FAQ: Can industrialPPC fans be used with fan controllers and resistor cables (Low-Noise Adaptors)?

Noctua recommends not to use industrialPPC fans with common PC fan controllers, resistor cables (Low-Noise Adaptors) or other devices such as potentiometers that work by applying (variable) resistance rather than actually generating different voltages such as a laboratory power supply does. Due to the higher internal resistance of the industrialPPC fans’ three phase motor, applying additional resistance will cause the fans not to start (e.g. with Low-Noise Adaptors) or to have high starting speeds (e.g. with most common PC fan controllers). Please note that the industrialPPC fans feature starting voltages between 5.5V and 6V and can be run at these voltages on devices such as laboratory power supplies or mainboard fan controllers which actually generate lower voltages rather than applying resistance. Noctua thus recommends to use either PWM or voltage based mainboard fan control or laboratory/industrial power supplies for controlling the speed of industrialPPC fans.

	4-pin PWM	3-pin
Mainboard fan control PWM based
Mainboard fan control voltage based
Resistor cables (Low-Noise Adaptors)
Common PC fan controllers	(high starting speed)	(high starting speed)
Laboratory/industrial power supplies