Molex > 3 x 3pin adapter

[Feronix]

Heya guys,

My original plan was to do a new build the the Arc Midi R2 but ever since the release of the 350D I've been obsessed with doing the build in such a small form factor case (Besides, the Gryphon and Sniper m5 will probably be cheaper than their bigger brothers but still offer everything I need :lol.

Now, the Midi R2 had a built-in fan controller to which I could hook up the 2 front intake fans and the rear exhaust fan, but the 350D has no such thing. Since I don't want to ruin the build by using a fan controller, I started looking for Molex to 3 x 3Pin adaptors and I ran into this sexy sleeved one by Bitfenix:

Thing is; I want my PC to be quiet yet cool (my room gets really hot in the summers). I will be using Bitfenix Spectre Pro fans and my question is:

There are 3 types of adaptors: 5 volt, 7 volt and 12 volt and I'm not sure which one to get. Like I said, I want quiet but I do think that 5 volt just isn't going to cut it but I'm not sure if 7 volt will either. I'm quite the noob when it comes to this stuff

Sneak peak;
The build will be Black & White:

 

[jamesriley94]

You can quite easily change whether it's 5v/7v/12v with some tweezers of a nail, so it doesn't really matter which you get.

 

[Feronix]

You can quite easily change whether it's 5v/7v/12v with some tweezers of a nail, so it doesn't really matter which you get.

What do you mean & how does this work? I know nothing about this stuff as my first and current case has a built-in fan controller :x

 

[remember300]

lol i just saw noob so i voted for that ;P
but yeah tweezers would be fine to change them

 

[vorticalbox]

as said it doesn't matter which you buy as you can change the pins around and get a different voltage

5v is the same as 12V but the other side.

 

[Feronix]

Thanks guys, I get it! I'll pick the one in the middle and buy the 7 volt one to see if I like the balance before I need to do any tweaking to it!

 

[paulstung]

Sorry to do a hijack but do I just need to swap the cables round on the molex coming of the power supply ?

 

[jamesriley94]

Sorry to do a hijack but do I just need to swap the cables round on the molex coming of the power supply ?

Coming out of the power supply? No...

This is probably the easiest way to explain it:

5v:

7v:

Alternatively Paul, if you have the Phantom 630 you should have got the little 7 fan fan hub on the back? You can quite easily mod a cable going into that to give 5/7v.

 

[paulstung]

Thanks for that mate. I went away and had a rumage for a molex to fan and have now got 11 fans all running at 7v. I tried the other config 5v but they were louder. Never the less I now have a nicely humming rig instead of a 747 next to my head.

 

[Dire Squirrel]

If you want quiet, get quieter fans.The Bitfenix ones does not exactly fit that bill.
By the time you get them down to a decent noise level, you will have lost enough airflow that quieter fans would perform better.

My fan of choice would be Enermax T.B.Silence. The 120mm. fixed RPM ones "only" 42CFM, but also only 11db on 12 volts.

And as I said. The Bitfenix ones will drop well below 42CFM long before they get anywhere near 11db. Probably before they reach 15.
It may not seem like a huge difference, but it is definitely noticeable. And don't forget that noise "stacks". If I remember correctly, each identical fan will add 3db to the perceived noise level.

If you absolutely must have those noisy things, buy or make a stepless fan speed controller. That way you can at least try to get a tolerable balance between noise and performance.

 

[jamesriley94]

If you want quiet, get quieter fans.The Bitfenix ones does not exactly fit that bill.
By the time you get them down to a decent noise level, you will have lost enough airflow that quieter fans would perform better.

My fan of choice would be Enermax T.B.Silence. The 120mm. fixed RPM ones "only" 42CFM, but also only 11db on 12 volts.

And as I said. The Bitfenix ones will drop well below 42CFM long before they get anywhere near 11db. Probably before they reach 15.
It may not seem like a huge difference, but it is definitely noticeable. And don't forget that noise "stacks". If I remember correctly, each identical fan will add 3db to the perceived noise level.

If you absolutely must have those noisy things, buy or make a stepless fan speed controller. That way you can at least try to get a tolerable balance between noise and performance.

Your post is entirely speculative.

Firstly, manufacturers lie about their specs pretty much all the time. I'd be incredibly surprised if Enermax could produce a fan like that.

Secondly - if we are going by rated specs...
The Enermax ones list 900RPM at 12v, whilst the Bitfenix ones are only 1000...

Absolutely no way those extra 100 rpm would produce an extra 7dB.

At the end of the day, a fan's a fan. Noise is created by turbulence caused in the air when the fan moves the air, so it's actually impossible to get a fan that has ridiculously high airflow with no noise. You seem to be putting Enermax's fans miles ahead of any others here, when that's certainly not the case due to physics.

I'm not saying Enermax's fans are bad (they're actually one of the few good branded fans that I haven't used), but your post seems to put them on a massively high pedestal based purely on their specs which I highly doubt are true.

 

[vorticalbox]

Your post is entirely speculative.

Firstly, manufacturers lie about their specs pretty much all the time. I'd be incredibly surprised if Enermax could produce a fan like that.

Secondly - if we are going by rated specs...
The Enermax ones list 900RPM at 12v, whilst the Bitfenix ones are only 1000...

Absolutely no way those extra 100 rpm would produce an extra 7dB.

At the end of the day, a fan's a fan. Noise is created by turbulence caused in the air when the fan moves the air, so it's actually impossible to get a fan that has ridiculously high airflow with no noise. You seem to be putting Enermax's fans miles ahead of any others here, when that's certainly not the case due to physics.

I'm not saying Enermax's fans are bad (they're actually one of the few good branded fans that I haven't used), but your post seems to put them on a massively high pedestal based purely on their specs which I highly doubt are true.

very true there is a difference between the sound of air moving and the motor and i bet these DB rating are done with the fan free standing as soon as you put a radiator/dust filter or anythiing it will create more noise.

 

[Dire Squirrel]

Your post is entirely speculative.

Firstly, manufacturers lie about their specs pretty much all the time. I'd be incredibly surprised if Enermax could produce a fan like that.

Secondly - if we are going by rated specs...
The Enermax ones list 900RPM at 12v, whilst the Bitfenix ones are only 1000...

Absolutely no way those extra 100 rpm would produce an extra 7dB.

At the end of the day, a fan's a fan. Noise is created by turbulence caused in the air when the fan moves the air, so it's actually impossible to get a fan that has ridiculously high airflow with no noise. You seem to be putting Enermax's fans miles ahead of any others here, when that's certainly not the case due to physics.

I'm not saying Enermax's fans are bad (they're actually one of the few good branded fans that I haven't used), but your post seems to put them on a massively high pedestal based purely on their specs which I highly doubt are true.

Speculative? Not at all.
Sure manufacturers present a version of the truth that benefits them. But that does not mean that everything is a lie.

Enermax T.B.Silence fans are widely known to be near silent. Those listed specs have been been tested be more than a few (myself included) and found to be truthful within margin of error.
Naturally this all changes if you stick them in a noisy case, mount them on something that amplifies vibrations, obstruct airflow, etc. etc.
Same is true for anything else.

Are you under the impression that the fan itself is 100% silent? That the moving parts of it magically work without producing any sound whatsoever?
If so, you are painfully wrong.

If you were correct, EVERY fan of the same size would produce EXACTLY the same amount of noise when run at the same RPM.
I'm sure everyone who has worked with more than 1 or 2 fans will know that this isn't the case.
There are a great number of factors that come into play here.
That is also why you can find those shitty fans that sound like a jet fighter while not
Really moving any air worth mentioning. Or are shitty fans just a myth?

I'm not putting Enermax on any pedestal. Read my post and you will see that I even made it clear that the low noise comes at the price of CFM. 42CFM is pretty low and the only thing that justifies it, is that fact that it also has a very low noise level.
This does not put them "miles ahead" of anything. Noctua for example have very similar products.

 

[jamesriley94]

Speculative? Not at all.
Sure manufacturers present a version of the truth that benefits them. But that does not mean that everything is a lie.

Enermax T.B.Silence fans are widely known to be near silent. Those listed specs have been been tested be more than a few (myself included) and found to be truthful within margin of error.
Naturally this all changes if you stick them in a noisy case, mount them on something that amplifies vibrations, obstruct airflow, etc. etc.
Same is true for anything else.

Are you under the impression that the fan itself is 100% silent? That the moving parts of it magically work without producing any sound whatsoever?
If so, you are painfully wrong.

If you were correct, EVERY fan of the same size would produce EXACTLY the same amount of noise when run at the same RPM.
I'm sure everyone who has worked with more than 1 or 2 fans will know that this isn't the case.
There are a great number of factors that come into play here.
That is also why you can find those shitty fans that sound like a jet fighter while not
Really moving any air worth mentioning. Or are shitty fans just a myth?

I'm not putting Enermax on any pedestal. Read my post and you will see that I even made it clear that the low noise comes at the price of CFM. 42CFM is pretty low and the only thing that justifies it, is that fact that it also has a very low noise level.
This does not put them "miles ahead" of anything. Noctua for example have very similar products.

I have absolutely no idea how you came to a conclusion I thought fans themselves were completely silent... All will have motor noise, although in most high quality fans now, this is inaudible due to the air noise.

Every fan producing the same amount of noise? lolwut? Again...no idea why you'd think that I think that...
Of course fans are made from different materials, have a different mass, and this effects noise. Also, the pitch of the fan blades, along with any notches and shapes new fans will effect the amount of noise produced, along with the pitch of the noise.

However...

You're comparing high end fans to OEM fans such as Yate Loons and the old Corsairs found on the older H series coolers. Of course these are going to be louder.
Higher end fans, such as Bitfenix Spectres, the Enermax fans you've mentioned, Silverstone APs, along with Noctuas have been designed with noise in mind. They all have similarly shaped blades (or other noise reducing features) in order to combat high noise levels. What I'm saying is, these fans while under the same RPMs will sound near enough the same, assuming motor noise isn't an issue. In my original post, I was only really including the higher end fans.

Even so, I'd much sooner have a fan that I knew could spin faster if I required more performance, than something where the maximum speed it will go is 900rpm.

 

[Dire Squirrel]

Higher end fans, such as Bitfenix Spectres, the Enermax fans you've mentioned, Silverstone APs, along with Noctuas have been designed with noise in mind. They all have similarly shaped blades (or other noise reducing features) in order to combat high noise levels. What I'm saying is, these fans while under the same RPMs will sound near enough the same, assuming motor noise isn't an issue. In my original post, I was only really including the higher end fans.

I think we can safely assume that we have VERY different views on what noise is.
In my book AP's and the Bitfenix fans in question are not quiet. Pretty far from it actually.

Anyway.. You are still wrong. None of these fans have similarly shaped blades. They don't use the same types of bearings. The motors are not the same. etc. etc. etc.

Each manufacturer have their own approach to fan design. Each have their own patents and each have their own set of criteria that they want their product to meet.

These factors and many more, means that there are vast differences between products, although they are in the same "category".

And something you seem to miss entirely, is airflow/noise ratio.
This is the most important aspect to balance. And this is where the real differences show.

For example. The AP's and the Bitfenix will not simply produce the same CFM if run at the same RPM. Nor will they produce the same amount of noise.
The world just isn't that simple.

Even so, I'd much sooner have a fan that I knew could spin faster if I required more performance, than something where the maximum speed it will go is 900rpm.

Not trying to be a dick here, but if you haven't factored in enough thermal headroom when you build the rig, you didn't do it right.

And if you base your fan buying decisions on RPM rather than CFM, SP, DB level, i'm not surprised that you don't understand how they work.

It's just like with cars. Cars don't go faster simply because the engine revs higher.