BitFenix "Control Yourself!" End User Reviews

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xbournex

xbournex

xbournex

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Hi Guys!

It's been a while hasn't it. Sorry! We've been pretty darn busy in the office after Computex. That's fine... Everyone in our office have this built-in "overclock" button. :)

Personally, I've been heavily demoing our Recon and Hydra Pro during and after Computex. Hydra Pro is just a simple 30W Fan Controller system that cranks your fan up or down with the ability to flip BitFenix Spectre/Spectre Pro LED's on or off. Perfect for when you're going to sleep if your computer is in the room. Near silent operation (Unless are you still using HDD's) :p

Recon is our prized possession of all. Over the weeks I've been testing, tweeking, and helping out with different Recon setups. So far, it's been quite interesting with a lot of people asking how it works.

I've got 2 Hydra Pro's, and 2 Recons to give out for you guys to review for us. To help out with the review, each person will receive 2x Spectre pro's of their choice in color and size.

Let me know the top 3 reasons why you want to give this review a shot, and winners will be picked on Monday the 16th of July. Good luck!

-xbournex
 
Nice to see a new give away for review! :)

I would like to try either product because...

1. They look cool (especially the Recon) and would make the front of my case look a hell of a lot more interesting.
2. Would be useful for full control of all my system fans.
3. They're made by Bitfenix of which the quality is said to be high, so I'm interested to sample one of these quality items from yourselves!

Good luck all! :)
 
Been a while! :p Firstly thanks for this give away :) Good luck to all that enter.


I would like to give the recon fan controller a go and to review it thoroughly as:

1. It looks damn cool and would look lovely with my Bitfenix Raider case and I am very impressed with Bitfenix products, love the Raider case and the quietness of the spectre fans, top quality products for a very competitive price and always have some genius idea for each of your products, which are actually very cool and useful, not just a gimmick. This would be my very first time using a proper fan controller.

2. I love to review products and it would add to my wee portfolio of reviews :p Also not only will the review be posted on this site, but also on Neowin.net forums and it will also be featured on the front page of neowin.net like most of my big reviews, thus tweeted by a lot of people on twitter who have thousands of followers including tech sites ;) :p

It also would make a nice addition to my Bitfenix Raider review.

The big reviews:

HTC one S (some mini reviews of other cases and screen protectors, cables etc. in that review thread as well)
Bitfenix Raider
razer deathadder

smaller reviews:

case mate tough
diztronic matte TPU case
cover mate desk cradle for the one S
Gelid Tranquillo rev.2 CPU heatsink
TP-Link WN722N(C) 150Mbps Wireless USB Adapter

And as you can see in the comments etc. all my reviews receive very good feedback and for a few of them, it has made people change their mind on the product and/or company or/and more inclined to go with that certain product over a competitor's product (the reviews received a lot of good feedback on this forum as well)

3. To be able to control your PC fans from your mobile etc. is pure genius! Would work very nicely with my android phone (HTC one S)


Also since the bitfenix raider review etc. I have a much much better camera, so photos will look a lot better :p






I still use the good old mechanical hard drives, have 4 of them and they click away throughout the night :o :p SSD to replace one or two of them soon though!
 
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I'd be interested in testing the Recon Fan controller because:

1. I can do a direct comparison to another well known controller - Lampron FC5 v2 which is in the similar price range and most likely a direct competitor.
Having a superior product would gain you a market advantage.

2. Auto features don't always work well - I'd like to verify if you have done a good job by creating a real life test regime which can check this.

3. I work in a test laboratory - standard laboratory practices and testing are what I do! :)
 
First of all, I have to say that I have no actual reviewing experience, however on many occasions I've advised people on which components to get, giving them precise reasons for the choices I've made. I first did this when I was 19 (I'm 29 now :p), and most recently I spec'd and assembled my girlfriend's PC a few weeks ago, which she's extremely happy with.

My main reasons for being very interested in this 'task' (more like privilege!):


  • I've been very impressed with the BitFenix range of products, from the quality, to the presentation and the value for money. After recommending the black windowed Shinobi, I quickly went out and got myself one, as well as 3 Spectre fans. I couldn't be happier with them. Next in line will be some of the Alchemy products which will make my rig look even smarter.


  • After being the 'advisor' on so many occasions, I would love for it to be taken to the next level and to help as many people as possible, instead of just the one person at a time method.


  • I honestly believe I can do it. Not to blow my own horn, but I think my presentation, writing and analytical skills are up to par and I would do you proud :D
 
I reviewed products before so another bitfenix product to review would be great!

1. Will do comparison of the Hydra against the recon in terms of setup and control
2. Reviews give me something to do
3. I quite fancy doing a video review aswell as a text review
 
I would like to do a review at some point, but I don't think I'm ready to do it - yet.

Good on BitFenix for doing this, really nice to see a strong community participation from a company of such magnitude.
 
I would also be interested in reviewing the Recon controller. I've reveiwed a few products, including Bitfenix Spectre fans and CPU coolers and often write tutorials when I do something interesting. I also have a half decent camera.

1. The Recon is probably the first fan controller I've actually been interested in looking at. That's really saying something.

2. It will be great to have some form of automated fan control in my system which does run a bit warm at times due to an aftermarket graphics cooler.

3. I really enjoy looking at new things and working out their capabilties.

I already have several Bitfenix Spectre fans so wouldn't need any additional fans.
 
MY top 3 reason for reviewing 1 of these products are...

1.Bitfenix products are of top quality

2.Just got my new case (storm trooper) and would like to compare it against the stock fan controller.Also need 2 Red LeD fans :)

3.Been watching/reading so many reviews would be good to do some myself and see if i could help people with some choices they make on components
 
1. I love my bitfenix raider case! and always show it off when friends come round and show how quiet it is, the built in fan controller, the top mounted usb 3 ports, and how lovely the SofTouch coating is, is it wrong that i have to reach over and touch it everynow and then?

2. I sleep right next to my bitfenix raider, its literally an inch from my bed, nothing to do with the sofTouch coating :D, and love that the raider is already quiet, but if there is a way to make it quieter, i'm interested. no hdd's inside, only an ssd. Although i'd probably be more interested to try it in my main rig, which has 6 akasa venoms, and a couple of other noname fans i'm looking to replace, along with adding 3 more, and they are all being controlled by a pwm splitter daisychained, and it can be quite noisy, something to control that lot would be nice!.

3. I'm still waiting on a windowed side panel for the raider and you guys havent made it happen yet!! :P I love bitfenix products, take my money darnit!!!!
 
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I would like to have a crack at reviewing these items.

1. Currently I have and recommend the Zalman Z9 case (has 4 fans and a simple fan controller with digital temp display). I have used your more budget orientated cases in a few builds (merc,outlaw,shinobi) and I must confess I was impressed with the quality and design of the products for the price. However they don't come with many fans or a fan controller and are begging for expansion.

It would be great to see if the fan controllers are as useful as they seem and the internet control is not just a gimmick. We all love upgrades, it would be nice to show that potential purchasers can start with your more budget orientated cases and expand them to be much more than the sum of their parts.

2. The ability to turn off the LEDs is of great interest to me. Is this feature exclusive to your spectre fans? Im sure many people would like to know for sure....i know im curious. Any fan controller can dim the LEDs on a fan but being able to turn them off completely is a very nice touch indeed

3. Lastly, next week is relatively quiet for me before I'm swamped doing builds at the end of the month. This gives me plenty of time to take pics, tinker and collect my thoughts. Don't impress me too much! I don't want to have to alter my proposed builds greatly ;)

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. Good luck to all in running, if I don't see the kit for myself, I'm very eager to hear my fellow forum members thoughts...I really enjoyed stulid and RJCs reviews of the XL case, the bar for reviews has been set :D
 
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xbournex said:
Hi Guys!

It's been a while hasn't it. Sorry! We've been pretty darn busy in the office after Computex. That's fine... Everyone in our office have this built-in "overclock" button. :)

Personally, I've been heavily demoing our Recon and Hydra Pro during and after Computex. Hydra Pro is just a simple 30W Fan Controller system that cranks your fan up or down with the ability to flip BitFenix Spectre/Spectre Pro LED's on or off. Perfect for when you're going to sleep if your computer is in the room. Near silent operation (Unless are you still using HDD's) :p

Recon is our prized possession of all. Over the weeks I've been testing, tweeking, and helping out with different Recon setups. So far, it's been quite interesting with a lot of people asking how it works.

I've got 2 Hydra Pro's, and 2 Recons to give out for you guys to review for us. To help out with the review, each person will receive 2x Spectre pro's of their choice in color and size.

Let me know the top 3 reasons why you want to give this review a shot, and winners will be picked on Monday the 16th of July. Good luck!

-xbournex
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for this opportunity. I would like to considered for the Bitfinix Recon because:

1. I already own 2X200mm Spectre Pro fans which are in my Corsair 650D case. The Recon looks like it will compliment a popular case such as mine as it has the black soft touch bezel which would be a very "handsome addition" ;)

2. As an hardware enthusiast I am very meticulous about the products I buy therefore as a Bitfinix owner one could say I have impeccable taste already. :) I would be able to produce a well written unbiased review, with high quality pictures to highlight the features and quality of the Recon. In my 7850 benches thread I created I know what it is that the consumer wants therefore when I published my results I made sure I touched all bases.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280812/his-ice-q-x-7850-crossfire-benches

I will have no problem installing the Recon controller as I have spare USB headers on my motherboard and ample molex connectors running of my power supply.

3. Whilst there are other touch screen fan controllers on the market the Betfinix Recon continues to push the boundaries through innovation. As the world's first controller to have internet connectivity and customisable profiles these are user features which are very much welcome and I would like to test how seamlessly and more importantly accurately it works by comparing to a multimeter readout.

Additionally, having the controller integrate with the Betfinix Spectre Pro's which to enable the fan LED to turn on or off is a nice touch and something I look forward to testing out. Is this feature programmed into the customisable profiles or is it a separate function? Well if I was to be the lucky winner I will be able to answer this question which will be on some people's minds already?

Thanks
 
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My three reasons are:
1: I have newly bought a new computer and would love to test these fans.
2: I am to buy the Bitfenix shinobi window with blue strips and logo and these fans will be able to compete with extremelly cheap fans and some others.
3: I can test the Bitfenix recons ability as I have an iOS device connected to the internet, I can test from close to far away.
I hope you consider my entry
 
Awesome idea, I have never done a user review before but would love to give it a go. My three reasons are:

1. I have a relatively new rig that I am still tinkering with and am trying to perfect the airflow and cooling.

2. My case, the nzxt phantom, has plenty of configurations for fans and I'll be able to test how the controller works compared to the inbuilt one.

3. I love playing around with new tech and exploring how to use the new functionality of such.

Thanks
 
1)I currently have a Bitfenix Shenobi with a conveniently empty drive bay, I've never owned a fan controller before so this would be a great way to see how easy it is to install and reveal the true power of a great fan controller.
2)I have a H80 cooler installed and would really like to be able to control the fan speeds from the front of the case rather/or in the case of recon use the software provided or touch screen to alter the speeds rather than having to open up my case and press a button then close up again.
3)I'm currently planning on buying a new render machine and this would be a great way to pre-test out how I can really control a multiple fans configuration and keep all my components at the best temperature during render sessions
 
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Good luck to all and here are my reasons.
I'd like to test the Hydra please - (the Recon would be wasted behind my case door)

1) My specialist intrest is ultra quiet high spec computing
I've built many Silent (0db) pc's, but realisied that single fan pc's are actually a much better solution.
Not only do they give access to high end gpu/cpu's but are a fraction of the cost of going fully passive.
Although I like my pc to be stealthed all the time - many just want a quiet / unobtrusive box when surfing/typing/sleeping.
When gaming or at a LAN - all the bells and whistles are required.

2) My pc is cooled by a single fan (SSD for OS, HDD for storage)
But has the option of adding more to the PA120.3 if required.
SO I can test the acoustic/thermal profile of a single Spectre pro's on the controller (againest other fans TY-140 / NB M12-S2 / Scythe slipstream)
And fill all the channels for a more mainstream review.

3) I've posted a number of build logs here and recently reviewed your alchemy cables.
All have been received well and I usually add something extra including a mod of the sata power alchemy cables to have them heatshrinkless
(to match the other cables in the set)
 
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