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How useful Exactly Are Fan controllers?

Q

QueZart

Member
Well??

What specifically I'm asking is Do you have to buy the Multi speed / Variable Speed Case Fans? Or Can/Will Fan Controllers adjust speed via Voltage regulation or something on any Case Fan?

Or Do I simply Have a Completey Backwords idea About what these things are/do?

The Controller I'm Looking at sepcifically is the A-Top Fan controller Display since I have a A-Top case and its pretty nice looking compared to most in a decent Price range

http://www.a-top.com/lcd/lcd_l.jpg



No comparison to the ThermalTake Hardcano 13 that thing is just Bad but at around $100? heh no

 
You do not need to buy the variable speed fans. The controller will regulate the voltage going to the fan, thus lower or raising RPM's. That looks like a really cool fan multi-function panel.
 
Fan Controllers can adjust the speed of almost any fan.

The reason I say 'almost' is because a fan controller can only handle fans upto a certain size. So if your going to control a really fast fan (like a Vantec Tornado) just double check that the power rating on the fan doesnt exceed the power rating on the controller.


Also, there are two main types of fan controllers. The first just basically regulates the voltage going to the fan. These aren't bad, but the regulator produces heat and can only slow fans down to about 50%. The other type use pulse-width-modulation (PWM). These are more efficient that the voltage regulation type (almost 100%), and can let you slow your fan down to around 25%. So if you have the choice, try to go with PWM.

RoD
 
There are a LOT of fan controllers on the market, and many many reviews of them. You should definately do some research into the various brands/models rather than just buying one from the same mfgr as your case.

If you want something really cool, check out the mCubed T-Balancer. http://www.silentpcreview.com/news431.html


edit: oh, and the other guys are right about almost any fan working fine with almost any fan controller.
 
There are 2 major types of fan controllers - Voltage regulation fan controllers and PWM fan controllers. The former regulates fan speed by adjusting the fan supply voltage while the latter supplies pulses of 12V to the fan at a fixed duty cycles but varying pulse lengths. There are pros and cons to either.
 
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