Need help finding power supply fan connector.

[Fallen_Hero]

Hey all.

I finally began building my pc and got hung up when the directions on the site (referring to the m2n32 motherboard and the antec 3 sonata 500 w/ 500w psu) when it talks about finding the three pin psu fan connector. I seem to be missing it somehow.

The directions mention that the cord of the connector coming from the psu may be blue in color but mine is not, they are all pretty much black and red. Was this already taken care of with the 24 pin connector?

Help asap would be appreciated (especially since my computer and parts are laying all over my kitchen table :o)

[Fallen_Hero]

After doing some research I came across this:

http://www.antec.com/connectors.php?ProdID=27500&SetZone=en

It shows the connectors coming off the psu but doesnt mention anything about a fan connector.

Does this mean it doesn't have one or another connector already takes care of it?

[zburns]

I have the Antec Sonata III case with EA 500 Power supply, Asus M2N32 mobo, Zalman fan recommended by Rob.

You have a mobo Asus, book; my book has E2697 on front cover upper rt corner. Page 2-4 shows internal layout; 3 pin fan connections half way up on left side, close to PCIex16_1 board connector. Page 2-7, item 7 is about fan connectors. This is pretty clear about the fan connections for case fans not the CPU fan.

The CPU fan connector is a male 4 pin connector on the Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe mobo in the upper left corner about five inches above the case fans just mentioned in the previous sentence. Although the mobo CPU fan connector is 4 pins, the Zalman connector is a three pins and should be keyed to only go on one way ( I assume ). On my mobo, the top pin is unused. Robs instructions on the website that shows the Zalman install to the Asus M2N32 mobo refers only to a 3 pin cable and connector from the Zalman configuration to the mobo-- nothing from the psu.

The Zalman fan has a speed control with 6 wire ribbon cable; breaking off this cable is three wires going to a 3 pin white connector that plugs into the mobo where I mention above.

The 120 mm rear fan (came installed in case) is prewired, red and black, to one of the 4 pin power supply connector with associated factory wiring.

Suggestion: Use your Asus book, it crams a lot of data into "not so many pages". If you are using Rob's new build instructions with color pictures on the website, that should be ok; in any event, with regard to mobo, trust the Asus book first. If you have his purchased 300 page plus book, I am not sure it has reference to the M2N32 mobo -- mine does not!

Hope this helps>

[Fallen_Hero]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Unfortunately I have found the place on the motherboard where the psu fan connector is supposed to plug into. I am having trouble actually finding the wired connection that comes out of the psu that plugs into the motherboard. In Rob's directions he mentions it has being a three prong connector with blue and black wires that come from the psu.

After doing some research I found that this connection when made to the motherboard allows the motherboard to readily control the speed of the psu fan according to the temp.

I have found some sites that suggest that some psu have built in controls to operate their fan on their own instead of having the motherboard do it. Perhaps the Earthwatts 500 psu has changed the model to do this?

[zburns]

Sorry to be late picking up on your reply. We are not exactly on the same page so I am going to try to get us there. Your second sentence " having trouble find connection out of psu that plugs into the mobo" does not compute (pardon the pun). My mobo connection is a fan connection for fan cables, not psu cables -- from my Asus book, page 2-27. Also, I am not sure you really want to run psu fan according to temperture; you have the option to run the fan at max speed all the time which is best I think; the noise level is not a problem.

Also, what cpu fan do you have, the Zalman that Rob recommends; if so, my earlier post applies.

What I have not done is look up Robs latest "build" instructions on his web site which I will do an post a comment.

Ok, this is an edit. There was an error in my first reply about the fan connectors. My CPU fan always has been plugged into the top mobo fan connector designated CPU fan. I edited the first reply and it is now correct as to the location of case fan connectors and CPU connectors. Read Robs new instructions on the mobo and the Zalman fan. The four pin male connector on the mobo, upper left corner, is for the CPU fan and from the Zalman speed control in my case, a six wire cable with three wires breaking out to a three pin female connector that plugs into the CPU mobo male connector with the fourth mobo pin (at the top) not used. Hope this does it!!

[Barrister73]

Some cases have fans which do not hook up to the motherboard. If you fan allows you to manually adjust the speed, then that might be it. You just hook the power into the fan. I know my Antec 900 is this way.

MRR

[Fallen_Hero]

Hmm...

I have finally found the link as to where all my questions began:

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build_your_own_computer/pc_connect_power_supply.shtml

The eighth paragraph down it mentions the connector I am talking about. I have the same exact case and psu as being described on the page.

A closeup of the connector in question is here:

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build_your_own_computer/power_supply_fan_header_and_plug.jpg

It has the blue and black wires. For some reason my power supply does not have that wire.

Hope this helps clarify things, sorry I am so bad a describing my problem!:o

[zburns]

Okay, you finally got somewhere with this!! I have two connectors with nothing on them; they are beside the red six sata connectors. My PSU fan is running, always has. It is unlikely I have the 3 pin plug with the (sort of) long cable Rob talks about. But I will look for it in the next several hours, but I don't think it is there.

All the stuff I said earlier about the CPU fan should be correct; you never said if you had the Zalman fan or not!

[Fallen_Hero]

Sorry, yes I do have the Zalman CNPS 9500 AM2 CPU cooler. I also have the four pin adapter plugged onto the motherboard into the cpu fan spot you have mentioned above.

Also, unfortunately I do not have the motherboard manual, only the wifi manual that comes with the motherboard. I got a factory refurbished model that seemed to come with everything except the manual...figures...but it seemed to sell out of everywhere so it seemed like my only choice.

Thanks again for all the help and patience!

[zburns]

I very carefully looked at my Antec 500 watt power supply and the round bundle of wires coming out of it. Then I went to where the bundle started to break up with smaller groups of wires going in slightly different directions. Looked at all the wires at this point and did not see any really small blue or black wires or the conector that looked like the photo in Rob's webpage on "connect psu to mobo".

So I do not think it is there on my cabinet and probably not on yours; tell you why. Shortly after I finished building my unit in May 2008, Rob did a post saying he had just published part of or all of the "new build" using the parts he had been recommending for months but no pictures of them.

I purchased my cabinet in Feb 2008. Maybe Rob's photo of this black /blue wires and connector predates my cabinet and yours; his has the psu fan wires and ours (and others do not). The PSU fans must be internally wired as of a date preceding my purchase in late Feb 2008 -- something like this.

Anyway, your psu fan will run or not when you first turn it on; so if you are certain there are no small wires leading to a small connector buried in your psu wire bundle, I would skip that instruction and assume it is internally wired.

I can call Antec or email them and ask if this change has occurred in the Antec III or 500 cabinets and when!

[Fallen_Hero]

Thanks for everything zburns, you were a big help and I really appreciate it.

I messed around with it last night after reading your post and was able to get the system up and running, seemed I didn't need to connect it after all. I am guessing the psu fan just runs constantly without any info from the motherboard, which is fine with me as long as it is working.

I am currently running the hard drive tests now and hope to get windows on it later today.

Thanks again!

[zburns]

Glad it all seems to make sense. Since you do not have the Asus manual, my manual states: "Only the CPU-FAN and CHA-FAN 1-4 connectors support the Asus Q-FAN2 feature." From what I have read, this is the feature where you plug into the BIOS max and min operating temperatures and the fans run accordingly.

CHIP_FAN is when an extra fan is added on top of one of the copper heat sinks close to the CPU and chipsets. Not sure of the intended purpose of the PWR_FAN; read multiple explanations on different forums; did not find an Asus explanation. Several comments that it may be a "speed, temp monitor header only". But if it does not warn you or shut you down, it's meaningless to me.

Seems to me that PSU fans must be internally wired, period, with their own safety shut down for fan failure and / or too high temp.