Mobo fan header question

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matrix86

Posts: 852   +39
Ok, so the motherboard i'm getting has the following:

~4 pin CPU fan header labeled CPU_FAN(I already know this is where the fan from the heatsink goes)

~3 pin power fan header labeled PWR_FAN1

~3 pin system fan labeled SYS_FAN1 (the mobo manual states that there are two of these when in fact there is only one...I think they accidentally included the PWR_FAN)

~4 pin system fan labeled SYS_FAN2

Anyway, my questions is this:
is there really any difference between the system fan header and the power fan header? On the manual, the specs for the SYS and PWR fan are the same...so something must be different. I plan to have 3 fans (rear output, front intake, and side intake). I'm still looking at cases, but after seeing this, i'm wondering how i'm supposed to know how many pins the fans that come with the cases have. The case i'm settling on right now only has a rear fan which is fine with me.

The motherboard i'm talking about is the GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3

The three fan ordeal is assuming that I can take the cone (or ventilation shaft I guess its called) off of the inside panel (which I may need to do anyway as i'm sure it will get in th way of the heatsink which will either be the Cooler Master 212+ or the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro). Don't know if it's attached using screws or those annoying pins you can't take out without a hammer, and I don't know what size fan I can replace it with if any. I REALLY like the case and wouldn't mind having to buy two more fans to put in it, and looks like it'll leave me room for adding a custom Window i've designed. I'd prefer not to get a different case, but will do so if I have to, lol.
COOLER MASTER ELITE 335

Anyway, my first build is coming along nicely and when i'm ready, i'll post the specs in a new thread just to make sure i'm not getting things I don't need (i have a habit of going overboard sometimes :p ) Thanks for the help!

PS,
actually, while we're talking about this mobo, the manual shows that 2 of the SATAII connectors are controlled by Gigabyte SATA2 and the remain six are controlled by the P55/H55 chipset...what's the big difference?

Ok, i'll stop adding questions now...sorry, lol.
 
All the fan headers should be rated at the ATX spec (1.0A for 12v). I think the differentiation is mainly for the monitoring in the BIOS and the Easy Tune software, since whatever PWM fan is plugged into the CPU_FAN header will be reported as CPU fan rotation.

The side panel duct is a holdover from the bad old days, usually associated with making the chassis "Pentium 4 compatible". It should be easily removed.

THe southbridge (ICH10R) SATA ports will most likely offer better performance than the Gigabyte (JMicron JMB363 ?) GSATA ports. Some comparitive numbers here- different boards but the same hardware.
 
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