Am I overloading the mobo header?

craga2012

craga2012

craga2012

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17 Apr 2012
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I have just hooked up two corsair 120mm case fans which are rated at 0.09a, 23dbA and 37.85 cfm
They are hooked up to 'sysfan 1' using a TX3 splitter

Just asking if this is safe? I think i've worked out correctly that both fans at 12v=2.26w? Though i'm not sure how much the header can handle.

One last question, for some reason the splitter has two yellow (tache?) cables on it. Is it safe to cut one of them so i don't get erratic readings on the mb etc?

Thank you :)
 
Normally fan headers are good for 1 Amp of current at 12v.
Fans typically do have a start up current surge which you have to be aware of so it's best to be well under the full 1 Amp.

I'm not aware of the splitter you are using but having both tach wires from the fans feeding into one header will likely double the speed of the fan speed or just make a total mess. You can easily snip one but make sure you isolate the lead.
 
Thanks for the response!

I'm quite good with computers but useless when it comes to amps/volts etc. Am I under the 1 Amp if both fans are equaling 2.26w?

I would post a link but im not sure if im allowed to? Its has two 3 pin connectors and one end that goes into the header. Both connectors have the black, yellow and red wires. So I should snip the yellow wire of one of the connectors right? Sorry for the dumb questions xD

Thanks again.
 
Ah great stuff! All this Amp, mA, W, stuff is boggling lol I thought that with each fan being at 0.09=2.26w it would be over! cheers for that :)

So my only other problem is what do about the splitter. Should I go ahead and cut the yellow wire of one of the splitter connectors? Or will it not really cause a problem?
 
craga2012 said:
Thanks for the response!

I'm quite good with computers but useless when it comes to amps/volts etc. Am I under the 1 Amp if both fans are equaling 2.26w?

I would post a link but im not sure if im allowed to? Its has two 3 pin connectors and one end that goes into the header. Both connectors have the black, yellow and red wires. So I should snip the yellow wire of one of the connectors right? Sorry for the dumb questions xD

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Amps/volts is super easy.

amps X volts = watts
 
Cheers for clearing it up!

So my last question is just should I go ahead and cut the yellow wire of one of the splitter connectors? Or will it not really cause a problem?
 
I would remove on of the yellow wires. Mobo socket can only monitor one rpm lead.

You can try it and see. It will not damage anything, but your rpm reading might be wrong with both hooked up.
 
Thanks Ill cut one of the wires :)

But wont one of the fans then run at top speed all the time since its not being monitored by anything? or will it still run by the speed I set on the mb?
 
I would avoid connecting more than 1 fan to a motherboard header - in theory they are specced high enough to handle a few fans but in practise I've reproducibly killed motherboards (DFI and Asus in these cases) doing it. (This was back in the LGA775 days tho so it might not even be an issue at all any more).
 
craga2012 said:
Thanks Ill cut one of the wires :)

But wont one of the fans then run at top speed all the time since its not being monitored by anything? or will it still run by the speed I set on the mb?
Click to expand...

*In the following "a" is operative word.. and "a" = "single" / "one" / "uno". :D
*A yellow lead is a rpm signal wire from a fan.
*Mobo reads a signal for a fan and sends out a regulated voltage to a fan.
*Mobo cannot read 2 rpm signals on a fan socket... only one... so
*Using a splitter the regulated voltage from mobo is sent to 2 fans from a socket but a socket can only read rpm signal from a fan.

*But for some unknown reason some idiot decided that if voltage lead and earth leads were split he (or she) would also split the rpm lead. :confused: :rolleyes:
 
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