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You have just upgraded your case fan. When installing it you notice that the old fan used 3 pins and that your new one has four pins. This isn't a problem because the intended fan header has four pins. What is the extra pin for?

1 Answer

3 votes

Answer:

Fan Control

Step-by-step explanation:

This is used to manage the rotating speed of the fan. The main use of the fan control is to help reduce the heat that is being generated by a fan.

The common cooling fans used in computers use standardised connectors with two to four pins. The first two pins are always used to deliver power to the fan motor, while the function of the fan depend on fan design and type.

The colour of the wires connected to these pins varies depending on the number of connectors, but the role of each pin is standardized and guaranteed to be the same on any system. Cooling fans equipped with either two- or three-pin connectors are usually designed to accept a wide range of input voltages, which directly affects the rotation speed of the blades.

User Rishul Matta
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