Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

[pontypool]

Hello everyone. First of all I want to say how very pleased I am with this motherboard. I have never been let down by Asrock and I can tell this board is quality. BTW are the transistors gold plated? they appear so. Anyway on to way I am posting.
I bought an antec big boy 200, because according to reviews it moves a lot of air and is very quiet. Antec usually please me with cooling power yet still being very quiet. However for some reason the third party company on amazon who sent me the fan, neglected to supply the necessary screws/bolts and whatever other connector I need that goes from the fan to the motherboard.
I have examined the board and have found what I believe are the chasis1 chasis2, 3 and 4 fans. I presume that I must connect to chasis 1? I have a connector which fits into the chasis one slot just fine, the other end of that cable is a 4 pin MALE plug. I believe it is called a "molex connector" it looks like the white part of this plug
4 pin molex - Google Search

(but not the blag part- that end is the part that goes into the chasis 1 connector)
Anyway after connecting my big boy 200 to this male plug it does not spin. I have verified that the fan does in fact work, by instead connecting it to the socket next to the cpu which is labelled "SLI xfire pwr1" and it does indeed spin without problems. I don't want to connect it here thoug, because of the length of the cable it will spoil the airflow of the case. (my entire computer is built to maximise airflow and reduce noise) also I suspect that by connecting here I won't be able to manage the speed of the fan from the motherboard bios.
Please tell me what I need to connect this fan to the motherboard ! If you can also identify the type of screws to connect to my coolermaster haf xm case would be a very nice bonus, but not completely necessary as I can find that out myself.
I have attempted to find this information from antec, but I simple cannot get any support, they refer me back to the supplier, who is uncommunicative and I suspect they don't do business anymore. This is very poor support on the part of Antec, I hope Asrock can help me .

[- wardog -]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

I can't say this strongly enough. DO NOT connect that fan nor ANY fan to SLI/XFIRE_PWR1. That is not what that is there for. RTFM, either the one you recieved with the MB or the one available online.

That fan comes with a Pass-Thru 4pin molex connector. Connect it either to a free molex plug from your psu, OR, include/couple/insert it a low useage line leading from your psu if you don't have a free molex.

Hello everyone. First of all I want to say how very pleased I am with this motherboard. I have never been let down by Asrock and I can tell this board is quality. BTW are the transistors gold plated? they appear so. Anyway on to way I am posting.
I bought an antec big boy 200, because according to reviews it moves a lot of air and is very quiet. Antec usually please me with cooling power yet still being very quiet. However for some reason the third party company on amazon who sent me the fan, neglected to supply the necessary screws/bolts and whatever other connector I need that goes from the fan to the motherboard.
I have examined the board and have found what I believe are the chasis1 chasis2, 3 and 4 fans. I presume that I must connect to chasis 1? I have a connector which fits into the chasis one slot just fine, the other end of that cable is a 4 pin MALE plug. I believe it is called a "molex connector" it looks like the white part of this plug
4 pin molex - Google Search

(but not the blag part- that end is the part that goes into the chasis 1 connector)
Anyway after connecting my big boy 200 to this male plug it does not spin. I have verified that the fan does in fact work, by instead connecting it to the socket next to the cpu which is labelled "SLI xfire pwr1" and it does indeed spin without problems. I don't want to connect it here thoug, because of the length of the cable it will spoil the airflow of the case. (my entire computer is built to maximise airflow and reduce noise) also I suspect that by connecting here I won't be able to manage the speed of the fan from the motherboard bios.
Please tell me what I need to connect this fan to the motherboard ! If you can also identify the type of screws to connect to my coolermaster haf xm case would be a very nice bonus, but not completely necessary as I can find that out myself.
I have attempted to find this information from antec, but I simple cannot get any support, they refer me back to the supplier, who is uncommunicative and I suspect they don't do business anymore. This is very poor support on the part of Antec, I hope Asrock can help me .

[parsec]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

Before anything, as wardog (who can't receive a PM!!!) has said, do not use that SLI connector on the board for powering a fan or anything else!! That is a power input when multiple video cards are used, to supply more power to the PCI-E slots.

First lets look at the product page for Antec Big Boy fan: Antec.com - Product: 200mm Blue LED BB Fan 3-Speed

Under Features, in the Dimensions spec we find, "200mm x 25mm (mounting screws not included)", so you're not missing any screws. More on this later.

Next let's check how the fan is basically designed to be used. It takes 12V power from a four pin molex female connector, which would normally connected to a four pin molex male connector connected directly to a PSU cable. This fan has a three position speed switch to select speeds of 400, 600, or 800 RPM.

You might be able to locate the fan speed switch on the outside of the case so you can change its speed as necessary. Otherwise you select a fan speed with the switch, and route the cable out of the way.

Connecting it to your mother board is another story. You seem to have a four pin molex to three pin fan header adapter cable, which are common and work fine. You tried connecting it to your board's Chassis 1 header, which is really a four pin, PWM speed controlled connection made for use with four pin PWM fans. The Antec BB is not that type of fan, it is a standard three pin voltage controlled fan.

But it is strange the fan did not run at all when connected to that header, since it should be sending a full 12V on the power pin. Regardless, do not use a four pin PWM fan header with this fan.

You can use any of the three pin chassis fan connectors on the board. But you must set the fan speed switch to high, maximum, whatever the highest speed is.

A potential problem using the chassis fan headers on this board, which have fan speed control settings, is with this spec of the fan:

Operating Voltage -- 10.8V ~ 13.2V

This seems to say that this fan has a high starting voltage, ~10V, the minimum needed for the fan to spin up. That is very high for a PC fan. The fan speed voltage control on the board will likely send less than 10V to the fan when set to a lower speed setting. You'll need to experiment with this if you choose to connect the fan to the board.

I can't tell 100% by the fan picture, but standard self tapping fan screws may work with this fan. I have a CM Storm Sniper case, that uses the CM 200mm fans, and it had extra, special screws for the large fans if one was used for a side panel fan. Check the hardware bag and manual for your case for more information about this.

[pontypool]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

Before anything, as wardog (who can't receive a PM!!!) has said, do not use that SLI connector on the board for powering a fan or anything else!! That is a power input when multiple video cards are used, to supply more power to the PCI-E slots.

First lets look at the product page for Antec Big Boy fan: Antec.com - Product: 200mm Blue LED BB Fan 3-Speed

Under Features, in the Dimensions spec we find, "200mm x 25mm (mounting screws not included)", so you're not missing any screws. More on this later.

Next let's check how the fan is basically designed to be used. It takes 12V power from a four pin molex female connector, which would normally connected to a four pin molex male connector connected directly to a PSU cable. This fan has a three position speed switch to select speeds of 400, 600, or 800 RPM.

You might be able to locate the fan speed switch on the outside of the case so you can change its speed as necessary. Otherwise you select a fan speed with the switch, and route the cable out of the way.

Connecting it to your mother board is another story. You seem to have a four pin molex to three pin fan header adapter cable, which are common and work fine. You tried connecting it to your board's Chassis 1 header, which is really a four pin, PWM speed controlled connection made for use with four pin PWM fans. The Antec BB is not that type of fan, it is a standard three pin voltage controlled fan.

But it is strange the fan did not run at all when connected to that header, since it should be sending a full 12V on the power pin. Regardless, do not use a four pin PWM fan header with this fan.

You can use any of the three pin chassis fan connectors on the board. But you must set the fan speed switch to high, maximum, whatever the highest speed is.

A potential problem using the chassis fan headers on this board, which have fan speed control settings, is with this spec of the fan:

Operating Voltage -- 10.8V ~ 13.2V

This seems to say that this fan has a high starting voltage, ~10V, the minimum needed for the fan to spin up. That is very high for a PC fan. The fan speed voltage control on the board will likely send less than 10V to the fan when set to a lower speed setting. You'll need to experiment with this if you choose to connect the fan to the board.

I can't tell 100% by the fan picture, but standard self tapping fan screws may work with this fan. I have a CM Storm Sniper case, that uses the CM 200mm fans, and it had extra, special screws for the large fans if one was used for a side panel fan. Check the hardware bag and manual for your case for more information about this.

Hi.. will there be any adverse effects because I used the sli power socket?
I don't have any spare 4 pin molex connectors, because my gf threw out all my spare cables/plugs/screws that was inside my seasonic psu box (she throws out any empty box no matter what I say) But the seasonic psu I have is fully modular so I could get spare cables or would it power just fine with a this 4 Pin Molex (male/female) to 3 Pin (female) PC Fan Adaptor Cable | eBay 4 pin molex to 3 pin female motherboard adapter ? I would rather connect to a fan header on the motherboard so I can access the fan speeds from applications.
The scews I am a bit more puzzled about, because the length seems to be about 36mm. Whereas the screws I am coming across are mostly either 30 or 40. And don't seem to mention a washer/ nut. Seems very untidy to not secure the end somehow, not to mention the fact the fan is RIBBED (tunneled) not open flange, which means that the rubber silent mounting screws cannot connect, also they are rarely black to match the black finish of the coolermaster haf xm (tbh i'm not that keen on the 4 pin adapter red/black either, they just look ugly, would prefer an all black cable/adapter head. Just looks more uniform and neat inside the case.

[parsec]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

I highly doubt anything was damaged in the short term by connecting the fan to that power input.

On my CM case, the screws for the fans, which came with the assortment of screws that came with the case, have standard machine threads that screw into pre-threaded holes on the side of the case. You need to inspect the side of your case and see if you have those pre-threaded holes. Otherwise you'll need nuts and washers to fasten the fan in place.

The next time your girlfriend throws out a box of yours, tell her she also threw out the ring/jewelry you bought for her and was hiding it in the box until her birthday, etc.

The adapter you linked to will work correctly with the fan.

You need custom length screws in a generic, off the shelf screw length world. I use a hacksaw to make screws the length I need, easy to cut small diameter screws.

You seem to have ignored my warning about the fan not working well with your board's fan speed control. I hope I am wrong and you can control its speed as you wish, but if you can't, I would not be surprised.

I missed this in your first post: "BTW are the transistors gold plated? they appear so.".

Faux gold finish on the capacitors, not in a million years would those parts be gold plated on a board of this price.

[- wardog -]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

The next time your girlfriend throws out a box of yours, tell her she also threw out the ring/jewelry you bought for her and was hiding it in the box until her birthday, etc.

^^^ +1

[pontypool]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

I highly doubt anything was damaged in the short term by connecting the fan to that power input.

On my CM case, the screws for the fans, which came with the assortment of screws that came with the case, have standard machine threads that screw into pre-threaded holes on the side of the case. You need to inspect the side of your case and see if you have those pre-threaded holes. Otherwise you'll need nuts and washers to fasten the fan in place.

The next time your girlfriend throws out a box of yours, tell her she also threw out the ring/jewelry you bought for her and was hiding it in the box until her birthday, etc.

The adapter you linked to will work correctly with the fan.

You need custom length screws in a generic, off the shelf screw length world. I use a hacksaw to make screws the length I need, easy to cut small diameter screws.

You seem to have ignored my warning about the fan not working well with your board's fan speed control. I hope I am wrong and you can control its speed as you wish, but if you can't, I would not be surprised.

I missed this in your first post: "BTW are the transistors gold plated? they appear so.".

Faux gold finish on the capacitors, not in a million years would those parts be gold plated on a board of this price.

OH yes , I forgot what you said about the minimum voltage of 10 V ? the fan comes with it's own fan control on a small cable attached to the fan, does that mean the minimum would be a problem to run, or I can only run it on medium right?
The side panel does have holes for the screws, but I can't see how it will secure the end of the screw, leaving it like it is seems untidy. I would never have thought you need to saw off your own screws for mounting a fan. I have come across some silent rubber mounting screws designed for the closed chassis type, I will give those a try, for only a couple of quid you can't go wrong, otherwise I will get some washers and nuts.
The reason I asked about the transistors appearing to be gold plated, is because my seasonic x650 claims gold plated transistors.

[parsec]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

About the fan, given the spec of 10.8V, I'm concerned the fan might not spin up at the lower speed settings of the mother board's BIOS or the ASRock Windows software fan control settings.

That is why I suggested setting the fan speed switch to High when you try using it connected to the mother board. You don't want anything else lowering the speed of the fan besides the mother board's control, at least at first until you see how it works. Fans are all different regarding their starting voltage, speed at a certain voltage, etc, there are no standards for that at all, besides the max of 12V.

Next consider the mother board manufactures, they have no idea what fans will be used with a board. Since there are no standards for starting voltage, etc, they tend to set the lowest possible voltage of the controlling settings on the high side, to make sure almost all fans will spin at the lowest setting. But the lowest setting could be 7V, that is common. Then one person is using a 50mm fan to cool the chipset heatsink, and another (you) is using a 200mm fan as a case fan. Yet another guy is using a 50mm and a 200mm fan, plus a 120mm fan or two combined on one fan header. And they all have different specs based on size, fan speed, you name it. Which is why the only way to tell how a fan will react is to try it out for yourself.

The screws and the side of your case with the threaded mounting points for the screws works like this: The screws obviously go through the "back" of the fan, and are meant to thread into the holes on the side of the case about 1/8", so they don't stick out the other side much. The screws ends are covered up by the filtering mesh and the non-porous metal on the side of the case. That is why their length is so critical, to short and they won't reach the threads, to long and they stick out out the side of the case, or touch the inside of the side, and dent it if you continue to tighten the screw.

The screws that came with the case (which you no longer have apparently) have a length the is just right for... a CoolerMaster 200mm fan. Would they be perfect for your Antec? Who knows, pure luck if so, again no standards for 200mm fans like there are for 120mm or 140mm fans. Not to mention the location of the screw holes on the fan itself, will they line up with the holes in the side of the case? Hopefully it will, but if not, I would not be shocked.

[pontypool]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

About the fan, given the spec of 10.8V, I'm concerned the fan might not spin up at the lower speed settings of the mother board's BIOS or the ASRock Windows software fan control settings.

That is why I suggested setting the fan speed switch to High when you try using it connected to the mother board. You don't want anything else lowering the speed of the fan besides the mother board's control, at least at first until you see how it works. Fans are all different regarding their starting voltage, speed at a certain voltage, etc, there are no standards for that at all, besides the max of 12V.

Next consider the mother board manufactures, they have no idea what fans will be used with a board. Since there are no standards for starting voltage, etc, they tend to set the lowest possible voltage of the controlling settings on the high side, to make sure almost all fans will spin at the lowest setting. But the lowest setting could be 7V, that is common. Then one person is using a 50mm fan to cool the chipset heatsink, and another (you) is using a 200mm fan as a case fan. Yet another guy is using a 50mm and a 200mm fan, plus a 120mm fan or two combined on one fan header. And they all have different specs based on size, fan speed, you name it. Which is why the only way to tell how a fan will react is to try it out for yourself.



The screws and the side of your case with the threaded mounting points for the screws works like this: The screws obviously go through the "back" of the fan, and are meant to thread into the holes on the side of the case about 1/8", so they don't stick out the other side much. The screws ends are covered up by the filtering mesh and the non-porous metal on the side of the case. That is why their length is so critical, to short and they won't reach the threads, to long and they stick out out the side of the case, or touch the inside of the side, and dent it if you continue to tighten the screw.

The screws that came with the case (which you no longer have apparently) have a length the is just right for... a CoolerMaster 200mm fan. Would they be perfect for your Antec? Who knows, pure luck if so, again no standards for 200mm fans like there are for 120mm or 140mm fans. Not to mention the location of the screw holes on the fan itself, will they line up with the holes in the side of the case? Hopefully it will, but if not, I would not be shocked.

Parsec you're just about the most helpful person i've come across in 20 years of internet use.
I got the things I ordered today, the fan spins rather nice, even at the minimum setting it didn't have any problem starting, despite the discrepancy of the minimum voltage being too high. My computer right now has a gtc 660 and an i5-3570, so I doubt I need exceptional cooling, so the minimum setting is a bonus as it's all very silent. I got the silent rubber screws, they are designed for closed chassis type fans as they are sometimes known. I am mostly pleased with them, but just one minor gripe.. because it's a big beefy 200mm fan it does show minor signs of the rubber mount "head" being under some pressure from the weight of the fan (But only slightly) on the inside of my case there are rubber nipples protruding. Even though the idea of leaving ends of screws exposed didn't appeal to me, I don't mind rubber nipples so much, it just strikes me as somewhat undesirable leaving the ends of screws exposed and I am exactly the same way with dIY around the house, it's not enough to hammer/bend the end of the screw, I prefer to secure it, just looks neater and there isn't a chance of scratching yourself on exposed screws.

So you know my case specifically do you? You are probably right, there was originally screws with it.. I literally never throw anything out, especially after I finished assembling a pc, because you never know what bits and bobs you will need for future upgrades and expansions. I know with my seasonic x650 it was fully modular so you only attached the connections you needed to the psu, meaning it looks nice and tidy inside. I had several spare sata PCI-E and various other cables that came with the psu aswell as various screws and other bits and bobs from the motherboard. As I say, I very methodically collected everything like that and stored it in my seasonic psu pouch (why seasonic supply a black gold bag with a velcro pouch to store the psu in I will never know ) but it came in handy for all those things. Anyway the whole lot got chucked out along with whatever other spare boxes I kept in case I needed warranty on the graphics my ssd drive or whatever else.
Well you know women, you can't live with them and you can't live without them (or so i'm told)

[parsec]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

Thanks for your kind words, that's a great compliment!

Glad to hear the fan is behaving as it is for you. I was just uncertain what it would do given the specs, which really weren't very specific, and rarely are. Fans can be unpredictable, and add to that the fan speed control of the board, and it is very difficult to predict what the result will be.

I've never used your specific case, but I have a CM Storm Sniper that uses the 200mm CM fans, including the ability to add one to one side of the case. Given your description, I figured the mounting of the side fan would likely be similar if not exactly the same as my CM case, which turned out to be true.

I'm a bit surprised the rubber fan mounting "screws" fit as well as they did, but it obviously worked. Are you using the same threaded holes in the case side that the normal screws would connect to? You could fold the protruding nipple (yikes!) back upon itself and stick it into the hole (boy am I lost...) on the fan frame to hide it from view.

IMO, the loss of the cables for your Seasonic PSU (the kind I use) is a major disaster compared to the loss of those screws, but when you need a few specific screws, and nothing else will work, they become very valuable.

[pontypool]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

Thanks for your kind words, that's a great compliment!

Glad to hear the fan is behaving as it is for you. I was just uncertain what it would do given the specs, which really weren't very specific, and rarely are. Fans can be unpredictable, and add to that the fan speed control of the board, and it is very difficult to predict what the result will be.

I've never used your specific case, but I have a CM Storm Sniper that uses the 200mm CM fans, including the ability to add one to one side of the case. Given your description, I figured the mounting of the side fan would likely be similar if not exactly the same as my CM case, which turned out to be true.

I'm a bit surprised the rubber fan mounting "screws" fit as well as they did, but it obviously worked. Are you using the same threaded holes in the case side that the normal screws would connect to? You could fold the protruding nipple (yikes!) back upon itself and stick it into the hole (boy am I lost...) on the fan frame to hide it from view.

IMO, the loss of the cables for your Seasonic PSU (the kind I use) is a major disaster compared to the loss of those screws, but when you need a few specific screws, and nothing else will work, they become very valuable.

The rubber screws are designed specifically for closed type fans' which is when you get a 'tunnel' going from one screw hole to the other, the open ribbed types dont have this tunnel just holes with nothing between. The screws are the right length so you can wiggle them through until you see the end sticking out just slightly, then you pull /stretch until a niche secures it through the second hole.. so there's no way to not have the protruding nipple, unless you just want to cut it off, but that means it will be impossible to remove the screw as you wont be able to ever re-attach it. I can't really explain it any better than that, but they look like this Lamptron Closed Corner Fan Rubber Fan Mounts/Screws (4pcs) | eBay

Anyway asrock support finally answered my email today and according to them the fan should be connected to the psu directly. Which you of course suspected because of the voltage? do you think that could cause any harm to the motherboard? well anyway, i'm going to order the spare seasonic cables just in case.

[parsec]

Re: Installing antec big boy 200 as a side fan

ASRock is just repeating the way that fan is designed, with the factory connections. People adapt fans for use with various headers all the time, and there is really only one thing that can be an issue, which I'll explain.

The voltage that PC fans use is a standard, 12V is the normal maximum, but many fans can work fine with a bit more, your fan is rated up to 13.2V. Recall that I was concerned about the lowest voltage that the fan needed to start spinning, the spec seemed to show 10.8V, but given your experience it seems to indicate that 10.8V is the minimum voltage the fan needs to operate normally, and would still spin with its switch on the low setting. That fan will spin at a voltage below 10.8V.

Three pin fans are controlled by lowering the voltage the fan gets, which is what the switch does to change the fan's speed, and is how mother boards and fan controllers change the fan's speed. A mother board fan header will provide 12V, so voltage was not the problem, just what the voltage the fan header would provide when it is reduced from 12V. I was worried that your fan needed 10.8V to spin minimally, and the board's fan speed control will provide less than that a low setting. (BTW, all that is not the explanation... )

Voltage is one thing, but power is another, measured in Watts. For DC voltages (used by PC fans) the power used is simply calculated by: Voltage X Current = Power, with Current measured in Amperes (A), and power in Watts (W).

PC fans also have a Current rating, which is normally given as the maximum current used by the fan. Antec provides a more detailed current spec, one for each fan speed: 3 Speed Fan- Current: 0.08A, 0.17A, 0.3A. The maximum of 0.3A is not very high relative to PC fans, some use/need more current than that at full speed.

Next, guess what else has a maximum power rating? The fan headers on a mother board. No true standard exists for that power, but most current mother boards have a maximum current rating of 1.0A on all fan headers. Which means that is a safe rating, but it's not good to go past that much since it might damage the board.

Recently, I read that ASRock said the maximum current rating for the CPU Fan headers is 1.0A, but the Chassis Fan headers are only 0.6A. That is a bit low IMO compared to earlier boards, but what can you do? Assuming that is true, your fan at 0.3A max will be fine on any fan header on your board. Every fan test/review I've seen showed that fan manufactures are honest about the current rating of their fans, and even spec them on the high side, meaning they actually use less current. I have never seen a forum post that claimed a fan ruined a mother board because it drew to much power, even though there are a few very high speed fans that use well over 1.0A at full speed.

So you should be fine using that fan on a mother board fan header, but I could have said that 300 words ago...