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PWM Y-Splitter Cable

Cables & Splitters

PWM Y-Splitter Cable

4.5 338 ratings

A PWM Y-splitter: one motherboard header drives two four-pin fans from a single control point.

$6.95

In stock

Sold and shipped by an authorized retail partner. Price shown was current when this page was built.

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Model
CA-PWM-01
Color
Black
Category
Cables & Splitters

The simplest version of the same problem. This Y cable takes one PWM header and splits it to two fans, which is enough for the very common case of a pair of intakes or a push-pull setup on a cooler. There is nothing to configure and nothing to power separately.

  1. Two fans that should behave as one

    A splitter is the right tool when both fans genuinely belong on the same curve: two front intakes, two radiator fans, a cooler running push-pull. In those situations having them on separate headers with separate curves is not an advantage, it is just two places to make the same mistake.

  2. Current draw is worth a thought

    A motherboard fan header supplies a limited amount of current, typically around one amp. Two ordinary case fans are nowhere near that. Two high-speed industrial fans might be, and the symptom of exceeding it is not always dramatic failure but a header that quietly stops controlling properly.

  3. Which fan the board sees

    As with any splitter, only one tachometer line is passed back, so the reported speed belongs to one of the two fans. If the other one stops, nothing will say so. On a cooler that matters more than on a case panel, which is an argument for a periodic look inside rather than for a different cable.

  4. Keeping the run short

    A splitter adds a junction wherever it sits, and the tidiest place for that junction is close to the two fans rather than close to the board. Plan where it lands before routing, because a Y cable pulled taut across the middle of a case is the sort of thing that gets fixed on the third attempt.

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