What is a fan header?

kathsantiago · 12 Apr 2021 at 15:02

I was looking at buying a new motherboard and my friend asked me if it had 3 or pin headers? I didn't want to sound stupid in front of him but I can't find out where I would find this information or what it is. Could anyone help?

JRS · 12 Apr 2021 at 15:07

Fan headers are the three or four pin plugs on the motherboard where case fans, processor cooling fans or a watercooling pump would connect to. Pretty much all motherboards now have 4 pin headers, but you can plug three pin fans onto a four pin header.

kathsantiago · 12 Apr 2021 at 15:22

Ahhh i see, thank you for clearing this up. If I was looking at the product page of the motherboard do you know where I would be looking to see this?

Fluffybob · 12 Apr 2021 at 15:24

you would be better off looking at the user manual for that information.

JRS · 12 Apr 2021 at 15:28

kathsantiago said:
Ahhh i see, thank you for clearing this up. If I was looking at the product page of the motherboard do you know where I would be looking to see this?

If you take the motherboard I'm using as an example, here's the OcUK product page for it - link. Scroll down to the section that says "Internal Ports", you'll see that it has the following listed:

1x 4-pin CPU fan connector
1x 4-pin water-pump connector
4x 4-pin system fan connectors

DoneADougalOnSofa · 12 Apr 2021 at 15:44

Nearly all mobos have 4 or more 4-pin fan headers. These can also take 3-pin fans.

If you need more, there are splitter units or cables available.

Danny75 · 12 Apr 2021 at 17:05

JRS said:
If you take the motherboard I'm using as an example, here's the OcUK product page for it - link. Scroll down to the section that says "Internal Ports", you'll see that it has the following listed:

1x 4-pin CPU fan connector

1x 4-pin water-pump connector

4x 4-pin system fan connectors

Yes just before actually pulling trigger and purchasing, double-check on the manufacturer website because the OcUK description is sometimes wrong. You find the correct info by going to (example):

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-Z590-ACE

Click Specifications tab https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-Z590-ACE/Specification

Click Detail tab

Look at Internal Connectors section

[*]1x 24-pin ATX main power connector
[*]2x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
[*]1x 6-pin PCIE power connector
[*]6x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
[*]4x M.2 slots (M-Key)
[*]1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C connector
[*]1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps connector (supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps ports)
[*]2x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)
[*]1x 4-pin CPU fan connector
[*]1x 4-pin water-pump fan connector
[*]6x 4-pin system fan connectors
[*]1x Front panel audio connector
[*]2x System panel connectors
[*]1x Chassis Intrusion connector
[*]1x TPM module connector
[*]1x Tuning Controller connector

Click to expand...