CoolerMaster Aerogate II

[suszterpatt]

I'm thinking of getting this to rid myself of any future temperature reading woes. Can't beat 4 thermal sensors at this price. I found nothing but excellent reviews on it, but I just thought I'd drop by to ask if it's really as nice as it seems to be.


Incidentally, I've read that it doesn't come with adhesive to fasten the sensors. How does one get around this problem? (no stores sell the adhesive separately)

 

[zagood]

Wow, that sucks.

Use gaffer tape or, less expensive, electrical tape designed for high temps. Don't want to use scotch tape or anything else that can melt.

-z

 

[suszterpatt]

I was thinking about that, but I'd prefer something that doesn't leave any residue behind when I take it off. Then again, there's no problem concentrated alcohol can't solve, right?

 

[zagood]

99% PURE BABY!

Those cheap little thermal tape pieces they usually give you leave residue anyway.

What's the price you found on that? Cheapest I can find is $35.

I've got the Cooldrive 6, they were 10-15 bucks a month ago, but looks like those are all out of stock now.

EDIT: Ignore below info. You want 4 SENSORS, not fan controls.

Check out the Zalman ZM-MFC1 - 4+2 channels (2 are for 2-pin fans/mods so they're 5v/12v).

$25 at Amazonia

-z

 

[suszterpatt]

8000 HUF (Hungarian Forint, biatch!!)


That's roughly $37.5, but it doesn't really compare. I couldn't find one with any more temp sensors, but there are panels with 1-2 sensors in the same price range. I found a Logisys one that had 4 sensors, but that costs a good 50% more.


EDIT: Just to give you an idea, the Thermaltake Hardcano 2 that has 2 sensors and no fan controllers is 5000 HUF (approximately $23). The AG 2 is cheaper than getting two HC2's and ending up with the same amount of sensors (plus 4 fan controllers).

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I've been using the Aerogate II since last december, I bought some thermal tape from an ebay auction. It works great, but I do have a couple of complaints about it.
1. It doesn't mount well in toolless cases, not a standard 5 1/4 drive tray, I had to improvise with double sided tape and it still woobles in the bay.
2. The alarm beep every time you power on gets annoying after a while, I have heard people reporting they clipped the wire to the speaker which I'm considering, but that would negate the audible alarm monitoring features

 

[rise]

i know its not the same but i have two of the aero III which control 4 fans with 4 sensors for a fraction of the price.

i actually thought they were a steal at the $14 i paid.

 

[zagood]

Eh, come on, there's gotta be a dark back alley you can get a Hardcano 13 for 9000 HUF!

Those are hot.

Otherwise, you should have good luck with the Aerogate II. Even though I have the CoolDrive 6, I really don't like the panel interface (which is same as the Aerogate III). The main reason I got it was for the software control.

Keep it cool brudda!

-z

 

[suszterpatt]

Originally posted by: rise4310
i know its not the same but i have two of the aero III which control 4 fans with 4 sensors for a fraction of the price.

i actually thought they were a steal at the $14 i paid.

Wtf... those are a steal. They're a good 20-25% more expensive than the AG2 over here (and about the same price on online stores). What gipsy did you buy those from?


As for the startup beep, can't you turn that off permanently? Or does it only have memory for LED and voltage settings?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: suszterpatt

As for the startup beep, can't you turn that off permanently? Or does it only have memory for LED and voltage settings?

Nope, the only way you can kill it is to disable the speaker

 

[zagood]

The stealing continues...

http://www.svc.com/ald-v03-us.html

Aerogate III for $7.99

-z

 

[suszterpatt]

Too bad they don't do international shipping. Can't find deals like that here.


Oh well, I don't like the single line LED as much anyway.

 

[suszterpatt]

One more question: where would you suggest putting the "case" sensor? I was thinking somewhere around the exhaust fan/psu area as that's where the air is the hottest.

 

[zagood]

I actually have mine sticking through a hole on the 3.5 mount and floating free above the RAM. I figure that's the place where there's the least amount of air flow so it's pretty reliable. Just matters what you want to monitor.

-z

 

[orion23]

The Aerogate 2 is my favorite fan controller! I think it is the best looking of all.

The beep is only there if your CPU fan connector and temperature sensor is not being used. Connect these 2 and the beep will be gone, all other are optional.

I also decided to use electrical tape (home depot) to secure the sensors, it works great!

 

[PCFetish]

it doesn't memorise your fan speed setting
everytime you turn on your computer, it will run at full speed and you gotta adjust it everytime you boot....
I use AG2 + Vantec Nexus just for the fan speed

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
I've been using the Aerogate II since last december, I bought some thermal tape from an ebay auction. It works great, but I do have a couple of complaints about it.
1. It doesn't mount well in toolless cases, not a standard 5 1/4 drive tray, I had to improvise with double sided tape and it still woobles in the bay.
2. The alarm beep every time you power on gets annoying after a while, I have heard people reporting they clipped the wire to the speaker which I'm considering, but that would negate the audible alarm monitoring features

Yup. I got one of these last November. These were my only gripes about this product. That senseless beeping EVERY time I powered up got more and more annoying as time went on. You can not turn on the PC without hearing it and you can't turn it off.

The fact that I couldn't mount it well in my case really bothered me. The unit's rails are too short. You can only fasten it in the bay with one screw on each side which left it room to swivel. I even went so far as using cable ties through the screw holes to fasten it at the other end. No matter what I did it still ended slightly lopsided. Eventually I got fed up with the beeping and mounting issues and tore the bastard right out. I'm much happier without it.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: PCFetish
it doesn't memorise your fan speed setting
everytime you turn on your computer, it will run at full speed and you gotta adjust it everytime you boot....
I use AG2 + Vantec Nexus just for the fan speed

This is also my experience. Every time I booted I had to readjust my fan settings.

Don't get me wrong. This will LOOK very nice in your case. Functionally, it's a POS.

 

[suszterpatt]

Well, I just picked it up, opened the box and found a piece of paper written in several languages that reads (sic):

Notice:
This product has been updated for the following features:

1. Adjustable temperature setting
Each channel's temperature can be set and adjusted by user: just press any cahnnel for about 3 seconds then you can adjust the temperature settings by the knob.

2. Silent alert mode
Press the knob for about 3 seconds at activate channel, once you hear the beep sound twice you will then switched to Silent Mode, and the LED on the knob fridge will flash in red color. Press the knob for about 3 seconds, you will hear the beep sound once and then switch back to normal mode.

3. Temperature unit memory function
Temperature unit remains °F or °C when restarting the system.

4. The voltage range is changed from 7~12V to 0~12V (stationary to full speed)

There's also 6 (not 4!) piece of adhesive for securing the thermal sensors.

Yay for CoolerMaster!

 

[Icepick]

It looks like they fixed several of the issues that I had with my rev one. Enjoy!

 

[mi1stormilst]

Loved mine no longer using it though, to many drives now.

 

[suszterpatt]

Aight, so I installed it and connected a few things for testing's sake. Apparently you need to connect both the CPU fan AND sensor, otherwise the device will be in a state of constant alarm. Although you can turn the sound off, the flashing red button is kind of annoying.


Looks nice otherwise. One thing I'm not quite sure about is where the VGA sensor goes. Do I take off the heatsink and put it between the GPU and the sink, next to the sink, on the RAM, etc?

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: suszterpatt
Aight, so I installed it and connected a few things for testing's sake. Apparently you need to connect both the CPU fan AND sensor, otherwise the device will be in a state of constant alarm. Although you can turn the sound off, the flashing red button is kind of annoying.


Looks nice otherwise. One thing I'm not quite sure about is where the VGA sensor goes. Do I take off the heatsink and put it between the GPU and the sink, next to the sink, on the RAM, etc?

NEVER put anything inbetween a GPU/CPU and heatsink. It'll defeat the heatsink and you'll overheat.

I put mine on the back of the PCB directly behind the GPU, heat difference is approx. 12c between that reading and readings from the nVidia control panel. You can also place it as close as possible to the GPU die on the heatsink, most of the time the heatsink overlaps the die. Just make sure it doesn't interfere with the die/heatsink connection.

Instead of connecting the fan connector to the CPU fan, I have it connected to the case exhaust fan. I let my mobo's Q-Fan control take care of the CPU fan.

-z