230mm side fan with motherboard fan header?

[boldenc]

it is safe to connect the HAF932 side fan 230mm directly to the motherboard fan header?
currently I have 2x R4 120mm 2000rpms fans connected to motherboard's fan header, so it will be total 2x R4 fans and the 230mm fan.
it will be safe to use this configuration?

[NFC]

It is safe--by itself it won't harm your motherboard. Whether your motherboard will power it or not obviously depends on the output from your 3 pin.


As for chaining three from one header, I have done far worse but the worst that can happen is you burn your fans out or melt the wires/tracers. =)

Many newer ASUS board provide PLENTY of power from their fan headers, so if that is your brand you might be in luck.

[Church]

Hmm, realy? IIRC motherboard fan headers usually are rather limited in max power output. Without checking maximum wattage of fan (and startup current usually is even more), i wouldn't hurry to connect it there. Ok, maybe these slow fans even though being big doesn't eat as much electricity as some ultrafast san-aces, but nevertheless i'd check first specs/manual of motherboard and specs of fan for less chance to burn something on motherboard.

[NFC]

If the fan is 12v the board will put out 12v and the fan will run full speed--so it will draw its max power if its max voltage is 12v. It *could* melt something if its above spec but modern fans don't use the same kinda power as the oldschool ones or deltas--I doubt that they would draw more than .5-1 amps, especially the oversized fans from thermaltake and coolermaster which are essentially 120mm fans with 230mm fan blades stuck to them. Remember that that the voltage is constant (12.xx) so the wattage is only a function of the amperage. It would be simple enough to measure it with a 5 dollar multimeter from harbor freight.

If you have a low end motherboard you can just play it safe and connect it to the PSU. If you have a top end MSI board (or if your board is the UD7 in your sig) I wouldn't worry about connecting one or two normal fans to your header. On my UD5 I use the headers for my three DDC pumps (one to each) with no worries. I also have connected two 80mm deltas to a DFI Lanparty header in the past and they basically just run at a slower RPM.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that an overbearing current is nothing to worry about, I am just saying that higher end motherboards can deal with the power running through them. If you end up burning out your tracers then so what--if you have to use the PSU anyways what good were they for? =P

[NFC]

FYI I talked to my contact at Gigabyte who let me know the headers on the UD5-9 support 3 amps each. Should be plenty for your setup.

He could be wrong but I would trust him

[Church]

NFC: OK, wiring for sufficient power aside (which is probably more then upto job), there is another issue - once you start regulating rpms, then except cases when it's via PWM, in analog voltage/rpm regulation all 'unused' power from those full 3amps at 12V goes to heat with powerful enough fan connected to. And one thing is specially designed rheostats with heatsinks .. and different with fan header(-s) on motherboard. You have to take also into account that one thing is some specific vendor for some specific line of motherboards designing/implementing higher power output of some fan headers .. but totally different thing is to count on such thing in each and every other motherboard that exist there in market.
Summing/wrapping up - one should check fan / motherboard specs first.

[NKrader]

Many newer ASUS board provide PLENTY of power from their fan headers, so if that is your brand you might be in luck.

plugged 4 triebwerks into my striker extreme CPU Header

[NFC]

Summing/wrapping up - one should check fan / motherboard specs first.

Fair enough


Coolermaster R4 Fans (120mm LED): 0.35A

Coolermaster MegaFlow 230mm: 0.16A (max .28A)

Total draw = 0.86A



I think you should be more than fine

[Church]

NFC: as from "other side" comparison there are some megafast san-aces where you need rheostat capable of 50W output for _single_ fan

[boldenc]

Thanks guys, I also contacted gigabyte support to know the max amp per header for more info.
I already connected these fans to motherboard headers and they are working fine @ full speed.
In fact I knew that the 230mm fan use less ampere than the 120mm R4 fan and have been confirmed with coolermaster tech support but I don't know how this big fan would draw less ampere than the 120mm?

[NFC]

NFC: as from "other side" comparison there are some megafast san-aces where you need rheostat capable of 50W output for _single_ fan

I never was arguing with you--I hope you realize that. I was only giving him information for his system, which was in his post and his signature.

Neither was I correcting you.

but I don't know how this big fan would draw less ampere than the 120mm?

Like I said before--its a crappy small motor that spins the giant blades at a low RPM. Because the blades are bigger, they do not need to spin as fast to push as much air as a smaller fan--in theory. In actuality that fan and the thermaltake one aren't very good and have extremely low pressure. 116CFM looks good on paper but you have to remember the size. Personally I wouldn't use them in my case but its up to you. =)

[Church]

boldenc: probably some combination of specific lesser power draw by more economical motor, +slower rpms, +blade shape pushing less air (and thus requiring less power).