3 pin on a 4 pin connector

josey99 · 18 Dec 2019 at 11:17

I think I already know the answer to this one but I'm going to ask anyway because I'm not sure and I've read conflicting information online.

I have ordered a corsair hydro cpu cooler and an asus motherboard amongst other things. The cooler has a 4 pin plug for the fan and a 3 pin plug for the pump. However the board has only 4 pin connectors. It has 2 for cpu. 1 of them is supposed to be for the pump, the other for the fan.

Is it true that I can connect the 3 pin plug to the 4 pin cpu pump connector on the board? That it's keyed in such a way that you can do that?

I dont want to buy a converter cable if I dont need it.

ANDARIAL · 18 Dec 2019 at 12:42

josey99 said:
Is it true that I can connect the 3 pin plug to the 4 pin cpu pump connector on the board? That it's keyed in such a way that you can do that?

yup
have connected fans like this on quite a few mobos

josey99 · 18 Dec 2019 at 14:26

ANDARIAL said:
yup
have connected fans like this on quite a few mobos

Thanks for that. I figured as much.

doyll · 18 Dec 2019 at 17:26

Often 4-pin motherboard fan headers can be set to variable voltage or PWM control. If they are only PWM than a 3-pin fan/pump will always be running at full speed.