Fan Controllers: What do you use?

Luck100

Those of you here with fan controllers - what brand/model do you use? Not many reviews out there so I thought it might be helpful to share our collective experience. My motherboard can only control pwm fans so I need a controller to dial down the hurricane when I'm not gaming

I just got an Aerocool X-Vision unit
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerocool-X-Vision-LCD-inch-Controller/dp/B004YINZQU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

but it has a defective channel so it's going back for sure. After playing with it a bit, I see some pluses/minuses:

Pluses:
1. 5 channels
2. Pretty display, shows all five channels rpm / voltage (or temp) at same time.
3. Temperature sensors (didn't try them out yet). You can set an alarm level for each sensor. If you pass the alarm temp, the alarm sounds (duh) and fan spins at max speed.
4. Fans can be set to 0 (off) or anywhere from 50% to 100% speed.
5. Knob control (don't really like touch controllers)

Minuses:
1. Channel 1 is intended for CPU cooler, so you can't set it to zero. It has a special connector so you can connect the fan to the Aerocool controller, and then on to the motherboard. Problem is, the fan just seems to spin at a set speed - neither the Aerocool or the motherboard seem to control it.
2. Only 8 watts max per channel. That could be a problem with bigger fans, or if you want to gang two or more fans on a single channel. Don't really want my pc going up in flames due to a dodgy controller.
3. No presets. I thought I could configure a set of high and low fan settings and toggle them with a button, but no. You just have to dial all the fans up and down one by one each time.


I'm thinking of exchanging it for something with more watts and less bling, maybe the Lamptron FC2:

http://www.lamptron.com/product/controllers/fc2/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lamptron-Controller-2-Channel-Anodized-Aluminium/dp/B002R84J28/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1380884160&sr=1-1&keywords=lamptron+fan+controller

That's got a whopping 45 watts per channel. It can set to 0 or 40%-100% range (so slightly more flexible). No display or temperature sensors, but I have a feeling those aren't much use anyway.



Intel Core i7-3770K (not overclocked currently)
Gigabyte G1.Sniper 3 EATX LGA1155
G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB 2.5" SSD
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB
EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower (120mm rear exhaust fan + 200mm top exhaust)
5 x 120mm Thermalright X-Silent case fans
SeaSonic 1050W
Dell U2713HM 27.0" (2560 x 1440)

BloodBath

Those Thermalright X-Silent case fans according to my calculations only use 1w of power each at full speed. Even taking it as double that to be safe means you could still have 3-4 fans on 1 channel.

Imo the lamptron is inferior.

Luck100

Yes, I agree the X-Silent fans will easily fit within the 8 watt spec. I was more concerned about the 200m Antec exhaust fan on top of the case. I can't find any specs for that anywhere. Probably well less than 8 watts and just to be safe I'd put it on it's own channel alone.

I just thought the Lamptron looks more robust in terms of the power circuitry. It's obviously inferior in terms of most features, but do you consider it inferior in terms of build quality or reliability?

BloodBath

No clue about reliability. That's hard to say really. 40w per channel is just very excessive as well. I'm not sure how a couple of molex connections can even carry 240w of power. You won't make use of it so what's the point?

Of course if you prefer the looks and the analog dials per channel then go for it.