PC Peripherals How many fans can be powered by VX450

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mk76

Herald
How many fans can I attach to my system?

PSU - VX450

Cabi - Elite 334

Peripherals =

2 HDD

1 DVD writer

Radeon 4830

1 TV tuner

CM Hyper TX3 (90mm x 1) = CPU FAN

120mm = System Fan 1

80mm = Direct

120mm = Direct

I would like to add 2 small or a 80 mm on top of 4830 to improved air flow.

1. How many more fans can I add?

2. Can I put a 4 pin(cpu fan) into the 3 pin system fan slot? It fits, however is it safe to do so?
 
Thanks Rockfella.

what abt the 4 pin into 3 pin.

Also I have a 120mm that came with the cabby. It has a 3 pin that had an extension to connect directly to power.. In short is it ok to put 120mm into system fan slots?
 
mk76 said:
1. How many more fans can I add?

2. Can I put a 4 pin(cpu fan) into the 3 pin system fan slot? It fits, however is it safe to do so?
Click to expand...

A fan might draw close to 6~10W (even higher!) depending on the make, rpm and the rated amperage. So theoretically, you can add as many fans as the umber of molex connectors on the power supply. :P

The 4th pin on the fan header aids in the PWM control of the fan speed based on the duty cycles whereas the 3rd pin does the speed monitoring. So long as the +12v and the GND pins are properly connected, the fan should be powered without hiccups. So I guess there should be no issues connecting a 4-pin connector to the 3-pin header.
 
Fans have current ratings written on the label (usually). Multiply this by 12 to get the wattage. Most case fans are 2 watts. Your system probably draws a grand total of 300 watts at load, so technically you could add another 50 fans or so before your supply tops out.

Fan headers on motherboards are typically sized for 500mA-1A for regular home motherboards. You will need to know the current rating on your fan, but if it;s a regular fan that came with the case, it can be plugged into the mobo without any cross-checking. those are usually very low-powered fans.

4-pin and 3-pin fan headers and plugs are interchangeable. There will be some speed control issues with doing this, and most fans will run at full speed if plugged into the wrong kind of header, but this does not damage the fan or the header.
 
highest rpm rated fans in market have a max of 0.4~0.5A and its power consumption at peak rpm will be max 6w[for 0.5A which has above 2200rpm 120mm].

You dont have to bother about power, but the dust that its gonna invite and the noise.

And ya, it shud work if you connect it to 3 pin header on mobo.
 
Wow... thats some knowledge. Thanks a lot to all.

After installing TX3 my stock cooler fan was free.. So I kindda stuck it on top of my 4830 and gave it a try. It improved the overall scenario by a fraction of 2-4 deg.

So I am gonna buy couple of small fans. Hope it will make box cooler.
 
Ok.. So I added couple of more fans.

Cabbi - CM Elite 334
1 x CM Hyper TX3
Out fans
1 x 120mm Top Back
2 x 80mm Top Front (I moved dvd to bottom bay and "fixed" a platform for the fans)
1 x 80mm Top Side Panel (exactly opposite to the processor)
In Fans
1 x 120mm Bottom Front
2 x 80mm Bottom Side (Side of 4830 and TV Tuner Card)

I "lost" couple of degrees of heat with this setup.


The minimum in the image does not reflect the best which is still 3 deg less for all. Earlier my cores were >50 Idle and now idle between 36-39.

So do I remove some of the fans or is it safe to run 7 fans with vx450?
 
Make some necessary corrections in the setup or else its makes no sense to run 5 fans.Front ones should be intakes.You can put up side or rear exhausts.Front ones will take in air and rear ones will blow the hot air out hence keeping the airflow nice.
 
ive got an o'ced Q6600, 4 sticks of ram, an factory o'ced 4870, 2 hdds, a pair of CCFL tubes and 10 fans in my cabinet in all... (2 in the front, one at bottom, one at the sides, one at the back, 2 at the top and 3 fans on my TRUE 120), my cabby is a CM 690 and guess what, the VX450 doesnt break a sweat...
 
@rajivnairr

VX450 should handle more than that.

Even my zebby pro 550 is running a PII X4 OC, 4870 OC, lan card, sound card,2HDDs, and some 7 fans. :)
 
pavasedge said:
Make some necessary corrections in the setup or else its makes no sense to run 5 fans.Front ones should be intakes.You can put up side or rear exhausts.Front ones will take in air and rear ones will blow the hot air out hence keeping the airflow nice.
Click to expand...

I made all top ones exhaust !!! Will try your suggestion too and post results.
But the bottom line is - its ok to have so many fans.
 
5 are more than enough in my opinion.2 front intakes and 2 rear exhausts just do good job.Also remember PSU fan blows air out.
 
pavasedge said:
5 are more than enough in my opinion.2 front intakes and 2 rear exhausts just do good job.Also remember PSU fan blows air out.
Click to expand...

whatever number of fans you keep in a cabby, just make sure that the number of intake fans are atleast equal or more than the exhaust, also use a higher CFM fans as intake to maitain a positive air pressure inside the cabby....

dOm1naTOr said:
@rajivnairr

VX450 should handle more than that.

Even my zebby pro 550 is running a PII X4 OC, 4870 OC, lan card, sound card,2HDDs, and some 7 fans. :)
Click to expand...

I'm sure it would, its a pure beast, wonder why corsair rated it at 450W only...
 
rajivnairr said:
whatever number of fans you keep in a cabby, just make sure that the number of intake fans are atleast equal or more than the exhaust, also use a higher CFM fans as intake to maitain a positive air pressure inside the cabby...
Click to expand...
Somewhere I read the opposite - to have more exhaust fans than input.

Reason - If circulation is not proper hot air will keep on circulating inside cabinet and more intakes will fuel this. By keeping more exhausts such a scenario can be avoided.

Both seems to be logical.
 
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