suggestions for fan controller please.

dangerousmouse · 17 Dec 2006 at 12:11

just got a lian li v1000b this week, and i am wanting to put a fan controller into it. it wont be until early next year, and my budget is max £50.

there are 2 that i am considering, but would like any input from people who have these, or any others that would be recommended.

lian li tr-3b (to match the case)
aerocool gatewatch, black version (double bay size to use up space)

thanks.

Captain Fizz · 17 Dec 2006 at 19:24

IMHO - If you are not going to use a floppy drive - The Lian Li.
If you are going to use a floppy drive - The Aerocool.

(Sould this be in Case Central?)

SpudMaster · 18 Dec 2006 at 00:14

does the lian li controll let you manually control the fans or does it just automatically adjust the speeds according to temps?

dangerousmouse · 18 Dec 2006 at 00:43

captain fizz said:
IMHO - If you are not going to use a floppy drive - The Lian Li.
If you are going to use a floppy drive - The Aerocool.

unfortunately at the moment i will have to keep hold of the floppy drive, i will eventually get rid, but my parents still have a load of discs floating around that meeds data transferring onto dvd. (very laborious task!)

SpudMaster said:
does the lian li controll let you manually control the fans or does it just automatically adjust the speeds according to temps?

from what little information i have been able to find, it controls the fan speed of upto 3 fans, and has 3 temp sensors. also has icons for clock, power and hdd activity.

i got a bit bored this afternoon so made up a couple of 'what it would look like...' pictures.

aerocool gatewatch

the buttons on this arent actually black (they are silver), but i couldnt find a straight on pic of the black unit, so i had to invert the colours of a silver one (with purple backlight)

lian li thermometer

only thing i am not too sure about with the lian li is that in this pic it looks as if it has a glossy finish, and not a brushed finish. if anybody has this i would be interested to know if it actually looks like the pic i found of it.

Captain Fizz · 18 Dec 2006 at 09:31

dangerousmouse said:
...lian li thermometer...

Ahhh - I didn't realise Lian Li did the 5 1/4" versions too.
(Thought it was just the 3 1/2")

So ignore the floppy comment.

If the Lian Li was brushed Alu - I would choose it.
Probably the Aerocool for functionality tho.

SpudMaster · 18 Dec 2006 at 17:32

surely the lian li one is brushed alu?? 3.5" controllers say they are to match the cases they if they arent they wont match

But im sure ive read from people who have bought them that they have been disappointed becuased you cant manually control fan speeds, the unit controls the fans depending on the temps

WJA96 · 18 Dec 2006 at 19:50

You need a T-Balancer. No display, but it's a proper fan controller.

dangerousmouse · 18 Dec 2006 at 21:02

Ahhh - I didn't realise Lian Li did the 5 1/4" versions too.
(Thought it was just the 3 1/2")

So ignore the floppy comment.

no, you are correct it is actually a 3.5" controller. my skills are very limited though, and i dont really have the patience. if i were to go with this one though i would just buy another 5.25 - 3.5 adapter

WJA96 said:
You need a T-Balancer. No display, but it's a proper fan controller.

do you have to buy a seperate set of dials for that, or do they come with it. only info i can find suggests it mounts in a pci bay. guessing you have your 4 fans connected to that, and then 4 control dials somewhere?

would prefer something with a display though, just to break up the front of the case, and add a bit of colour (it must be blue!

WJA96 · 18 Dec 2006 at 21:12

There are 2 versions. One is an independent card that sits in an expansion bay, but doesn't actually go in a slot or it can be a USB control box that sits inside or outside the computer. You run 2 or more temperature sensors to the CPU, Northbridge, HDD and then you run the computer program that lets you set the fan curves. As the temperatures rise, you can bring the fans in. It's a proper fan controller.

See the review here;

http://www.atruereview.com/tbalancer/index.php

It really is the dogs!

dangerousmouse · 18 Dec 2006 at 21:25

this is starting to soud pretty good. will do a bit more research on it tonight tho.

hmmmm, this will now leave me with plenty of space at the front of my case *wonders if a 7" lcd screen will fit in 2 drive bays??*

sablabra · 18 Dec 2006 at 22:16

I'm more or less in the same boat as you, although I'm looking for a fan controller for my stacker... But I want about the same as you, lcd screen etc. It's harder to find than you could ever imagine

1dmf · 18 Dec 2006 at 22:33

i've just ordered the sythe karma, read loads of good reviews on it , will let people know how i get on once rig built

dangerousmouse · 18 Dec 2006 at 22:37

sablabra said:
I'm more or less in the same boat as you, although I'm looking for a fan controller for my stacker... But I want about the same as you, lcd screen etc. It's harder to find than you could ever imagine

this is going slightly ot from the fan controller, but thermaltake make one that uses up a single drive bay. it is motorised, so i comes out like the ones you have in your car. personally i would prefer one that just takes 2 bays, and is always visible

WJA96 · 18 Dec 2006 at 22:48

dangerousmouse said:
this is going slightly ot from the fan controller, but thermaltake make one that uses up a single drive bay. it is motorised, so i comes out like the ones you have in your car. personally i would prefer one that just takes 2 bays, and is always visible

Unfortunately, it's a special in-car fitment, and it only goes into the Mozart case.

Have a look at this - these screens are cheap as chips and it looks a very easy mod.

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/07/06/psone_lcd/1.html

hardc0re_tid · 19 Dec 2006 at 12:10

1dmf said:
sythe karma

i would have said the same thing, but i found fan controllers to be more hassle than enough, messy wires running all over the show. i had the Vantec Nexus.

i spent 50 quid on fans once (Vantec Stealths) and they were quiet, the only noise was the fans in my cheapo generic PSU