Chassis Fans

[Vulgy2009]

Hi there, I recently completed my first ever pc build and to my surprise all went really well ( no smoke when I turned the power on...lol). My only concern is that none of the chassis fans appear to be working!!!! while the pc is running fine I am a little concerned that the correct cooling is not occuring. The case is an antec 900 with an ASUS P5Q Pro motherboard. The fan connectors are molex and I purchased some adapters for the fans so that they connect to the MB. I have tried everything in the BIOS to get the fans to work but I am at a dead end as the fan management doesn't appear in the BIOS?
Before I forget I am using an antec neo 550w psu.
Could someone please tell me what I am doing wrong here, the only thing I can see is that the connectors i purchased have only two wires, should they have three? the main processor fan has 3 and is connected to the motherboard and is fine, working away.
Any suggestions, ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Vulgy2009]

By the way if anyone replies to this post and has photos on how to resolve the issue that would be fantastic...
Once again thanks in advance for your help.

[Neutronbeam]

You must have three-pin fans and cables so the the fans can report speed back to -- and be controlled by -- the motherboard. With two-pins the fans should power and run but the mobo can't recognize them. Also, FYI this may be helpful at some point if you would rather use this for control instead of the mobo -- but you still need three-pin fans/cables http://www.almico.com/speedfan437.exe . Good luck.

[TurtlePerson2]

They're Molex. What happens if you plug them directly into the PSU? They should run at full speed.

[Vulgy2009]

Many, many thanks for your support. I figured I'd need a three cable fan adapter as opposed to 2. Any ideas where these could be bought? Interesting about connecting them directly to the PSU as I have 2 remaining power slots there, but if I do that will the MB be able to control them or will the fans just run continuously?

Again thanks for your help

[Vulgy2009]

forgot to mention that even with 2 cable connectors the fans do not run, nor are they picked up in the Bios by the MB.

[Flying Fox]

They're Molex. What happens if you plug them directly into the PSU? They should run at full speed.

++

Just plug the fans to the PSU molex connectors and see if they spin first. You will need new fans with the rpm sensor if you really want to use the motherboard to control the fans (provided the board actually can control those non-CPU fans, not all boards do and they may not be all the fan connectors.

[silent ninjah]

You could always get a fan controller.

I got the Zalman ZM-MFC1. Only problem is the 3 pin connector didn't work with my antec tri-cool fans, so I had to go and get some akasa fan controller adapters.

[Neutronbeam]

I use the ZALMAN MFC1 Plus-B Black 6 Channel Multi Fan Controller http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999171 and it's been great. I use these and the quality is VERY good Rosewill 12" Fan power supply cable Model RCW-309 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119147. For specialized cables I use http://www.performance-pcs.com. If it does not exist they will make it for you.

[Vulgy2009]

Again many thanks for all your help. I connected all the fans to the CPU and fired up the system, as it is a tower it stood upright and to my surprise it cut out once it began starting windows. There was a high pitched squeek during start-up. I decided to disconnet each of the fans one at a time to see if this was causing the issue. It did not work as the system kept cutting out. I suspect that the Antec PSU 550 may not be capable of powering all fans, however with the tower placed on its side rather than upright all the fans worked ( no squeeking) and the system booted up with no issues????? I am completely confused now!! has anyone come across this type of issue before and if so how did you resolve it?

Thanks in advance

[silent ninjah]

Might be something to do with the motherboard power cable being loose. If it's 20+4 then the extra 4 might not be in right and the connection is dodgy when it's standing upright.

Check all the power cables anyway. Make sure the heatsink fan is plugged in to the motherboard properly as well.

[Vulgy2009]

Many thanks, will check both the power supply connection and the heat sink connections, will keep you posted of the outcome.

Kindest Regards

[Vulgy2009]

Checked all power connections to the motherboard and also to the heat sink. They are all fine, the same problem occurs when I stand the system upright. Looks like I am bound to using the pc while sitting on its side. Not ideal I know but at least its working, I am completely baffled as to why when upright the system fails to start. Thanks for your advice anyway.

[silent ninjah]

The only other thing I can think of that would change with orientation would be the heatsink's connection with the cpu. The noise could be the motherboard warning and it might automatically shut down the machine because the cpu isn't being cooled.

[Flying Fox]

I connected all the fans to the CPU and fired up the system

Can you please clarify that? I am confused.

as it is a tower it stood upright and to my surprise it cut out once it began starting windows.

Cut out = system power down and everything goes dark?

There was a high pitched squeek during start-up. I decided to disconnet each of the fans one at a time to see if this was causing the issue. It did not work as the system kept cutting out. I suspect that the Antec PSU 550 may not be capable of powering all fans

How many fans are we talking about? An average system should use less than 350W so your PSU should be more than enough. Again, time to ask for a full build config listing.

however with the tower placed on its side rather than upright all the fans worked ( no squeeking) and the system booted up with no issues????? I am completely confused now!! has anyone come across this type of issue before and if so how did you resolve it?

You sure the heatsink is seated properly? If you are on an Intel build, check the 4 push pins and make sure they are firmly in place with the click sound.

[silent ninjah]

I connected all the fans to the CPU and fired up the system

Can you please clarify that? I am confused.

I think he meant PSU instead of CPU.

[Vulgy2009]

Sorry yes I did mean PSU and not CPU.
We are talking about 4 chassis fans in total and of course the heat sink connected directly to the motherboard.
The full build is as follows:

Case: Antec 900
PSU: Antec neo 550w PSU
Asus p5q PRO motherboard
Intel core 2 quad q6600, 2.4 GHz
Corsair twin 2x 6400 DDR2, 4096MB
Sapphire Readeon HD4850 512MB GDDR3 graphics card
Pioneer DVD+/- RW burner
Western Digital Cavair SE16 500gb SATA 2
Creative SB Z-Fi xtreme gamer sound card

Hope that helps