Fan speed control, question.

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Hopefully this is the correct section, it does relate to cooling afterall :eek:

Right this might sound completely daft, but i was wondering.

For a fan to have its speed controlled via PWM or at all, does it require to have 4 pins? (4th pin being the speed control?) and the 3 pin versions just run at full speed?

Also how would you generally tell how many pins a fan has on its connector, is it usually stated?

Thanks, these are just questions as i plan on having a fan controller or so, to control the speed. And so i'll either want to replace some fans or make sure i have the correct ones.

Also the fans in the haf-x case, any ideas if they're 3 or 4 pinned?

Thanks, i know there's a lot bundled into a post there.
 
Most fans are 3 pin standard fan header and are voltage controlled but some also come with a 4way Molex connection for direct hookup to PSU for full speed running.

If a fan is PWM it'll say something like 'Connector PWM-4pin' and the description will say PWM. PWM fans will not likely come with a molex connector. You can either control using your motherboard, a discrete fan controller that supports PWM or by voltage control by installing to a 3 pin standard fan header.

From a picture of the Haf-x it looks like rear, top and front fans have 3 pin fan connectors coupled with a pass through 4 way molex connector.
 
To add to above, you are talking about getting a fan controller but you don't need a 4 pin fan to use a fan controller. Also, I queried similar few days ago, some fan controllers you can only use 3 pin fans on.
 
Ahh alright, so really all that is really needed is a 3 pin connection. Thanks for solving my confusion, that helps me out a load ;)
 
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