Increase Your Engagement Beyond MOBO Fan Pin Limits
Increase Your Engagement Beyond MOBO Fan Pin Limits
hello everyone, i have a simple question i’m trying to figure out. can i connect more fans than there are fan pins on my motherboard? my asus tuf gaming plus x570 has one cpu fan connector and three case fan connectors. right now i’m using two front fans and one rear fan for the exhaust. all my fan headers are already filled on the mobo. i’m thinking about adding another fan on top of the gpu to help with cooling, especially if i’m mining. i’m curious if it’s possible to link two fans together and connect them to the same pin. thanks!
Yes, it's feasible. Some enthusiasts use daisy chain connectors on Arctic 120s, letting you link multiple fans from the intake into one header for unified control. You can also purchase fan splitter cables that enable connecting several fans to a single cable, which then links to the MoBo. I'm not sure if this is standard, but grouping fans this way helps maintain consistent speeds. By clustering all top fans together, they tend to synchronize with the CPU temperature, adjusting as needed. Front fans operate similarly. Currently, I'm using three headers for six fans (four including my CPU cooler). This setup seems logical? You'll need either a splitter cable or a fan hub that connects to internal USB headers.
You need a fan splitter compatible with your fan's pin count. It links to the motherboard, after which the fans attach to the two ends.
My two fans use the daisy chain connector. I simply link the two fans together using that connector, attach one of the connectors to the motherboard slot, and then connect the other fan to it as well to save a connector.
This approach isn't advisable as it can overload a single motherboard connector. Such connectors have a limited current capacity, and adding more fans increases the load. The current also changes with fan speed adjustments. Running three high-speed fans might exceed the connector's limits, leading to fan failure and potentially damaging SMD components. This often results in a dead fan header, requiring a switch to an internal hub. Server or Noctua Industrial fans differ—designed for much higher power handling. Edited October 13, 2021 by Nathanpete Added the last paragraph
It’s clear you’re asking about connector limits. You mentioned a top configuration with two fans, front on one header and rear on another, with three fans on the front header. That setup should work as long as each connector holds its specified number of devices.
Consider the layout of your motherboard's fan circuits. To ensure optimal performance, open your BIOS settings and modify the fan curve for the header managing the front three fans. Set the curve to stabilize around 80-85% capacity.