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Hooking up your pre-installed case fans

Your case may come with a few fans but they obviously need power to work. Some use a molex connector, others plug directly into the motherboard.

This is a molex connector:

If your case fan has a plug that needs to be plugged into the motherboard, look at the diagrams in your motherboard manual for the correct plug.

Installing new case fans

Most cases come with an 80mm or 120mm rear fan pre-installed. If you're installing an aftermarket case fan(s), you probably want to install them into the front of the case blowing air in.

Basically, you want cool air blowing in from the front of the case and the rear fan sucking all the hot air out of the case. You also want the front case fan to be equal or smaller in size than the rear fan that's sucking the hot air out.

Case fans are generally installed by physically screwing the fan into the case. When doing this, verify you are installing it to correctly blow air in or suck air out depending on the fans location.

Once installed, you plug them into either the motherboard or a power supply connection like we did in the above step.

Next Lesson: Hooking up the front panel

It's time for the last lesson: Lesson 17: Hooking up the Front Panel.