Spec me a fan controller

Ice213

Ice213

Ice213

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30 Mar 2012
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427
Hi everyone. I'm going to be ordering a few little luxury items to my build, probably tomorrow, and one of them is going to be a nice fan controller.

Now I was looking at the NZXT sentry LX LCD (which can be seen here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-000-NX), but I was just browsing a few threads and someone said to stay away from NZXT fan controllers.

So firstly, are they really that bad? And secondly, if this fan controller is seriously awful, then could anyone recommend me a better one? Things I'd be looking for would be, a touch screen interface and for it to look bad ass. Also, it needs to be black, though most of them are, silver wouldn't go with my black case.

Thanks :D

EDIT: Oh and I should say, the budget is around £50
 
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Yeah I read that review from Tealc when I decided I wanted a fan controller :). You see I think the NZXT looks better than the recon, however if the recon is miles better I'd probably just get that. I mean the whole internet thing seems pretty cool, but I'd probably not use it.

Then again, I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about fan controllers bar aesthetics, and obviously thats a personal thing :p.
 
It was one of the NZXT that suffered with a nasty noise on some fans. I'm not sure if it was the LX dual sized LCD one though.

Got to say that LX does look pretty good on the front, however the back looks pretty bare and I have to wonder how it works. It says 6W per channel, which to be fair is about the same as the Bitfenix Recon, despite them saying 10W and 30W depending on where you look. Recon will drive lots of fans, but it'll just do them slower than max.
 
My recon drives my fans faster than they are actually rated. :/ My AF 120s can go to 1800 RPM and 1 of them to 1700 thought they are only rated at 1650. I can only control my fans through the web interface because controlling them via the front panel is just a hassle. Looks nice though! I recommend one with dials, a Lamptron FC 6 look's lovely imo. I don't like huge fan controllers to be honest, theres no need for them to be so big. If you like how it looks it's a bonus though I suppose!

As for the internet thing I don't see how it's useful at all, it looks like a pita to set up as well. I just have an icon on my desktop to loadup the webpage for the fan controller, has 3 set profiles which you can set but I find it temperamental lol, still works great though.

Personally want a dual bay res there when I have the money for watercooling.
 
Fan noise is something I don't want to be honest :(.

Yeah I looked at it and instantly though 'Yeah, there's my fan controller', but I was basing it entirely on looks, which sometimes isn't the best thing to do :p.

I'd be looking for it to drive 4 fans when I install it. 2 will hopefully be connected to one channel with a splitter as they'll be a push pull on a cooler, one 200mm at the top of the case, and a 140mm front fan. I'd also quite like to have saveable profiles, so at the touch of a button all the fans would go to a preset for gaming, and then back to an idling mode (or something similar to that anyway).
 
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I like the idea of the internet connectivity, but then again I have my phone interconnected with my PC via WIFI.

Mainly because I keep all my music on my PC and using an app called Skifta I can access my media library from anywhere (even via mobile web if I want). So if I'm in the kitchen I can play my music whilst cooking dinner via a set of speakers I have in the kitchen.

So the Recon fits for me and I'll be ordering one soon. I'd have one already but bills have to come first :(
 
Zorgar said:
I think this one would be great -NZXT LXE Touch Screen External Fan Controller
Click to expand...

That one isn't an internal one unfortunately, and I kinda want mine inside the PC in the front bays.

Resident said:
I like the idea of the internet connectivity, but then again I have my phone interconnected with my PC via WIFI.

Mainly because I keep all my music on my PC and using an app called Skifta I can access my media library from anywhere (even via mobile web if I want). So if I'm in the kitchen I can play my music whilst cooking dinner via a set of speakers I have in the kitchen.

So the Recon fits for me and I'll be ordering one soon. I'd have one already but bills have to come first :(
Click to expand...

I haven't got mine connected at all, but I should probably think about doing it at some point, since it'd probably be handy :).
 
Having problems with my Recon... don't recommend it right now.

Update: Problem was actually 1 of my Noctua fans not reporting RPM to the controller, works fine when D14 fans are on a Y splitter though. Pretty good fan controller. Certainly looks cool. You can also turn off the display.

The recon only allows you to control to the nearest 100 RPM in steps. It works off voltage/RPM on the web interface and just straight RPM on the controller itself.

My favourite controllers are with knobs though because you can fine tune the fan pressure/noise to be a nice pitch when you want it silent. I only chose this one because I have a case door.
 
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BrianB said:
Having problems with my Recon... don't recommend it right now.

Update: Problem was actually 1 of my Noctua fans not reporting RPM to the controller, works fine when D14 fans are on a Y splitter though. Pretty good fan controller. Certainly looks cool. You can also turn off the display.

The recon only allows you to control to the nearest 100 RPM in steps. It works off voltage/RPM on the web interface and just straight RPM on the controller itself.

My favourite controllers are with knobs though because you can fine tune the fan pressure/noise to be a nice pitch when you want it silent. I only chose this one because I have a case door.
Click to expand...

I also have a case door, got a phantom enthusiast. So chances are the knobs wouldn't fit in for me either :(. So I guess I'm stuck with the touch screen ones. I'm ordering today i think, probably either of the two that have been discussed here, either the recon or the NZXT LX. Decisions decisions. Got until 4pm for next day delivery though ;).
 
I think the Recon is a decent controller for what it does...only 100RPM increments though. Watch some reviews? It's a great looking controller, but... we have doors! New case coming for me on Friday though.

Fractal making a lovely fan controller ¬_¬... don't know where to buy it though. Don't think it's released.

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=5&prod=80

FD-FC-ADJ-108-BL_1.jpg
 
liamcrane said:
Not touch screen but has a nice look to it i think with plenty of headers

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BB-010-SY&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=189
Click to expand...

That does seem nice, but since I have a front door on my case, I don't think the knobs would fit :(.

BrianB said:
I think the Recon is a decent controller for what it does...only 100RPM increments though. Watch some reviews? It's a great looking controller, but... we have doors! New case coming for me on Friday though.

Fractal making a lovely fan controller ¬_¬... don't know where to buy it though. Don't think it's released.

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=5&prod=80
Click to expand...

That does look pretty nice to be fair, but alas, I am buying today as far as I know.
 
Reacon is cheaper, thats only reason I know to get it over the other. Though, the NZXT might tidy up the front of you case. :)

Blonde moment. You have a door xD I like the Recon because I can set fan speed on google chrome...
 
Well I decided in the end to go for a hidden third option oooffff....

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/118/km05_detail.html

Unfortunately OCUK don't appear to stock it, so I had to buy it elsewhere, reviewed pretty well on most sites, only takes up one bay, and looks pretty sleek I think :D

I'll probably post a few pics and maybe a semi review of the stuff I'm getting, probably in the build logs section :)
 
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