So... I have 5 fans and only 3 fan headers on my Asus Gene VI motherboard. I have been researching if I could use a Y splitter for the fans, but there is conflicting information all over the web. Some say it may short out the board, others say it's totally OK if you don't go overboard with it. I would plan on running 2 fans on one fan header. My fans are 3 pin, rated @ 0.2 A/ 12 V. I definitely do not want to damage my MB just to see if I could use all of the fans... So my question to you guys is if I use a quality Y splitter, something like Noctua makes for example, do I run the risk of frying my board? Oh and the only information I managed to find in my MB manual is that the CPU_FAN connector supports the CPU fan of max 1 A (12 W) fan power. All insight is greatly appreciated!
i would use only one fan per fan header and for any extra fans, get a molex - > fan splitter like the NZXT Grid, or just any molex to fan splitter. just so i dont have to worry about burning out my board just to run some fans.
or just use one of these
http://forumscdn.tweaktown.com/attachments/cooling/4881d1344229481-multiple-pwm-fan-adapter-cb-ec-df001_01.jpg
http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/MULTI%20FAN%20POWER%20PORT/image/Gallery/mfpp-1.jpg
http://www.9mart.com/9dollar/Budget/EG0676-3-controller.jpg
I literally just did that with a 3-fan controller which came with my case. I burned out the circuit board. Unless you are using a disposable controller like I was, don't do that. It could end badly. Get a fan controller.
You mean something like this?
http://www.quietpc.com/gel-pwm-1-4-pwmcable
yep!
You should be fine unless you are running super power hungry fans. I believe most fan headers are rated for somewhere around 10 watts. Most fans don't pull more than 0.2 amps at 12v. If you want to be safe, contact the manufacturer of the board and ask how much power the fan headers can handle and check that against how much the fans will need.
I have a Gigabyte 990FX mother board and on the single top CPU fan header I am running 3x Corsair PWM silent SP120 fans. These have been running for over a year.
I say it's fine as long as you not using high performance fans and they are running at the lowest settings. You do run the risk of drawing to much power from it a burning it out but for me it worked out ok.
EDIT: I looked through the manual but cannot find the amp rating for the connector. it is 12V of course and I can only assume It's also 1amp
Thanks!