Key Takeaways
- Use the CPU_FAN header in your motherboard to attach your CPU cooler, because it adjusts fan velocity primarily based on CPU temperature.
- The CPU_OPT header is for a secondary CPU fan, however you should use it for extra case followers. It has the identical performance as CPU_FAN.
- SYS_FAN and CHA_FAN are for case followers.
You may come throughout many similar-looking fan headers when looking for your means across the motherboard to connect with the CPU cooler. And whereas the printed labels might help you navigate the motherboard, they don’t seem to be precisely descriptive. For instance, what does CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT even imply?
Use CPU_FAN for Your CPU Cooler
The CPU_FAN (additionally CPUFAN, CPU_FAN1, and so on.) header in your motherboard is a four-pin fan header that your pc makes use of to energy and management the CPU cooler. It is often discovered on the proper facet or above the CPU socket.
Virtually each motherboard has this common header, and almost each CPU cooler makes use of it. It really works like some other four-pin fan header, that means it may possibly use pulse width modulation (PWM) to regulate the fan velocity. The one distinction is that it is labeled as a CPU fan connector that can assist you differentiate it from different fan headers, and it will modify the fan velocity primarily based on the CPU temperature by default. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to change the CPU fan temperature enter within the BIOS.
For those who’re constructing a brand new pc or simply tinkering round, join your CPU cooler to the CPU_FAN header. Nothing horrible will occur should you use a special fan header—offered the CPU fan nonetheless works once you flip the PC on—however you may get a warning that the CPU fan is not detected once you boot up your system. Utilizing a Y-splitter to attach two followers to the CPU_FAN header can also end in a CPU fan warning.
After all, in case your CPU fan retains the CPU sufficiently cool, this is not a difficulty, and you’ll flip the warning off within the BIOS. Nonetheless, it is simpler to plug within the CPU fan within the appropriate header somewhat than taking further steps to bypass it.
CPU_OPT Is for a Second Cooler Fan
CPU_OPT (additionally CPU_FAN2, and so on.) stands for “CPU Optionally available” and is a four-pin fan header for a secondary CPU fan discovered on giant air coolers. CPU_OPT has solely three pins on some cheaper motherboards, which implies it may possibly lack PWM fan management. The CPU_OPT header is often situated subsequent to or beneath the CPU_FAN header, so it is simple to combine up the 2, even for professional PC builders. For those who’re working a inventory CPU cooler or AIO, or your cooler solely has one fan, you’ll be able to ignore the CPU_OPT header.
The CPU_OPT header is beneficial when you’ve got an aftermarket cooler with two followers. Supplied it has 4 pins, you may get the identical PWM performance as on the “main” CPU fan, and you should use the identical fan curve for each followers to optimize cooling and reduce noise. Like CPU_FAN, CPU_OPT adjustments the fan velocity primarily based on the CPU temperature.
You may also use CPU_OPT like some other fan header so as to add extra case followers to maximise airflow. You’ll be able to join both a three-pin or four-pin fan to the CPU_OPT header, as they’re interchangeable. The header’s location is useful if you wish to add a fan on the prime of your case. A Y-splitter on the CPU_OPT header will not be a difficulty, offered your motherboard can deal with the load.
You need to use CPU_FAN or CPU_OPT for an AIO pump connector in case your motherboard lacks an AIO_PUMP (or W_PUMP) header. Nonetheless, in case your AIO pump requires PWM and also you solely have a 3-pin CPU_OPT header, this is not a good suggestion.
What About SYS_FAN and CHA_FAN?
SYS_FAN stands for “system fan,” and CHA_FAN is “chassis fan.” SYS_FAN and CHA_FAN are basically totally different names for a similar factor; they’re case fan headers unrelated to the CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT. They are often both three-pin or four-pin headers, and so they’re interchangeable. SYS_FAN is the older of the 2 names, as PCs historically had solely a single exhaust fan within the again.
You’ll be able to join as many or as few case followers as you need, assuming your motherboard has sufficient headers for all of them. I like to recommend having at the very least one exhaust fan to push scorching air out of your pc, as having no case followers may end up in your pc overheating.
On the finish of the day, it would not actually matter the way you hook up the followers to the motherboard so long as you be sure that the CPU fan velocity follows the CPU temperature within the BIOS. It is best to hook up the whole lot “accurately” from the get-go so to spend much less time tinkering and extra time taking part in video games or working.
