[Spec Me] A fan controller, no more than £50.

Doctor McNinja

Doctor McNinja

Doctor McNinja

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Having built a super quiet HTPC, it's kind of putting a spotlight on just how noisy my main rig is. I put it down to the fact than my Gentle Typhoons are going full whack due to them being plugged into a molex connector. So could you guys an girls spec me a fan controller to control the following...

  • 2x Gentle Typhoons on my Corsair H100
  • 1x Cooler Master 180mm front intake
  • 1x 120mm (or is it 140mm?) floor intake
  • 1x 120mm exhuast

I want to have the option of push/pulling the H100 at a later date, in which case there'd be either 4x 120mm fans. There are a few preferences other than price.

  • 'Tis the season for blinking lights and gaudy decoration but no tacky LED's!!!
  • I want it to blend into my case (CM 690 II B&W) as much as possible so a black mesh finish would be a plus.... although, I woulnd't mind trying my hand at stealthing the controller and my ODD while I'm at it.
  • Software: I'd prefer to not have the fan controller be purely mechanical. I'd like a software interfaces that'd let me control the speeds of each fan.
  • It has to be black. It'd stick out like a sore thumb if it was any other colour.

The most important thing though, above all else, is quality. To me, quality is everything.
 
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stuie said:
That's easy in my opinion there's no better sub 50 quid software fan controller than the recon
Click to expand...


It does look pretty good but I'd prefer something with a little more power than 10w per channel. It'd also be a big plus if the fan controller could use the (PWM?) signal the mobo uses to control the CPU fan.
 
I'm not aware of any fan controller on the market that takes the CPU PWM or GPU PWM signal and controls attached fans with it. So I made my own PWM to DC converter. Haven't played around with it for a while but I seem to remember managing to get it working on around 12 fans at one point, basically all the spare fans that I have. I never designed it to be externally adjustable though and pretty much leave the PC to take care of it for me. Sold a few of them to forum members.

Come the spring I might look at some additional features such as RPM feedback and maybe an off body adjustable feature.
 
Doctor McNinja said:
It does look pretty good but I'd prefer something with a little more power than 10w per channel. It'd also be a big plus if the fan controller could use the (PWM?) signal the mobo uses to control the CPU fan.
Click to expand...

The recon is very good, according to the box its a maximum of 30W per channel.

I bought 2 the other week, one for my computer thats fitted and one for my sons computer which is part of his Xmas upgrade :).
 
Attu90 said:
The recon is very good, according to the box its a maximum of 30W per channel.

I bought 2 the other week, one for my computer thats fitted and one for my sons computer which is part of his Xmas upgrade :).
Click to expand...

There's an error on the box. It's just 10W, and even then you have to sacrifice top end speed a bit. Still a very nice controlller providing you don't want to add too many fans per channel.
 
Doctor McNinja said:
Having built a super quiet HTPC, it's kind of putting a spotlight on just how noisy my main rig is. I put it down to the fact than my Gentle Typhoons are going full whack due to them being plugged into a molex connector. So could you guys an girls spec me a fan controller to control the following...

  • 2x Gentle Typhoons on my Corsair H100
  • 1x Cooler Master 180mm front intake
  • 1x 120mm (or is it 140mm?) floor intake
  • 1x 120mm exhuast

I want to have the option of push/pulling the H100 at a later date, in which case there'd be either 4x 120mm fans. There are a few preferences other than price.

  • 'Tis the season for blinking lights and gaudy decoration but no tacky LED's!!!
  • I want it to blend into my case (CM 690 II B&W) as much as possible so a black mesh finish would be a plus.... although, I woulnd't mind trying my hand at stealthing the controller and my ODD while I'm at it.
  • Software: I'd prefer to not have the fan controller be purely mechanical. I'd like a software interfaces that'd let me control the speeds of each fan.
  • It has to be black. It'd stick out like a sore thumb if it was any other colour.

The most important thing though, above all else, is quality. To me, quality is everything.
Click to expand...

If you don't want to have it seen on your case, how about an external option. I have a NZXT Sentry LXE. Nothing on the front of the case. Little PCI card in the back with a touch screen interface separate to the case.
 
Doctor McNinja said:
It does look pretty good but I'd prefer something with a little more power than 10w per channel. It'd also be a big plus if the fan controller could use the (PWM?) signal the mobo uses to control the CPU fan.
Click to expand...

Really 10w a channel is quite a lot, i can run 3 140mm fans off each channel on mine
 
if your after quality and probably the best software interface, get an aquaero.



*edit* my bad should have read the tittle, £50 max
 
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I think I'll go with The Bitfenix Recon. There doesn't seem to be anything on the market that really stands out and grabs my attention... it doesn't help that decent reviews of fan controllers are seemingly impossible to find.

Fingers crossed OcUK get 'em back in stock in time for Christmas.



stuie said:
Really 10w a channel is quite a lot, i can run 3 140mm fans off each channel on mine
Click to expand...

I've read (from what I'm lead to believe is a reliable source) that Gentle Typhoons pull over 4w on startup. I'm probably (read: "I am") just being overly cautious but I don't like the idea of running three on a single channel... not that I'd need to.
 
Depends on the fan to what power draw, a single 5400rpm gentle typhoon would be too much for most 10w controllers, iirc it peaks at something like 9.8w just as an example.

I find it hard to recommend any manual controller over lamptron tbh, fantastic controllers, well built and come with high watt per channel. Love my fc5v2
 
Akasa FC.TRIO 3 Channel Fan Controller

I went for the Akasa FC.TRIO 3 Channel Fan Controller.

It runs three 30W fans. I run my other fans off my mobo.

Personally, I much prefer dials to buttons because, in my experience, they last longer due to being generally more rigid. Plus it is easier to reach down and twizzle a dial as oppose to messing about with tiny buttons. My PC is only slightly off the floor.

It also has a really cool display and in my rig looks great.
 
[EDIT] With a lot of fan controller reviews I've read, it seems quite common for there to be discrepancies in product specs which made me unsure as to the exact specs of the FC5 V2. After doing a little more reading, I have been unable to find any reference to the FC5 V2 having an auto function. So I've pulled the trigger and gone with an FC touch. Please disregard the question below.


I know I'm probably asking a stupidly obvious question but after making a stupidly obvious mistake with the last component I ordered... does the FC5 V2 have an auto control function?
 
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