I am looking at a Vantec NXP-305 fan controller. It controls 3 fans (3 nobs from off - full power)

It will control the front 120mm fan and the rear 120mm fan. That takes up 2 of the knobs.

I have 2 80mm fans on the side of the computer cooling the pci slots (Identical fans). Both of the fans are 3/4 pins (they have an adaptor to 4 pin). Is there a way to control both of the 80mm fans with one knob and let them be controlled at the same speed since they are right next to eachother?

Here is the link to the two fans I ordered

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999627

I don't see how that would be a problem (as long as the fans don't draw too much power a piece).  I'd just wire them in parallel and leave it be.

Yeah the fan controller handles 18W on each channel. Hooking up 2 80mm fans in parallel will be no problem at all.

newegg doesn't say how much power the fans use.  Would both of them together on full power be less then 12V?

these are the stats of the fan controller

3 Channel Aluminum Fan Controller
Each Channel Supports Up To 18 Watts
Control Voltage From 0V to 12V
Manually Adjust From FULL SPEED to OFF
Great for Vantec Tornado Or Other High CFM Fans
Built-In Dual CCFL Inverter With Light Control
Adjust To Either ON, OFF, Or SOUND ACTIVATED
Compatible With Vantec Spectrum Cold Cathode Lights
Stylish Aluminum Housing With Ultra-Bright LED Lights
Fits In A Standard 5.25" Drive Bay

Input voltage 12V
Output voltage 0v-12v
output current up to 1.5a
optimal wattage up to 18 watts

I just want to make sure i'm ordering the right thing.  My case has a door that cruves in so I'm very limited in the amout of space the buttons can stick out.  I'm not even sure if this will fit but I need manual control of the fans from off - full speed.

What would be the best way to hook them together? Run them from the 4 pins for adequate power from the power supply and then just run 1 of the 3 pins to the fan controller?

just hook them both up, no worries

If you connect the fans in parallel (connecting the 2 fan's red connectors together and then their black connectors together) they will run at 12V. The average 80mm fan only draws about .1amp, so you are looking at a total power of 2.4 Watts.

I'm confussed.  My current monitor isn't the greatest I'm on right now.  So the red wire is the 3 pin ones?

I am unsure if I connect the 3pin or 4pin wires up to the fan controller.  But if it takes the 3 pins then hooking the 3 pins together would not work becuase I would not have another to go to the controller?

If this is easily possible, do you think the front and rear 120mm fans can also be put together on 1 of the knobs?   That would allow me to control the processor fan manually on it's own knob

Just get a 3 Pin Y splitter cable:


Leave your CPU fan alone. Too much risk of damage/overheating there. Let it run at 12V all the time.

I would really like the cpu fan to work with it though because otherwise it would be at 50+ db all the time and I only need it there when gaming.

the specs are
187 g
rated voltage 12V
rated power 12.5W
rated current 1.0amp
fan speed 4800 rpm
air flow 119 cfm
noise 56.4 db

the processor is going to be overclocked but I need a way to control the speed of it :)

I just put one of these in my PC, but I'm on my way out.

I'll get back to this thread later.

Quoted: the processor is going to be overclocked but I need a way to control the speed of it :)

Listen to these people.   Don't fuck with the CPU fan.......


Unless you want to find out the hard way.



Like coughing up a few hundred for a new one ?  Go right ahead.......


Seen more fried parts from kids who think they know better, and "ohh, I watch it all the time, I know what I'm doing !".



Uh huh.......    

I was working on one of my linux server from work the other day.  all of a sudden the connection just died.  so i figured the  internet had died.   came home rebooted the system... nothing      took the case off and when i was moving the case around i hear something in the case move
when i opened the side of the case, i found that  the fan had fallen off the top of the heatsink.  this was a coolermaster high end cpu fan.... ended up frying my XP1800+  chip in a matter of minutes if that.  So much for the motherboard sensors on a $100 motherboard.  no warning that the cpu fan wasn't spinning slower or anything .  it just feel off.

IMO  over clocking is just asking for trouble.  i went on a service call today.  this 19 year old had just built a computer..  he didn't have the money for a higher end processor at the time.   so he just overclocked the one that he bought.  we fixed the intermittent blue screen's real quick by doing a factory defaults in the bios...... amateurs