Tired of slow fans? See how a new fan driver makes them last longer, use less power, and work easily in PCs, appliances, and industrial systems.
Cooling fans are critical in systems like gaming PCs, consoles, refrigerators, UPS, and energy storage solutions (ESS). Designers in these markets face growing pressure to balance noise reduction, long fan lifetime, and stable operation, while also keeping costs low. Fans often run at low speeds, where controlling airflow smoothly without generating noise is especially challenging. The MLX90411-D fan driver from Melexis addresses these issues with advanced motor control, high configurability, and easier system integration.
The fan driver targets consumer electronics (gaming consoles, PCs), home appliances (refrigerators), and industrial power systems (UPS, ESS). It improves low-speed operation, reduces acoustic noise, and extends fan lifetime. Its upgraded proportional–integral (PI) motor control loop allows stable operation even below 1000 RPM and supports multiple start and stop profiles to match different application requirements.
The device offers full speed-curve configurability, letting designers set both minimum and maximum operating points. This enables precise airflow control, reduces minimum fan speed to lower power use and noise, and allows fans to operate efficiently across a wide range of system requirements.
Integration into systems is simplified with built-in FG (frequency generator) and RD (rotation detection) outputs, so monitoring does not require multiple IC variants. The PWM input can be configured as pull-up or pull-down, eliminating the need for external inverters and reducing the bill of materials.
Safety and reliability are maintained through proven MLX90411 family features, including locked-rotor protection, temperature shutdown, programmable overvoltage protection, and short-circuit protection. The device comes in the same SOT23-6 package as the MLX90411B, ensuring pin-to-pin compatibility for easy migration without PCB redesign.
With its combination of configurability, low-noise operation, cost efficiency, and proven reliability, the MLX90411-D is suited for fan designs below 10 W, including PC and GPU cooling, gaming consoles, refrigerators, and 24 V or 32 V industrial fans in UPS, inverters, and energy storage systems.
“The MLX90411-D delivers on value by combining cost-effectiveness and trusted Melexis quality with new levels of flexibility,” said Xuanhong Ou, Marketing Manager at Melexis. “Its configurable speed curve, improved acoustic behavior, and simplified system integration give engineers the confidence to meet both quality and cost demands in today’s competitive cooling markets.”
