A Rookie Mistake

[Zephik]

Facts:
The Thermaltake Blue Orb II is a CPU Cooler that works off of a three pin fan connection. Almost every motherboard is accommodated with at least one three pin fan header. This of course, as I now understand it, is not to be confused with just any three pin header you see on your motherboard.

Problem(s):
I'm an idiot. I have a Thermaltake Blue Orb II. My motherboard is made by dell. It doesn't have a three pin fan header. It has a five pin fan header. Square blocks don't fit into round holes. I dropped out in the third grade.

Solution:
Well I'm open to suggestions.

Things to be happy about:
Step one of my mod is completed (paint the skeletal frame black). I have a brand new Seagate 320GB HDD. I finally have a LGA775 CPU Cooler. My hands are covered in Arctic Silver Thermal Grease and I have black spray paint all over me.

On a side note:
It's good to be back, if only for a few minutes. But like all good things do, they have to end. ...well then again, I could always just beat up my little brother and steal his computer!

See you guys in a few!

[Bucko]

You could wire it into a normal 4 pin molex connector. The third wire is for seeing the fans RPM. Solder or buy an adapter to fit the fan and make it work and disregard the third wire.

Have a look at this thread where I asked a very similar question.

[xmastree]

Or, figure out the wiring for that Dell fan header and use it as intended. Presumably there was a fan connected to it when Dell built it, what did they use?
A photo would speak a thousand words here...

[Zephik]

Or, figure out the wiring for that Dell fan header and use it as intended. Presumably there was a fan connected to it when Dell built it, what did they use?
A photo would speak a thousand words here...

Thats what I tried to do after I logged off earlier today. What I was going to do is just pop the pins out and stick them into the original five pin fan connector, but what I noticed is that the three pin wires are thicker than the five pin wires and that the holes in the five pin connector are too small for the three pin wires to fit in.

Is there a three pin to molex adapter that you can buy? That would probably save me a headache or two. **Unless it's easy, I'll take a shot at it if its easy. Can someone give me a tutorial on how to wire a three pin to a molex?

You could wire it into a normal 4 pin molex connector. The third wire is for seeing the fans RPM. Solder or buy an adapter to fit the fan and make it work and disregard the third wire.

Have a look at this thread where I asked a very similar question.

I was thinking of doing a molex connector. The negative would be that I wouldn't be able to control the fan without a switch of some sort, but I don't think I would have to worry about that.

The 120mm fan works at a nearly inaudible 17 dBA at 1700 rpm.

[Zephik]

I got it working! But it doesn't seem to be pushing that much air.... it's advertised at almost 80CFM? It feels more like 10. I guess this could be a result from connecting it directly to the power supplies and not the motherboard. Or it could be just that I don't know my air movements. It just doesn't feel like a whole lot to me? I can barely feel it with my hand, is that 80CFM?? I guess it will be fine once I finish my case mod, I'll have another 120mm on the side of the case directly over the Blue Orb II.

[xmastree]

What did you do?
This thread:
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...ead.php?t=6044
explains how to wire it directly to the 12V, particularly posts 7,8 & 9.

My guess is that you put red-red and black-black. That's connected it to the 5V line. You need to connect the fan's red wire to the PSU's yellow.

Incidentally, you can make a very neat looking connection without soldering anything. First, unplug one of the molex connectors from a nearby drive.
Just strip about one inch of the fan wire and feed it into the molex from the back such that it passes through the connector itself. Then bend the end of the wire back over the outside of the connector, but keep it inside the plastic shroud.
Plug the molex back into the drive, and you're done.

It's easy, and makes a good connection which can easily be removed if necessary.

[Zephik]

What did you do?
This thread:
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...ead.php?t=6044
explains how to wire it directly to the 12V, particularly posts 7,8 & 9.

My guess is that you put red-red and black-black. That's connected it to the 5V line. You need to connect the fan's red wire to the PSU's yellow.
Thats exactly what I did. Thanks for clearing that up! But what do I do with the Yellow wire from the fan?

Incidentally, you can make a very neat looking connection without soldering anything. First, unplug one of the molex connectors from a nearby drive.
Just strip about one inch of the fan wire and feed it into the molex from the back such that it passes through the connector itself. Then bend the end of the wire back over the outside of the connector, but keep it inside the plastic shroud.
Plug the molex back into the drive, and you're done.
I think I get what you are saying. But this was pretty much already done for me. I just popped out the pins in the fan and slid them into the molex. They are kind of springy so it not only has a great fit but it looks great too! I can't wait to show my geek buddies. They're going to be like; whoa... smart thinking! :p

It's easy, and makes a good connection which can easily be removed if necessary.
Compared to stripping the wires, refitting them with prongs, taking Advil for your headache? lol yeah, it was _alot_ easier.

Thanks!

[xmastree]

Thats exactly what I did. Thanks for clearing that up! But what do I do with the Yellow wire from the fan?

Ignore it. It's used to sense the speed of rotation. Ever wondered how those little diagnostic programs know how fast the fan is running?

Just insulate it and tuck it out of the way somewhere.

[crazybillybob]

Some Motherboardd use the third wire to tell if the CPU fan has stopped for some reason. If it stops the PC shutsdown to avoid damaging the CPU.....Might want to test it out before you call it done. My Dragon will not even boot unless the CPU Fan is plugged in.

Good Luck!,
CrazyBillyBob

[Zephik]

Well I finally got my entire PC up and running today, it's been about 2 months since I last used it so I'm pretty hyped. The only thing that is bugging me is the cpu fan alert message whenever I boot up my PC. Is there any way to turn that off? I checked the bios, but there isn't anything in there that I could find that has to do with the cpu fan. I was thinking about buying a five pin fan, but I won't be able to buy anything for about a month.