Case Fans and Motherboard

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Howard

I have a Gigabyte 8KNXP motherboard. My case is a Lian Li that has 5
case fans. I am using an Antec power supply. I believe that there
are one or two 'Fan Only' connectors on the power supply that you can
connect fans to, and that the power supply will automatically adjust
the fan speed on these based on the case temperature. That leaves 3
or 4 fans left. I am reading the manual that comes with the
motherboard very carefully, but ,in many instances, I think the
clarity leaves a little to be desired, especially to a novice.
Anyway, the manual shows several fan connectors. One is called
SYS_FAN (system Fan Connector), and is described as 'This connector
allows you to link with the cooling fan on the system case to lower
the system temperature.' Then there is a PWR_FAN (Power Fan
Connector) and the manual desciption is exactly the same as for the
SYS_FAN (this connector allows you to link.....).

So, a few questions I hope I can get some help with:

1) What, if anything, is the difference in purpose between these two
connectors...they give them each a different name, so I presume they
are not totally interchangable?

2) Of the remaining fans not attached to the "Fan Only" connector on
the power supply should they be connected to one or both of the
SYS_FAN and PWR_ Fan connectors on the motherboard (ie..do you connect
one fan to SYS_PWR and one to PWR_FAN or just use a particular one and
connect just one fan to the motherboard?)

3) If there is only one "Fan Only" connector on the power supply..I am
not home and can't remember right now if there are one or two...then
should any fans not connected via your recommendations to question 2
just be connected to a connector right from the power supply like any
other peripheral?

4) Also, I assume the fan connector NB_FAN is for the northbridge
fan..the manual is not explicit here (but I assume this is because I
am a novice). I have not yet opened the motherboard but assume the
northbridge chip has a 'built in' fan with a connector that gets
plugged into the NB_FAN much as the CPU has its own CPU fan connector.
Is this correct?

Thanks.

Howard
 
Howard said:
I have a Gigabyte 8KNXP motherboard. My case is a Lian Li that has 5
case fans. I am using an Antec power supply. I believe that there
are one or two 'Fan Only' connectors on the power supply that you can
connect fans to, and that the power supply will automatically adjust
the fan speed on these based on the case temperature. That leaves 3
or 4 fans left. I am reading the manual that comes with the
motherboard very carefully, but ,in many instances, I think the
clarity leaves a little to be desired, especially to a novice.
Anyway, the manual shows several fan connectors. One is called
SYS_FAN (system Fan Connector), and is described as 'This connector
allows you to link with the cooling fan on the system case to lower
the system temperature.' Then there is a PWR_FAN (Power Fan
Connector) and the manual desciption is exactly the same as for the
SYS_FAN (this connector allows you to link.....).

So, a few questions I hope I can get some help with:

1) What, if anything, is the difference in purpose between these two
connectors...they give them each a different name, so I presume they
are not totally interchangable?
Click to expand...

nothing. except for RPM sensor. of you use motherboard monitor etc then
you`ll get shown 'cpu fan rpm' and 'chassis/system fan rpm' etc
2) Of the remaining fans not attached to the "Fan Only" connector on
the power supply should they be connected to one or both of the
SYS_FAN and PWR_ Fan connectors on the motherboard (ie..do you connect
one fan to SYS_PWR and one to PWR_FAN or just use a particular one and
connect just one fan to the motherboard?)
Click to expand...

as above, theres nothing special about connector's - just how the
motherboard reports them in heat management software
3) If there is only one "Fan Only" connector on the power supply..I am
not home and can't remember right now if there are one or two...then
should any fans not connected via your recommendations to question 2
just be connected to a connector right from the power supply like any
other peripheral?
Click to expand...

connect them up as you wish. i`d try to group fans together to 1 point. eg
have 2 fans connected to 2 near-by motherbaord fan headers. then if you have
2 fans on the front, connect the PSU fan headers to them. maybe cable
tie/cable wrap the wires together for a neat apperence.
4) Also, I assume the fan connector NB_FAN is for the northbridge
fan..the manual is not explicit here (but I assume this is because I
am a novice). I have not yet opened the motherboard but assume the
northbridge chip has a 'built in' fan with a connector that gets
plugged into the NB_FAN much as the CPU has its own CPU fan connector.
Is this correct?
Click to expand...

i have not seen this, or heard of an NB_FAN header - but my guess is the
same as yours - notherbridge fan. it is identical to the CPU setup. fan -
heatsink - processor chip.
Thanks.

Howard
Click to expand...

there is 1 more thing i should point out. depending if your motherboard
supports it, it may vary the fan voltages (on asus motherboards they call it
'Q-fan' feature). what this does is it has a thermal sensor on a chip (eg
cpu, northbridge, and an internal case sensor built onto the motherboard)
and depending on the temp the sensor gives, it will increase/decrease the
fan voltage, thus giving higher or slower fan RPM. if you have such a
feature, there should be an option in the BIOS to enable/disable it.

hth
tim draper
 
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