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I want to control the two upper fans in my N300 case with a Zalman Fan Mate 2 and I'm wondering if it is reliable to connect two fans (in my case two Sickleflow fans) in parallel. If it is, connect the Fan Mate 2 to the PSU and then connect a generic Y-splitter to have two regulated power outputs. If not possible, is there any alternative to control two fans with the same controller (I want it to work at the same speed approximately).

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  • most fan control is all about power to the fan, so there is no logic to it; just send more power when you want faster and less when you want slower. completely analogue. as such, you either need a device that can control two channels in parallel, or something inline to distribute the power evenly. wiring the fans in parallel will help a lot, but there is no guarantee that the fanspeeds will match. Dec 9, 2014 at 16:15
  • Well, my problem is with the noise. These fans are very noisy when working at maximum speed and I don't need them to work at maximum speed every day, so I would like to have a mechanism to stop the noise and "make noise" only when it is needed (i.e. a hot summer day playing to some CPU/GPU intensive game)
    – Ivan
    Dec 9, 2014 at 16:22
  • Personally, I;d check your motherboard for power management on your cooling systems. My workstation box has rather sophisticated controls that turn the fans up or down based on different (configurable) sensor readings. thats about the best you can hope for. Otherwise the controller will probably work, but you will have to give the fans twice as much current as you would normally, so that may prevent them from going up as high as you'd like when you need them. Dec 9, 2014 at 16:57
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    @FrankThomas because he is connecting them in parallel and not serial, they will draw twice as much current. It's an important distinction as the idea that the power controller pushes out current is not correct. It changes the voltage and not the current. If he connected 10 fans in parallel they would almost certainly draw more then 6 watts and fry the controller.
    – Arthur
    Dec 9, 2014 at 17:00

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as long as the total power of the fans that you are trying to control is less then 6 watts, You will be fine.

You have two fans of the exact same model, so chances are that they will be running at (roughly) the same speed.

The only thing that won't work is the RPM reporting on the fan. the yellow cable is designed to be connected to one fan only.

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