!
Thank you for your video. I was looking to buy some extension/splitter fan cables and wasn't sure what to buy. Not only was I able to buy the right cables but I learned something new!
@@lovesrc4296 so what do you mean because I was about to get one 4pin splitter from my 6 corsair ll120 fans but in the discribtion of the product says (the fan splitter can control only 1of the 4 fans so what does this mean ?can I control all of the fans pwm speeds or no plz answer me I need your help.
Thank you for this video. You're explaining method gives all the important details without any irrelevant information. You actually seem to care about your viewers limited time, and that's rare, thank you.
Thanks Max. Very helpful. I'm just about to order this NA-FC1 for my new build I'm working on. Clear explanation on voltage control vs PWM so I decided to subscribe as you may be able to enlighten me with useful articles and information in future.
so damn confusing while shopping for fans. this is my first pc build and learning about each of the 7 main components. then bam! Amazon page is filled with the rainbow of fans. This helped me understand what i'm purchasing and choices. thank you.
With Molex you can have 3 configurations, 5, 7 and 12V mode. It's just about how you connect your pins on Fan Molex(you can reorder them and you need only 2 wires).
Had a few fans on the HD molex that had a High, medium, and low switch on. Basically that switch is an adjustable resistor and it basically limits the power on that it is set to. The higher the resistance, the slower the fans spins.
I have a 4 pin pwm splitter that splits to 4 pin and 3 pin. The 3 pin end has a 2 pins, empty, and one pin set up (looks like this: II.I ). Can I plug a 3 pin fan into the 3 pin header (only using 2 pins) without issues?
What are the 4 pins on a 4 wire fan with LEDs on the fans? Unfortunately they are all black and no instructions came with them. They are 3 12v fans with heat sink between each one. It is a cpu cooler unit. From Aliexpress so obviously no info provided.
Just don't use a Mag Lev type fan on voltage controlled, only use PWM. The Magnetic levitation will fall out under a certain voltage. For PWM the pulses occur at the same rate, the width of the pulse changes (duty cycle).
The pin that has been removed is the tach signal, if both ends have a tach signal that would confuse the motherboard as both fans would be reporting it. The motherboard only needs to be able to read one
That is true. However even with a PWM fan you can still control the voltage with a voltage stepper like the fan controller. Or on your motherboard if for some reason its a 3 pin header, you can still control a PWM fan in your bios. But YES, a PWM fan will spin at whatever voltage the 3 pin header is putting out.. which is usually full 12 volts.
That's not entirely correct as some mobos offer to control the speed over the voltage (DC mode). Then you plug 3 pins on a 4-pin-header leaving the 4th pin (which is always the PWM pin) empty. So really, with some fans already being ultra silent, you don't _need_ PWM; it's a nice-to-have, unless you explicitly _want_ to run fans at very low RPMs, which wouldn't be possible with 3-pin fans since they need a minimum voltage to spin at all, as this video beautifully showcases. PWM basically blasts 12V to get the fan always spinning, but reduces the amount of 12V-pulses per second to reach low RPMs.
Brilliant! Thank you very much for this video. Background music was distracting, mind.I think you should lose it whenever you're talking. Thanks, again.
Hi , in my laptop i had my fan changed , probably a 4 pin fan to a 3 pin socket and so the fan runs ongoing.can cause this the 4 pin fan to the 3 pin motherboard?
wow finally someone who explains things clearly,you have a new sub,just wanted to ask a question that maybe you can help me with...i purchased a silverstone TD02-slim AIO for a build,using an asrock Z390 gaming itx/sc board,replaced the fans on the AIO with Noctua NF-A12x15 FLX 120mm 1850RPM Fans,now my issue is that i cannot seem to control the fans speed within the bios or with software,they are daisey chained and connected to the CPU fan header on the MB,now i am wondering the pump on the AIO is only a three pin connection which connects to the cpu fan/pump header is it because of this that i cannot gain control of the fans speeds or set fan curves,and would i be able to activate that 4th pin with an extension or fan hub...am new to building so still quite a newb....hope i get an answer and thank you again for the video
So... the fans are connected to a chain which connects to the pump.. and the pump header is a 3 pin that is connected to the CPU? If that is the case... you are not going to be able to control the fans unless your AIO has built in software like corsair uses. You could just plug the fans into a motherboard header instead and control them separately.
@@thefrozencpu thanks for the reply,managed to sort it out as i had the connections in the wrong header,(doh...face palm),had the pump connected to the cpu/pump header when in fact it needed to be connected to a normal header then the fans finally responded to software and PWM
@@thefrozencpu so what do you mean because I was about to get one 4pin splitter from my 6 corsair ll120 fans but in the discribtion of the product says (the fan splitter can control only 1of the 4 fans so what does this mean ?can I control all of the fans pwm speeds or no plz answer me I need your help.
A couple. Firstly you will only see RPM of one of the fans, even if they are the same fan you can only ever see RPM of one of them. The other potential issue is the starting current of the fans is about double the draw of the rated current. As long as they aren't monster 1A or higher fans you should be okay.
I am new to this RGB ARGB thing and I do not want a ton of lighted fans in my case. One will be just fine on the front of the case. I purchased a Cooler Master Sickleflow 140mm RGB ARGB fan. I installed it but I have not plugged it in for I found that the fan has a four pin plug and two other type plugs. I know one is to connect to a controller box for RGB ARGB lighting. My question here is if I get a splitter and connect to the only four pin header on my motherboard witch is the CPU fan header would the fan light up or only blow air. Not sure if it has to be connected to one of those little black box controllers for RGB to light.
I have a fan with an old molex conector, i want to know if its possible to solder the wires to a more modern connector like the one you shown in the video.
Not this controller (PWM). The fan would need the PWM circuity in the motor... which it does NOT have since its a molex fan. It may or may not have a position on the board for RPM, you would have to take it apart and find out! You could control it with a voltage stepper like the large controller though, just not PWM
Nice video. Can you make fan work with just 12 volt power? I have a fan stopped working. I can make it work again with PWM input. However, it won't turn without PWM input. Is the fan really bad? Thanks.
At around 6:00, would it work the same with only +/- from the PWM controller to the PWM fan, or does it need to use all 4 pins for the regulation to work? I don't get the purpose of the PWM signal cable when the fan is getting 12 volt in pulses from the controller anyway. Cheers :)
It would not... for a PWM controller to work it needs the positive and negative, then the fourth pin which is the PWM signal. The third pin is just a tac which this controller does not require... but you can use that to monitor the fan speed. With PWM instead of adjusting the voltage to change the fan speed, its adjusting what is called the "duty cycle" So lets say you take a fan, and spin it with your finger... lets say if you move that fan once every 5 seconds with your finger, the fan will roughly spin at a certain speed... however if suddenly you started spinning the fan with your finger 3 times every 5 seconds second, the fan would move a lot faster... its just that each one of those "pulses" or "finger spins" are at 12v.... Otherwise without PWM... there is hardware that actually reduces or increases the voltage... but the power is constant on... If you plug a just positive and negative into a PWM header, you will just get that constant 12 volts and get full speed. Hope that makes sense!
@@thefrozencpu Thanks a lot for your thorough explanation! If I have a PWM controller like this one: www.amazon.com/TOOGOO-Controller-Control-Switch-Dimmer/dp/B0757DX8D2 How would I connect the fan? I only see 2 poles. Is the fan +/- connected directly, and the PWM cable through the controller? ...or is this just not the right kind of controller? If so, could you please point me to the kind I need? Preferably a dead cheap one ;) Going to connect a 5v fan. Cheers :)
I assume you are asking if you pulse the power pins directly instead of providing a separate PWM signal? I think it's because the tachometer requires a constant dc signal to operate, so the fan still needs a constant 12v input for it
So the end that power the controller is just a 4p in female connector, and on the other side is 12 sata male. The reason they use the PWM connector is so you could potentially plug it into a motherboard and feed the RPM and PWM signal to your bios if you wanted. I have not seen one of those made, but if you know how to solder it would be quite simply to make one!
so you have a 3 pin header on your board and your fan is a 4 pin? Yes absolutely, you just will not be able to make use of the PWM function on the fan however you will be able to adjust the speed via the voltage on your mobo if it allows you to.
I loved your explanation, but I found your video because I'm looking for the way to power that noctua PWM controller. I'm doing a diy cooling pad for a laptop and I want to run a 12V 4pin fan, the only problem is I didn't find any pwm controller, except for this noctua, but I can't connect this noctua controller to a DC 12V charger... Or can I? If so, may you explain me how, I really appreciate it.
The power for the controller is via sata, which is only using the 12v and ground on the sata. Depending on the power supply you have, you could use an adapter or solder the leads directly to it?
@@lobsangwhite I do not know if a 2.5mm barrel adapter to sata or a computer connection. You could purchase a female 2.5mm barrel (or whichever size you have) and solder the 12v and ground from the Noctua controller into it. Then you could plug in directly! It is going to be a DIY solution it sounds like.
Basically the 3 pin fan just won't respond to the dial, no speed control since its all being done via PWM circuitry! It will run full blast while the PWM fan will change speed. Thank you!
No it should not be fine. Fans should have no real issue spinning at full speed. the only way you will be able to reduce the speed on a 3 pin fan is by reducing the current or voltage to it... unlike the PWM. Fans should be perfectly fine running at full speed. The main reason people turn them down is noise.
@@thefrozencpu Thanks for that. I'm confused by the fourth word "not". I presume , having regard to the rest of your thoughtful reply, that this was a typo !!
Random question, not sure if you would know but you seem very knowledgeable. I am making a 3D printed desk fan and am using a Noctua pmw 200mm . Do I have to have the Noctua pmw controller to control the rpm? I haven’t been able to find one I stock so was looking for an alternative.
No you do not. The Noctua controller just controls RPM via the PWM signal. You can use a regular voltage controller as well. They do make small speed dial versions, but you have to make sure your fan does not pull too much current for them. Here is an example on our site: www.frozencpu.com/products/10585/cpa-323/Lian_Li_PT-FN03_PCI_3_Fan_Rheobus_Speed_Controller_PT-FN03.html?id=Eg3S5XIP&mv_pc=57651#blank
@@thefrozencpu thank you very much Sir for the help..I found a small 12 volt 3 pin power supply, then found a fan speed controller that was 3pin . I had to alter the shroud around the 3 pin from the controller to fit the 4 pin into it. It works! But isn’t very powerful..
One question I can't seem to find an answer to is can the Noctua NA-FC1 be powered just from the SATA power connector as my motherboard does not have a PWM fan header connection.
yes... that is how I do it. The only reason you would want to connect that one cable to the motherboard would be to report RPM. This unit will control PWM all on its own!
I have a 4fans that have 3 pin connectors and i want to control or increase the speeds of it does buying a 4pin to 3 3pin Extension will give me the Chance to Adjust its fan speed in the bios?
the fan controller is powered by a sata connector, and can run multiple fans through the controller via a splitter. Noctua says at least 5 if not more standard fans.
Hi Please can you give some answers about my question, I have 6 Argb id cooling fan and its 3 pin but im using a splitter pwm and if i plug that in to my 2 12v rgb header will it possibly work or burn my motherboard?
So I have a pwm fan splitter (1 to 3). Connector for mob has 4 pins, but only 1 of the 3 splitters has 4 pins. The other 2 splitters have 3 pins. All three fans are pwm. Will all three still be pwm, even the 3 pin splitters?
This is very common. What happens here is the PWM signal is going out to all the fans, the problem is you can only read the RPM of ONE of the three fans. Thats why the other 2 only have 3 wires. Your header would go nuts trying to get the reading from all the different fans, so you will only see RPM from the "master" fan on the connector that has all four pins!
I just had my mobo manufacturer, and my fan manufacturer tell me that if I connect 2 fans to a splitter then the tach won't show anything accurate but WILL still allow me to control how many volts is sent to the header, which goes to the cable, basically leaving me with no readable RPM rather sound to use as my gauge for rpm-NOT full power. I intend to connect 3 fans to 1, 12 volt header, and control fan speed either by blow feel or sound. This should be possible, correct? Thanks so much for this video!!!
If you split multiple fans off one tach signal... you will only get a reading from one fan... or the reading will constantly change and will be useless. If you are using all the same fan and splitting them from one header, you could just only use the tach wire from a single fan, that it will rea pretty close to the rest. The only problem with splitting fans on mobo headers is the traces on the boards are very thin... when you first start up your computer, fans hit a much higher current than they are rated at. It takes extra power to start the fans, this COULD potentially burn/melt the trace on the board. So long as the fans you are using are well below 1amp you should be fine though.
You can use molex to fan adapters or sata to fan adapters. You could potentially split that header into one or two different fans as well as long as they do not draw more than an amp of current!
I am not familiar with that controller, however it would depends where the PWM control comes from. Does the controller have a PWM wire that hooks up to your motherboard to control the speed with your bios? Or does it have its own remote?
What if you connect a regular 3 pin fan to the Noctua? Will it be able to regulate the speed? Or is it only for PWM fans and regular 12V fans will blast full speed without a possibility to change it?
Hi. No it cannot. The speed controller is only used for controlling the PWM function. To control a 2 or 3 pin fan you would need something to adjust the voltage as seen in the video. PWM does not do that.
i bought it my issue that when i turn on my pc goes loud after 3 second quiet cause i change fan speed rpm in bios i dont know how to make it quiet from the first time when i put dc nothing change also i can conttrol them but can't trun of of all of them
So when you turn on your PC, you are always going to hear them speed up to full then slow down with PWM. Fans have what is called a start up current, and some can pull more than DOUBLE the current at start up before the pwm cycle kicks in. The reason this doesn't happen as much with DC is because if they are not turned up to full blast, they are not getting all 12v. The startup current is why it can be bad to split fan headers, because for a half a second you are pulling WAY more current and can burn a trace. In terms of the start up being loud at first, I don't think there is much you can do about that!
@@thefrozencpu i end up buy removing this header and plug all my 3 fans in motherboard except rear fans that work att full speed cause plug it directtly with psu
The PWM wire does not carry much voltage, it is a signal wire for the PWM circuitry the controller or motherboard uses. PWM fans have a constant 12vs on them regardless of the PWM percentage set.
Hi, someone can tell me in case I use the Noctua NA-FC1 without pluging into to a motherboard, using it just conecting into to a power supply and into my fans, the NA-FC1 will still controlling it by PWM? Or on this case, because is not conected into motherboard (using motherboard PWM as source) will control the fans just by voltage difference? I mean, this Noctua NA-FC1 has a PWM internal system or it takes the PWM signal from motherboard? I am asking that because I pretending to use this out of PC, just with the fans, power supply and the Noctua NA-FC1 to control it. Thanks for the information!
Its a PWM circuit, it only controls PWM. No voltage control at all. The motherboard thing is more so to read RPM. It will control PWM off just the power supply.
e@@thefrozencpu Thanks so much for the information, this kind of tips is very hard to find. Even the bigger controllers used to control by voltagem change, and the manufacture hardly give this info. So this NA-FC1 will be perfect on my project to control my Noctoa PWM fans without using a PC (mother board) to control it. I tried severals controllers but all works by different of voltage to control RPM, that works but not so nicelly, this one will solve this issue. Thanks again for the help.
@@Varellax You are very welcome. What I find funny is I brought this controller from home to test fans and pumps. I used it as an example for the video but it is starting to become a NA-FC1 review!
I have a 3 pin fan conected in a 4 pin conector on my motherboard, apparently this motherboard can't control via voltage, only pwm so what should i do in order to control the fan speed? I found this this thing called a Low-Noise Adaptor, if i use one those would it be possible to control the fan through pwm? Or should i just buy a fan hub?
The low noise adapter is just a wire with a resistor in it to limit the power going to the fan, which will not allow it to run at full speed. If your motherboard cannot be switched to voltage control, then you will need some sort of device that can step that power up and down. Is this an older board? most modern boards have the option to switch between V or PWM
@@thefrozencpu it's a 2012 gigabyte h61m s1 board, haven't found anything on the bios, so a fan hub should get the job done? What other devices can I use to step down the voltage?
@@gabrielh618 well.... most fan hubs just distribute power from your PSU so you don't have to use a single header, so unless you buy a very special one, you still won't be able to control the speed. Can you fit 5.25 bays in your case? that is going to be your best bet. Using something like I used in the video
