What are the 3 wires on a PC fan?
A 3-wire fan has power, ground, and a tachometric (“tach”) output, which provides a signal with frequency proportional to speed.
Why do fans have 3 wires?
The third wire gives your computer control over it. The speed of the fan is reported back to the computer’s processor, which can be used to control the fan’s speed by raising it or lowering it when necessary.
What are the 3 pins on a case fan?
A three pin connector is basically power (5/12 volt), ground, and signal. The signal wire measures how fast the fan is moving without any controls for the fan’s speed. With this type, fan speed is typically controlled by increasing or decreasing the voltage over the power wire.
What are the 4 wires on a PC fan?
However, the 4-wire fan is a little different as it has the fourth ‘control’ wire to input a signal to the fan that commands it to speed up or speed down….4-wire fans explained.
| PIN | WIRE COLOR | FUNCTION |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black | GND (0V) |
| 2 | Yellow | +12V |
| 3 | Green | Sense/Tach |
| 4 | Blue | Control/PWM |
Can you plug a 3-pin fan into a 4 pin?
1 Answer. Apparently a 3-pin fan can plug directly into a 4-pin socket. Two of the pins provide power to the fan, the 3rd provides an RPM pulse to the motherboard to read the speed. The 4th pin is for PWM speed control.
Do case fans need to be plugged into the motherboard?
If you want to have your mobo measure the speeds of your case fans, you must plug them into the mobo ports so that the Speed Pulse signals from the fan motors can be sent back to the mobo on Pin 3 of each port.
Do Case Fans need to be plugged into the motherboard?
Can you plug a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin?
Can I put a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin header?
Please Note: You can connect a 3 Pin Fan to a 3 Pin or 4 Pin header on the motherboard. The fan will function normally no matter type of fan header is used. The fan connector will have two guides (1) and these will need to line up with the tab (2) that is on the motherboard fan header.
Can you plug a 3 pin fan into 4 pin on motherboard?
What kind of wire does a PC fan need?
The simplest PC fan requires just two wires – one wire provides power (12V), and the next wire is ground (0V). In a 3-wire fan, the extra (third) wire is the ‘tachometer’ signal (Tacho) wire that indicates how fast the fan is running.
How does a 3 pin fan connect to a motherboard?
Typically, the motherboard is required to pull the pin up through a resistor, with the fan connecting it to ground once (or more) per revolution. Other 3 pin fan connectors, such as case fan connectors may use a fan with a 2 pin plug (12v+ & Gnd ).
What is the voltage of a 4 wire fan?
Following is the connector pin out and wire color code of a typical 4-wire fan. Signal description is included as well. Here, GND is 0V and +12V is the positive supply for the fan. Sense (tachometer/tacho) delivers two pulses per revolution of fan.
What are the colors of a 3 pin fan wire?
3 pin and 4 pin Fan Wire Diagrams Pin Name Pin Name Color Color 1 Ground Black Black 2 +12v Red Yellow 3 Tach/Signal/Sense Yellow Green 4 Control/PWM Blue Blue