Please Help! - New Gaming Desktop Build Issues

[Silver_Fox]

I’m building a new high end gaming desktop PC for my son, using the following components chosen using Part-picker:

Case: Fractal Design Define 7XL Light
CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K 3.8 GHz 8 Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master ML360R RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid Cooler
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming ATX LGA1200
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2x16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
Storage SSD Windows ‘C’ Drive: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" SSD
Storage SSD Games Drive: Samsung 860 Evo 2 TB 2.5" SSD
Storage HDD: Western Digital Black 6 TB 7200 RPM
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ultra Gaming 10GB GDDR6X PCI Express
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply.
Optical Drive: Asus BW-16D1HT BluRay
Operating System: Widows 10 Home (on USB Flash Drive)

There seems to be compatibility issues between the following components:

Case: Fractal Design Define 7 XL
MOB: ASUS Strix Z470E
Liquid Cooler: Cooler Master ML 360 R

I have built several desktop PC’s before without any dramas. However, I’m having problems with this build.
I’m very confused as to how to connect the 3 x Chassis Fans, 3 x Cooler Fans and Cooler Pump.
The MOB fan connector sockets are all 4 pin. Yet the 3x case fan connectors are 3 pin female, as are the connectors for the Cooler Fans & Pump.

The Fractal case incorporates a Nexus + 2 Fan Hub with 6 x 3 pin fan connections, 3 x 4 pin PWM fan connections, a SATA power connector and a CPU_Fan / SYS_Fan Connector.

Should I connect the case fans, cooler fans and cooler pump to the Nexus + 2 Fan Hub and ignore the MOB fan connector sockets (which I can’t use anyway as they all appear to be 4 pin PWM)?

Any help in clarifying these issues would be greatly appreciated. It would appear that Part-picker hasn’t matched the Fractal case, ASUS MOB and Cooler Master liquid cooler very well.

[KMagic]

It is a lot of wiring, but this is actually quite simple. Let's walk through it all. So the pump has 2x 3 pin female connections. One is for RGB control, one is for powering the pump motor. Each of the 3 fans have 2x female connections, one is a 4 pin, and one is a 3 pin. The 4pin is the one that will power the fan and allow you to control its speed. the 3 pin is again the RGB control. The 3 pin RGB connectors all look the same, as you show in your pictures. The diagram you shared shows the motherboard powering all the motors - the 3 fans and the pump, all 4 of those connections go to the motherboard. All of the 3 pin RGB connections are going into the RGB hub in your diagram. The diagram looks a little more confusing I guess because it shows the use of 2 splitters for the fans - one on the RGB hub, and one on the motherboard. The splitters in the diagram show you connecting all 3 fans to a single power header on the motherboard - the CPU fan header. The 3 RGB Fan connections go into another splitter and all plug into one of the 2 ports on the RGB hub. They are using splitters because you only have 2 RGB plugs on the hub in the diagram but you need to make 4 connections. One connection is for the pump's RGB, then you only have one other port, so you have to use a splitter to get all the fans connected. The same thing is occurring with the splitter on the motherboard in order to put all the fans on the CPU fan header. You could forgo that however and use 3 sperate fan headers on the motherboard if you wanted to.

For clarification on which connection is what - the fan and pump POWER connections all have the little plastic ribs on the underside of the plug which slot over the plastic support piece on the connection. The RGB connections do not have these little ribs. The hub itself will live inside the case, along with all the wires. Nothing comes outside of the case for this. Typically these hubs are hidden behind the motherboard tray, or down near the power supply area. You can get creative on how to hide it all depending what case you have.

[Silver_Fox]

KMagic wrote:
It is a lot of wiring, but this is actually quite simple. Let's walk through it all. So the pump has 2x 3 pin female connections. One is for RGB control, one is for powering the pump motor. Each of the 3 fans have 2x female connections, one is a 4 pin, and one is a 3 pin. The 4pin is the one that will power the fan and allow you to control its speed. the 3 pin is again the RGB control. The 3 pin RGB connectors all look the same, as you show in your pictures. The diagram you shared shows the motherboard powering all the motors - the 3 fans and the pump, all 4 of those connections go to the motherboard. All of the 3 pin RGB connections are going into the RGB hub in your diagram. The diagram looks a little more confusing I guess because it shows the use of 2 splitters for the fans - one on the RGB hub, and one on the motherboard. The splitters in the diagram show you connecting all 3 fans to a single power header on the motherboard - the CPU fan header. The 3 RGB Fan connections go into another splitter and all plug into one of the 2 ports on the RGB hub. They are using splitters because you only have 2 RGB plugs on the hub in the diagram but you need to make 4 connections. One connection is for the pump's RGB, then you only have one other port, so you have to use a splitter to get all the fans connected. The same thing is occurring with the splitter on the motherboard in order to put all the fans on the CPU fan header. You could forgo that however and use 3 sperate fan headers on the motherboard if you wanted to.

For clarification on which connection is what - the fan and pump POWER connections all have the little plastic ribs on the underside of the plug which slot over the plastic support piece on the connection. The RGB connections do not have these little ribs. The hub itself will live inside the case, along with all the wires. Nothing comes outside of the case for this. Typically these hubs are hidden behind the motherboard tray, or down near the power supply area. You can get creative on how to hide it all depending what case you have.

Thank you again for your time and for your detailed response.

I am still digesting feedback just received from Fractal , regarding the Nexus-2 fan hub and from Cooler Master regarding their ML 360R.
Their responses were slow due to the Christmas holidays and sickness in their departments.
Please give me a couple of days to make sense of all the feedback I am getting from various sources.
I will post here again soon if I have any further questions or need further clarifications.

Thank you again for you assistance and patience.

[Silver_Fox]

Silver Fox wrote:
Thank you again for your time and for your detailed response.

I am still digesting feedback just received from Fractal , regarding the Nexus-2 fan hub and from Cooler Master regarding their ML 360R.
Their responses were slow due to the Christmas holidays and sickness in their departments.
Please give me a couple of days to make sense of all the feedback I am getting from various sources.
I will post here again soon if I have any further questions or need further clarifications.

Thank you again for you assistance and patience.

I should explain that owing to my deteriorating eyesight, I've had to 'farm' my partially built PC out to a professional to complete the build.

Since my last post of earlier today and since getting the PC back, Ive had a chance to take a good look at the fan and pump wiring and have made the following observations ( Please refer to the attached Fractal Nexus-2 Hub connection diagram) :

1. Nexus-2 Hub Connections:

1.1 The supplied PWM cable (right hand cable on the hub) has been connected to CHA_FAN1 on the Z490-E motherboard.
1.2 The supplied SATA cable has been connected to the PSU.
1.3 Nothing has been connected to any of the three 4 pin connection points.
1.4 The 3 case fans have been connected to 3 of the 3 pin connection points.

2. Cooler Master ML 360R Fan & Pump Connections:

2.1 All 3 fans have been connected to CPU_FAN on the motherboard, using a 3 way splitter cable
2.2 The pump has been connected to AIO_PUMP on the motherboard.

The connection arrangement described above seems a little strange to me, particularly as there is nothing connected to any of the 4 pin connection points on the Nexus-2 Hub

The Fractal wiring diagram shows the Main CPU 4 pin PWM fan connected to the right hand 4 pin connection point on the Nexus-2 Hub,
but these fans are connected to CPU_FAN on the motherboard, as described in 2.1 above.

I would appreciate your opinion on how these fans have been connected.
It would appear that with the wiring method used, the hub will not receive any PWM signals from the motherboard?

[Silver_Fox]

Silver Fox wrote:
I should explain that owing to my deteriorating eyesight, I've had to 'farm' my partially built PC out to a professional to complete the build.

Since my last post of earlier today and since getting the PC back, Ive had a chance to take a good look at the fan and pump wiring and have made the following observations ( Please refer to the attached Fractal Nexus-2 Hub connection diagram) :

1. Nexus-2 Hub Connections:

1.1 The supplied PWM cable (right hand cable on the hub) has been connected to CHA_FAN1 on the Z490-E motherboard.
1.2 The supplied SATA cable has been connected to the PSU.
1.3 Nothing has been connected to any of the three 4 pin connection points.
1.4 The 3 case fans have been connected to 3 of the 3 pin connection points.

2. Cooler Master ML 360R Fan & Pump Connections:

2.1 All 3 fans have been connected to CPU_FAN on the motherboard, using a 3 way splitter cable
2.2 The pump has been connected to AIO_PUMP on the motherboard.

The connection arrangement described above seems a little strange to me, particularly as there is nothing connected to any of the 4 pin connection points on the Nexus-2 Hub

The Fractal wiring diagram shows the Main CPU 4 pin PWM fan connected to the right hand 4 pin connection point on the Nexus-2 Hub,
but these fans are connected to CPU_FAN on the motherboard, as described in 2.1 above.

I would appreciate your opinion on how these fans have been connected.
It would appear that with the wiring method used, the hub will not receive any PWM signals from the motherboard?

Just a quick update on this post.

I have managed to sort everything out with the fans now. The 3 Cooler Master fans and the three chassis fans are all now on the Nexus-2 hub. Also the PWM wire from the hub is now connected to CPU_FAN on the MOB.

The confusion was caused by the person who finished the build of the PC for me. He had used a 3 way cable and connected all 3 Cooler Master fans to CPU_FAN on the MOB. At first, I couldn't understand why he had done this, as with this wiring method, there would be no RPM signals going from the hub to the MOB.
After unravelling the cooler fan wiring, I realised that the cable for the furthest away radiator fan was too short to reach the hub. All 3 fan cables had been bunched together and connected to CPU_FAN on the MOB. All I had to do was move the radiator 25mm towards the back of the case and was then able to connect all 3 cooler fans to the hub 4 pin sockets. Now all the fans connected to the hub are working as a single unit. Their speeds can be increased or reduced using the BIOS or if required, other fan monitor software. All fans now increase or decrease by the same amount.

I've checked the cooler pump, 3 liquid cooler fans and 3 chassis fans using the BIOS facility and everything looks ok.

Thanks for all your help on this issue, I really appreciate it.