Noctua recommends not to use industrialPPC (iPPC) 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 motors, 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 motherboard fan controllers, which actually generate lower voltages rather than applying resistance. 


Thus, Noctua recommends using either PWM or voltage-based motherboard fan control or laboratory/industrial power supplies for controlling the speed of industrialPPC fans. 




4-pin PWM
3-pin
Motherboard fan control PWM based
yes
no
Motherboard fan control voltage based
yes
yes
Resistor cables (Low-Noise Adaptors)
no
no
NA-FC1 fan controller
yesno
Common PC fan controllers
no(high starting speed)
no(high starting speed)
Laboratory/industrial power supplies
yes
yes