Upgrading my PC's Memory+Cooling Fans & Cleaning it Out

Thanks for the input! As far as I know, my board doesn't have any PWM headers. I'm not really sure though as the website doesn't specify nor does this: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H - Overview, Visual Inspection and Board Features - Intel Z77 Motherboard Review with Ivy Bridge - ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI

I watched a tutorial on how to use speedfan but I just wasn't sure if speedfan would recognize the fans on my motherboard unless they were plugged in certain headers or something.

I guess I will have to do an open-case trial and error test but that will prove difficult with the side panel fan. But that's only if I can't get the fans the way I want them.

Alrighty, so the Noctua PWM fan comes with a PWM splitter. I will change the P12 which is non-PWM for a PWM version like this:
Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Two Speed 1300/900 RPM SSO2 Bearing - Newegg.com

That way, both PWM fans will be on the splitter together where the CPU fan header is at. Another peculiar thing that I want to mention is that if you look at the motherboard picture, you will see that all of the headers have 4 pins. Does this mean all of them are PWM? If so, then perhaps I should replace all of my fans with PWM fans. Also, do you think that my H60 is already connected into my CPU header? I read somewhere that that's what is how the power for it is controlled.

Oh, I see. But on the safe side, perhaps I should get all PWM fans anyway? I googled about 4 pin headers and read that any 4 pin header is PWM but that may be wrong. I know that my CPU fan header is PWM from what it looks like in SpeedFan but I'm unsure about the others. There's no data I can find on my specific motherboard that tells me whether or not the rest are PWM.

If you want to believe this,

Pulse-width modulation[edit]
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is a common method of controlling computer fans. A PWM-capable fan is usually connected to a 4-pin connector (pinout: Ground, +12 V, sense, control). The sense pin is used to relay the rotation speed of the fan and the control pin is an open-drain or open-collector output, which requires a pull-up to 5 V or 3.3 V in the fan. Unlike linear voltage regulation, where the fan voltage is proportional to the speed, the fan is driven with a constant supply voltage; the speed control is performed by the fan based on the control signal.

The control signal is a square wave operating at 25 kHz, with the duty cycle determining the fan speed. Typically a fan can be driven between about 30% and 100% of the rated fan speed, using a signal with up to 100% duty cycle. The exact speed behavior (linear, off until a threshold value, or a minimum speed until a threshold) at low control levels is manufacturer dependent.[7]

Many motherboards feature firmware and software that regulates these fans based on processor and computer case temperatures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comput...dth_modulation

And compare it to your manual,



Three of those headers fit the criteria.

Oh... OK. XD
Well, even if they aren't all PWM, I decided I will use all PWM fans anyway just to be on the safe side unless I find out sometime tomorrow through the internet that they aren't all PWM headers.

I found this 140mm PWM fan by Noctua which looked better than my Corsair so I decided it would probably be more worth it anyway to get it. Noctua NF-A14 PWM 140mm Case Fan - Newegg.com

I also decided on getting 3 of these instead of the Corsair ones as like the 140mm ones, I read they were hard to install and these actually get better airflow. COUGAR CF-V12HPB Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (Fluid) 300,000 Hours 12CM Silent Cooling Fan with Pulse Width Modulation (Black) - Newegg.com

The 4 pin fans will also match the 4 pin headers so there's that too... which isn't really a big deal or anything. XD
One main reason why I'm hoping all the headers are PWM is exactly as you explained it: "They spin slower when the PC is loafing, thereby making less noise. When load comes, they spin faster."

I would like to have my fans automatically adjusted to the necessary fan speed for the right temperatures. SpeedFan works with PWM fans as well so if I needed to further modify the speeds for higher or slower then that's great. The silence factor from it is a nice bonus I certainly don't mind at all either. Maybe it would motivate me to actually leave my PC on all night for testing things instead of hearing a grinding noise like my current fans that makes me want to turn it off lol.

EDIT:
@Derekimo thank you for the information! I may be a bit dull (or just too tired) to understand the full brunt of the information you posted but does it mean that 3/4 of my motherboard headers are PWM compatible? If so, then the above still applies then. Which header(s) # aren't compatible if the others are?

"Three of those headers fit the criteria." - Doesn't this mean that 3 out of 4 of the headers are PWM ready then? I compared it to the manual (and as I was searching for the page I randomly opened it up and there it was), and the information he posted matched it.