ABIT IT7 CPU Fan

[orcorcorc5]

My IT7 comes Monday and I'm reading the manual over before it's here... I ordered a Swiftech MCX 478 w/ Delta 80mm and a Thermaltake 80mm Smart Fan (in case the Delta was too loud). Which fan header do I plug it into? in the manual it says

FAN1: Power Fan
FAN2: CPU Fan
FAN3: Spare
FAN4: Spare
FAn5: Chassis Fan

What's the Power Fan? Someone told me if I put the Delta in the CPU Fan it will draw too much power, kill the header, and then stop working resulting in a melted processor. So where do I connect the Delta/Smart Fan?

 

[bwass24]

"power fan" is for the fan in your power supply. There's a 3 pin connector hanging out of the PSU designed to be connected here.

Typically, the CPU fan on top of the heat sink is plugged into the one labeled "CPU fan". You need to make absolutely sure that the fan header will supply enough current for the Delta fan. Look in the mobo manual and compare the current rating of the hearers to the current draw of the Delta fan. If the fan draws more current than the header can supply, connect the fan directly to the power supply and, using a special 3-4 pin adapter that has a fan speed signal wire, connect the single wire to the mobo CPU fan connector so that the system can see that the fan is spinning.

Unfortunately, the Thermaltake smart fan is quite loud. I thought that it would be a good case exhaust fan, but it sounds like a hair dryer, even at moderate speed. If you really want to see how loud it can get hold the thermal sensor tight between your fingers and listen to the fan spin up to 5000 RPM's and scream.

 

[orcorcorc5]

I thought that the fan for the power source was connected inside the power source box, and didn't need to be connected to any header on the motherboard.

Which is the most dangerous header to plug my fan into? I know some people have ruined their entire systems by plugging the CPU Heatsink Fan into the wrong header.

 

[bwass24]

It's not generally a question of the right vs. the wrong header. The problem is that if you use a fan that draws more current than the fan header (any fan header) can supply, you'll blow some circuitry on the motherboard.

If in doubt, don't plug the fan into any of the motherboard headers. Use a 3 to 4 pin adapter and plug the fan directly into a spare disk power connector.

 

[CoDerEd]

Originally posted by: orcorcorc5
I thought that the fan for the power source was connected inside the power source box, and didn't need to be connected to any header on the motherboard.

Some newer PSU [e.g. Antec] has an external connector for the PSU fan so you can see the rpm.