hoofhearted4 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 ok im confused to all hell about all this stuff. where do i start. ugh. whats the difference between a fan with 4 pins and a fan with 3 pins?.....PWM fans have 4 pins right? and a PWM fan can have its speed controlled by the motherboard? if my motherboard only has one 4 pin, it can only have one PWM fan right? but wouldnt it be best ideally to have your heat sink in a push pull with PWM fans? if i wanted push/pull, then i would have one PWM fan and one non PWM fan.... but wait. i was looking at fan controllers (the 5.25" bay ones) and they have 3 pin connectors. so does that mean that fans can be controlled even with 3 pins? if so then whats the point/difference from PWM/4 pins? ugh im soo confused. someone clear all this 3/4 pin, PWM, fan controller stuff up for me! please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blove Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Fan control The information is rather basic but describes the difference well I think. 3pin will have power, ground, and tach. Fan speed can be varied by altering the power. 4pin will have power, ground, tach, and control. Power is constant but fan speed can be varied by altering the control. For most mainboard headers you can plug a 3pin into a 4pin and a 4pin into a 3pin if needed but would not have PWM control with either. PWM v. non-PWM for push-pull, I dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoofhearted4 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 ok so a 3 pin fan connected to the motherboard/psu/fan controller can have its speed adjusted, but only manually? as in it wont happen automatically? (which is why a fan controller would be appropriate right?) whereas a 4pin PWM fan will do it automatically based upon heat or rotation (not sure?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blove Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 There are probably some mainboards that can adjust voltage to a 3pin fan header. It would have to be the right board and the right software though. I have not built anything with PWM fans. Any fan that is too loud, and that did not come with a knob or selector switch to adjust it, I throw a 7v mod on it and that usually knocks the noise down enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoofhearted4 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 hmm. well fan controllers can control fans with 3 pins...even automatically. lol i think im making it more confusing then it needs to be :P i appreciate your help :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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