Windows 7 - Did I just fry my motherboard?

So last night I was adding a stock ACER motherboard with a Stock Q8300 and a heatsink with fan. After I installed everything I completly forgot to plug in the 4 pin connetctor to the MOBO. I smelled something burning and immediately shut of my PC. So after I found out what I forgot to do, I plugged in the 4Pin connector and the PC boots up and posts. I managed to install Win 7 on it and everything seems fine....BUT, the only thing that does not work anymore is the CPU's Heatsink Fan thats connected to the motherboard. I dont know what I should do...Should I replace the entire mobo or replace the heatsink with a fan....Or maybe what I did will cause problems later. Help!

In the interim, move the cpu fan to another header.

Ideally a burnt mobo should be replaced.

Unfortunatly the MOBO only has 1 4 pin header.....

Plug another fan into it and see if it works. If it doesn't work their is a good chance you cooked the motherboard and or cpu.

Well i know the CPU or mobo is not fried becuase i can boot and run win 7 just fine.

I would try a new fan as well to see if that is the problem. the smoke smell might have been from the motor in the fan itself or maybe a ball bearing getting destroyed....

I would not run the system without a fan on the the heatsink... the cpu could get too hot and get damaged. This chance of this is slim as most CPU's have preventative measures to prevent damage and will simply fail first, but I would not risk it.

Also, a component on the motherboard could be fried and still the functionality that you use is still good. but this integrity flaw could pop up at any time and damage other components or simply fail without warning later on.

Also, if you cant get another fan, (or if a new fan doesnt work either) but have access to a voltmeter and the mobo documentation, you can test the current on the 4pin to see if it is recieving the correct amount of voltage

You can get a 3 pin fan to 4 pin connector and connect the fan to the PSU. If it dosen't run, you will know it is the fan that needs replacing.

there are 2 fans that are on the case that work like a exhaust. It sucks the hot air out the case and they are located literally right next to the CPU and the other on the top of the case facing the CPU. Can i still run it without the fan on the the heatsink?

No. You cannot run the computer without a CPU cooler and fan.

Which 4-pin connector did you forget?