Which type of CPU fan socket can be used with GPA890 motherboard?

[Traveller]

Hi all.

I notice from the manual that the 890GPA motherboard has a CPU fan header for four pins. Does this mean that I can only attach a CPU fan that uses all four or has a 3 to 4 adapter, or is it possible to just attach a fan that uses 3 pins and just leave one pin out on the header?

I am totally new to controlling a CPU fan, voltage or any of that PWM stuff!

Thanks.

[absic]

Hi there,

you can use a 3 Pin Fan on a 4 Pin header without the need for an adaptor. You should only be able to place it on the header in one position because of the design of the plug and socket.

[Traveller]

Thanks for the reply absic. Is any kind of functionality reduced by using three pins only? What is the fourth pin for? Also, does the Cool 'n Quiet function of AMD work with this motherboard (rev. 2.1, original BIOS)? Thanks.

[TheFiend]

On Gigabyte mobo's 4-pin headers are for use with PWM fans where the speed of the fan can be controlled by the motherboard. It is also quite possible to use a 3-pin fan and control it's speed by setting the "Smart Fan" control option to voltage in BIOS "PC Health Status".

On one of my systems I have replaced the PWM fan on the CPU cooler with a Noctua 3-pin fan and it runs much quieter.  ;Dl

[Grozdan]

To be sure what is what, the black connector wire is a ground wire so you should start from that. That's the first pin, second is +12V/Speed control, third is sense and fourth is speed control...

[Traveller]

Thank you TheFiend/Grozdan for that very helpful information. I now understand it A LOT better! Since I do not have a clue about what kind of voltages or speeds are appropriate for which temperatures. I think it would be safer if I let the motherboard automatically control the fan. I have never altered any settings in BIOS before, except turning on/off onboard graphics, setting order of boot devices and maybe some other very simple, obvious settings. I do not do any overclocking or play games but the room temperature, along with the heat produced by the monitor is quite warm. Thanks.

[Dark Mantis]

Just make sure that you have enough fans in a intake and exhaust configuration in the case along with the ones you are discussing attached to the motherboard. If in doubt try and make sure that the intake and exhaust balance each other out.

[Traveller]

Hi Dark Mantis. The case already has one 120mm fan at the front and one 120mm fan at the back. I have bought another 120mm fan for the front (because that's where space has been provided for an extra fan). Apart from that, there will be a 92mm fan attached to the CPU heatsink, which I think will be facing towards the back of the case. The graphics card (GTX260) will use its own fan. Is that an ok setup? The PSU fits at the bottom of the case, so the heatsink fan should blow more towards the rear case fan and not towards the PSU. Thanks. Oh and the case has foam attached to both side panels to reduce noise, so that probably will increase the heat even further!

[Dark Mantis]

Two 120mm fans are not really enough and it will certainly benefit from the inclusion of the extra 120mm fan at the front. The rest of myour system soiunds like it is set up as best as possible and yes the noise blocker insulation won't help with heat dissipation.

[Traveller]

Hi Dark Mantis. Sorry I'm a little unclear about your advice, do you mean I should include an extra 120mm fan APART from the second 120mm fan I've bought for the font or are you referring to the one I bought?

[Dark Mantis]

Sorry if I was unclear there. I just meant that two fans in total were not enough for your case. Adding the third will obviously help but even then it is not exactly overkill is it? A lot depends on the volume of air that the fans can shift but most fans have a maximum of around 45cfm and often are turned down from that maximum setting to keep the noise down. More fans would be better but it can be difficult to find somewhere to install them.

[Traveller]

Ok, thanks Dark Mantis.

[Traveller]

Hi. The motherboard only has the following fan sockets - sys fan1, says fan2, cpu fan and pwr fan. If I have three case fans, one of them will have to be powered via the big molex connector. Is there a preference over which fan (rear fan or one of the front two fans) should be connected via the big molex connector? On the subject of fans, I have just realised that my heatsink (Hyper TX3) can only be mounted so that the fan blows towards the top or bottom of the case on my 890GPA motherboard. Isn't it possible to mount it so it blows front to back? If not, which is preferable, toward the top or bottom? My PSU is at the bottom of the case with the rear fan near the top and the two front fans are near the bottom. Thanks.

[Dark Mantis]

In that case I wouldn't use the SYSFAN_2 as it only runs at half speed. SYSFAN_1 is ok. The large molex connectors are a better idea straight off the PSU I would say to point your CPU fanupwards as hot air tends to follow that path anyway and just try to get thewm al;l to flow from the front in and out of the back as best as possible.

[Traveller]

Thanks for the quick reply Dark Mantis! Forgot to ask, should the heatsink fan blow air through the heatsink or pull air from it in a one fan setup (not push/pull)? Thanks.