Hook up fan to mobo or PSU

[mikepro]

I've got an AMD64 3200 on an Asus A8n-SLI deluxe in a Super Lanboy case, using the Antec Neopower 480 PSU. (Also running dual MSI 6600GT's in SLI mode). The case has a 120mm front and rear Antec case fans.

Looking for the best way to hook up some new fans I bought:
http://www.isellsurplus.com/product.asp?id=8656&C=6

Those are supposed to be pretty quiet, having a sleeve bearing and all. These fans have the 3 pin motherboard connector, as well as the 4 pin molex connector. My PSU has dedicated fan power lines, (which is how I currently have the existing fans plugged in).


So, I'm looking for some advice on how best to hook up the case fans. The PSU fan speed controller keeps the fans quiet, but my CPU temps are in the mid 40's to low 50's after playing Doom3 for a while. I'd rather have cooler temperatures, and could stand a bit more noise to get that (it is pretty darn quiet now even with the stock fans). But, it seems like with the PSU in control there is now way to really adjust that. Is this true?


If I power the fans off of the motherboard using the 3 pin connector, will I get more control over fan speed? The motherboard has some sort of Asus Cool and Quiet software, which might let me adjust some stuff. Are there other software options for controlling fan speed if connected to mobo?

Or, do I really need to just get a fan speed controller?

Any thoughts, recommendations appreciated.

 

[akira34]

Try connecting the fans to a standard molex feed (not the dedicated fan ones) and see what happens. You can also try connecting to the mobo fan headers, if the lines will reach. If the headers are too far away, you can always get an extension line to feed the fans off the mobo. I'm probably going to do that with at least one of the fans I'll be installing into my rig over the weekend...