Suggestions on fan control?

[greatromances]

Hey all. I'm currently in the need of a fan control panel for my setup in the form of a 5.25" expansion bay unit... Right now I have to manually go into BIOS for cpu fan control and manually dig inside the case to switch each case fan to the low speed whenever I downclock to stock speeds cuz it's just way to loud when everything is on high. This is quite annoying. What i'm looking for is a *black* control panel for controlling my 3 fans with ease. Must be 5.25" cuz i'm out of 3.5" bays, and preferrably black. I'm having a hard time locating these things! Here's some units i've found, but the reviews aren't the best...

Ebay Item I'm not sure about this one, I don't like dealing with Ebay to often and I can't find any reviews for this unit. It looks a bit cheap though...

Newegg open box And i'm not sure of this one, cuz it's open box. Won't come with any cables that I might need or other materials in retail box.

The only other one I found was on newegg for a Thermaltake controller but the reviews were just too horrible to even look at. Does anyone have any other suggestions of fan control units out there that meet my needs? I'm having some trouble finding a black 5.25 unit, they're a bitch to find .

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

Nyah

 

[Operandi]

The BIOS controls should be able to automatically control the fan speed based on whatever temp you want, what board are you using?

Personally I'm done with manual fan controllers; as long as the motherboard has good fan control manual control sucks in comparison.

If you want tighter fan controls then what the BIOS is giving you give SpeedFan a look.

 

[greatromances]

Yeah the BIOS does have a smartfan control, but only for the cpu... my case is filled with case fans i'd wanna control for noise control when I don't need the speed

 

[pkme2]

I tried a 3 1/2" fan control panel and decided to store it. All those sensors, cables and connectors were too much. Decided to stick with pen temperature probe to get direct readings.

Noticed that my ambient temps have gone to 28C from 25C. Had a minor rise in working CPU temp, afternoons up to 39C/40C. Mornings were at 36C. My Mobo remains at 32C/33C.
I guess summer has really arrived.

 

[greatromances]

very much so... Try running an overclocked 805 in this weather... That's why I need to keep it downclocked whenever I don't need the extra horsepower to keep it cool. Not fun.

 

[JosephBAdams]

 

[JosephBAdams]

I'm curious to know--do PCI slot fans help at all???

 

[pkme2]

Originally posted by: JosephBAdams
I'm curious to know--do PCI slot fans help at all???

I've used a PCI slot fan for quite a few years, before it became popular.

http://www.mikhailtech.com/articles/cooling/pciroundup/

The overall cooling performance on my GPU has made a difference on my temps.

 

[fatpat268]

I'm looking for a fan controller too, except the problem is is that everyone I've seen is either too expensive, or has obnoxioiusly bright lights.

Why don't they make any that has plain black knobs with no lights?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: greatromances
Yeah the BIOS does have a smartfan control, but only for the cpu... my case is filled with case fans i'd wanna control for noise control when I don't need the speed

yup case fan control is a bit of trouble unless its designed as part of the system in the first place, like with apple computers. you gotta have enough sensors and have it set to change speed at the correct temperatures and such. m/b controls for anything other than the cpu would be rather crude. most cases should have enoughc ooling at quiet level to be adequate regardless though. knobs just used to set that perfect noise level and give peace of mind on rather hot days

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Sunbeam Theta cannot be beat for $40. 8 individually adjustable channels that can be manually set based on a percentage or, can be controlled thermally by one of the 8 correspoding temperature probes.

 

[SparkyJJO]

The sunbeam rheobus works pretty well. If you don't want the bright lights just clip the led wires so they don't glow My bro had one of those and those LEDs are very bright.

 

[fatpat268]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
The sunbeam rheobus works pretty well. If you don't want the bright lights just clip the led wires so they don't glow My bro had one of those and those LEDs are very bright.

hmm, good idea.

I still wish that the manufacturers of these fan controllers would realize that a lot of people don't want their compters lit up like christmas lights.

 

[rise]

if you have a silver case, the aero 3 is easily the best bang for the buck.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: greatromances
Yeah the BIOS does have a smartfan control, but only for the cpu... my case is filled with case fans i'd wanna control for noise control when I don't need the speed

yup case fan control is a bit of trouble unless its designed as part of the system in the first place, like with apple computers. you gotta have enough sensors and have it set to change speed at the correct temperatures and such. m/b controls for anything other than the cpu would be rather crude. most cases should have enoughc ooling at quiet level to be adequate regardless though. knobs just used to set that perfect noise level and give peace of mind on rather hot days

How is it trouble? I?ve built several machines with dynamic control on both the CPU and system exhaust fans. Intakes run at a constant 5v since they have little impact on temps and are there mainly to cool hard drives and direct airflow. Dynamic controls allow these machines to run nearly silent at idle while still providing plenty of cooling when it?s needed.

You can have as many sensors as you want but all you really need is one somewhere on the motherboard. Most boards read the system temp from the norrthbridge or somewhere near the power regulation circuitry, the hottest areas on a motherboard. All that?s needed is to set the desired temp threshold and if present fan start speed and your set, if anything manual fan controllers are crude in comparison.