Fan Controllers - Whats hot?

DirkVoodoo

Right,

I'm looking for a 5.25" bay fan controller unit. I was tempted by some of the Scythe range; the kama-meter and kaze-master satisfy my requirement for black fascia and lots of blinking LEDs.

I've googled for reviews but they are few and far between, most are links to "little tykes: my first review" quality posts on various forums.

Anyone got any experience with fan controllers that were easy to use, supported about 4 fans with a 7(or less) to 12V modulation and indicator of when a fan has stalled?

Anyone own a kama or kaze controller? Anyone know one that looks good on a black lian-li v1000 (hey, its gotta look purty!)

Anti

What you need is a rheobus/baybus

Baybus:


http://www.pc-look.com/boutik/Prod_Noise_Isolator_6-Channels-BayBus-Alu-Black__491_en.html

Rheobus:


http://www.pc-look.com/boutik/Prod_Sunbeam_5.25''-Rheobus-6-Channels-30W-Canal-Rheobus-Extreme-Black__16421_en.html

DirkVoodoo

Sweet, cheers Anti.

Anti

No hassle

DirkVoodoo

Hmm..Thinking about the Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus. The techpower-up review of the sunbeam wasn't the most flattering. Would that get a yay or a nay?

sink

I own the ZM-MFC1 Plus. It's pretty decent two negative things I would mention about it.

It is not so easy to mount on a screwless 5.25" bay. You have to use screws as it only has one mounting hole on either side. On my case (NZXT Lexa) this causes it to feel very loose and flimsy.

The first one I got I had to send back because one of the light stayed blue when you put it to full power (it's supposed to turn red). The replacement I got is still working fine 1 year later.

Every thing else about it is pretty positive. It looks nice, has a fine metallic feel. The dials are pretty solid and feel very smooth. Plenty of extension cables so you can fit the fans anywhere.

toco123

I hear Akasa have nice fan contollers.. don't no too much about them tho!

Deliverance XXV

I am using the Aerocool PowerWatch.



Komplett Link

Pros: Cheap, has memory card reader, tells & controls temps/fan speeds, looks good.
Cons: Down side to it is the amount of wires; will clog up case if you use all the features, accurate only to about 2/3 degrees, flimsy temp probes, uses two 5 1/4 bays.

I have it in my Antec 900 and TBH I am not really using it for the function side of it, I lost interest in the functions the day after I bought it. It just looks good.

DirkVoodoo

Sink: Thanks for the heads up, I've put the order through.

Toco: Yeah I was considering the Akasa ones, seem similar enough to the Zalman. It seems they are all pretty much the same rheostat-with-knob in different packaging. The Zalman one seemed like the one that would go best with the Lian-Li.

King: That sure is a busy looking panel. I only wanted a 4-6 channel controller with knobs and some LEDs or and LCD display. Cheers though.

Anti

one of the lads has the ZM-MFC2 and its really nice looking. Give temps, fan control and even lets you know what power you are drawing. But i dont think its accurate.

zilog_jones

Do any of these have automated controls? I like SpeedFan because of this (the fans can run pretty quietly when things are idle), but it's unable to control the CPU fan for some reason...

The guy

Anti wrote: »

What you need is a rheobus/baybus

Baybus:


http://www.pc-look.com/boutik/Prod_Noise_Isolator_6-Channels-BayBus-Alu-Black__491_en.html

That is a great fan controller, simple only for the purple lights.

nibble

You could get an mCubed BigNG, basically it is the ultimate fan controller. It can be controlled through software or programmed so its OS independant too.. Fans can be controlled based on temp sensors, even water temps. It can run in PWM mode or by varying the voltage. Look into it they can do just about everything, but a bit pricey at about €70 I think.
I was going to get one a while back but didn't really have the cash to fork out for it .