Question 1

does this come with the cable to connect it to my motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you have a 5 pin EXT_FAN_IN connector on your MB. I have one on my Asus X99-All MB. This lets the MB send a signal to the Fan extension card controlling individual fan speeds.

No, if you don't have a EXT_FAN_IN connector on your MB you will need a 4 wire fan cable coming from the MB. This master fan speed control then causes the other (up) to 3 fans plugged into the fan extension card to operate at a matching speed to the master. No individual fan speed control. They all match the 4 pin master signal.

Now if you hook up the included 5 pin cable and the 4 pin master cable, which is not included. Priority goes to the 5 pin cable with individual speed control over all connected fans.

If you use the 5 pin connector an additional 3 cables with temperature sensors on the end are included to attach to the fan extension card and place where things get hot.

You are aware you also need a 12V 4 pin HD power cable to operate this item. The regular fan connector or the EXT_FAN_IN 5 pin wont power the 3 extra fans an extra 12V power connection is required. Fan extension card controls voltage and speed but needs the 12V backup.

Also this is all software based. You must download the "dashboard".

Question 2

I see that the card comes with 2 'L' brackets and screws.  Where are you people mounting this card?

Accepted Answer

I actually have 2-   5 ½” bays and modded the area above my HDD sled, drilling holes in the cage area and so mounting it above the HDD making sure the bottom of the card’s pcb and soldering doesn’t touch the HDD. ASUS provides instructions to mount it to an unused HDD slot. However this wouldn’t work for my build. As I have  2  5 ½” slots which house an HDD on a sled and an ODD.

Hope this helps. My set up is just different from the norm. But as I said, ASUS has designed it to attach to the side of an HDD cage/slot. I just had to mod mine because I removed all my HDD cages and am only using the ones I cannot remove, which are where 2 external 5 ½” would go.

Question 3

will this work with a ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Intel, LGA 1151, 300 Series)?

Accepted Answer

Will work with any motherboard. You need a old fashioned 4 pin molex   12V for power. You can then install 4 extra, 3 or 4 pin fans and power them at full speed. If you have a fan speed control program (available from manufacturer-download) that currently controls your fan speed via software. You can find a 3 or 4 pin available m/b socket that's controlled and run a 3 or 4 wire cable from it to one of the end plugs on this device and the 4 fans plugged will share the speed control. I don't have fan lights to control but this allows plugging in your light system to include these 4 new fans. If your software allows for temp monitoring, there are 4 plugs for temperature sensors as well. Hardest part was finding a place to mount it. I have a PSU cover that it could screw to and still reach everything.

Question 4

Where can I get the cable for this? I have looked the cable for a long time. (like the 5 pin female to female?!)

Accepted Answer

These are tough to find. I was lucky enough that one came with my motherboard. Occasionally I have seen these at Free Geek, as wall as other electronic repurposing stores.

Question 5

I have installed this card, but I can't control the 4 pin fans speed with my fan expert 4. However, I can control the fans when they were on the motherboard. Anyone know how to solve this?

Accepted Answer

You might need to run the auto setup so the software can test the extension card out.. But yes it needs the interface cable.. I have a ROG  Maximus X Code motherboard and I plug it into #17(USB connection with the correct pin missing)  then a output on my power supply converted to a molex like above. then connected the fan cables and 2 sensors. once in windows I ran fax expert "Fan Tuning".. did a great job finding what the lowest speed for all my fans and there basic settings. I then clicked on the picture of my case identified where each fan was (sometimes had to stop them to really know) and labeled each and tuned it for better cooling. I am done and might get loud sometimes but it keeps everything nice and cool..

Question 6

Does this show each fan individually?  Can I change each fan to different speeds?

Accepted Answer

I believe so, as in the BIOS you can see fan options for EXT 1, EXT 2, and EXT 3. This shows that upon connecting this card to the EXT header on the motherboard, each of the 3 extensions will be recognized and be able to be controlled separately.

Question 7

Bought one of these and am so far happy with it, but would like to know if anyone else can definitively say what the upper current limit is for each EXT_FAN header... I've read elsewhere that even though most ASUS motherboard manuals state that a maximum of 1A per fan header is admissible, one user (forget which forum) contacted ASUS and said that a tech told them each header is capable of 2A... So, given that the regulators being used on this Fan Extension Card are likely the same ones most ASUS boards use, it would follow that they should have the same specs as well.

I ask because I'm interested in using a NMB 4715KL-04W-B56 140x38mm high-speed PWM fan that consumes 1.30A behind my radiator. I want to control it based on the external temp sensor I have on the rad, so the fan doesn't ramp up and down every time the processor package temp spikes during load... but I don't want to overload the Fan Extension card regulators (or the ones on my board). Official documentation and specs seem to be nonexistent as far as this info is concerned. Any advice? Can anyone else confirm this 2A limit? Thanks in advance!

Accepted Answer

Mark, I have been using that ASUS Fan controller for a few months now and I have 'Absolutely' no complaints.  I was a little concerned about having the Molex connector at first, however as it tuned out, I needed to add a Molex cable from my batch of modular cables (that came with the PSU) for another device in my system, so it wound up being a 'wash.'   In terms of the current draw through the EXT_FAN headers, I have not seen any problems.  I have two of them driving 140mm fans (LEPA VORTEX 14 PWM), and the third driving a 120mm (Corsair CO-9050039-WW 120mm ML120 PWM), and there have been no issues.  The motherboard recognizes all the PWM fans (6 in total for my Corsair 200R case), and does a fantastic job when I use the BIOS Fan tuning configurator).  I am can only estimate the total current drawn on the EXT connectors to be at least as large as the 1.30 amps mentioned in your question (especially since I had case fit issues with those 140mm fans initially, that kept stopping the fans until I resolved the problem a few days later).  By the way I am a licensed Professional Engineer in electrical/computer engineering for NYS, so I have experience with the increased current draw that results when an electric motor stalls).  I hope that helps.

Question 8

when is this going to be restocked? neweggs is the only site that has them being sold.

Accepted Answer

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us with your question. Since the item is currently out of stock, we suggest signing up for the Auto-Notify option. When the item is back in inventory an email will be sent to you to notify you.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation, 
Newegg Support

Question 9

Can anyone tell me the dimensions of the packaging please?

Accepted Answer

.625? high by 5.75? wide by 4" deep (41.3 mm × 146.1 mm x 101.6)

It's almost exactly half the size of a PC's DVD drive

Questions & Answers