Case Fan Controllers

W

Wraith44

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
161
Basically, my new case (Antec 300) sounds like a damn hurricane when I have all 5 of the case fans running in it. However, they're fans with LED's in them, and since the case has no lighting of it's own, I like to keep them running. I'm considering getting a fan controller, but I really don't know anything about them beyond the few reviews that I read on Newegg and Tigerdirect. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with controllers and if they could recommend a few good ones that they've had good luck with and aren't too pricey (~$35 shipped). From what I read, they seem to have a lot of issues with either catching on fire (cheap ones like Sunbeam, especially), dead/dying LED's, or channels dying after several months of use.

So far, it looks like Zalman has the best reviews, so I'm looking at going with the MFC1 Plus-B.
 
You can see the specs here. http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=208
Make sure neither of your fans needs more than 7W. Read the label on the fan. It may state the current instead of the power. 7W corresponds to 7W / 12V = 580mA.
So, if any of your fans needs more than 550mA, this would not be a good controller for you.

Otherwise, it seems to be a good controller.

The cables are for 3-wire fans. So, if your fans only have Molex connectors, you will need adapters too for this controller.
 
Thanks, MrF. I didn't think to look at the mA, so that's good to know. I'm still curious if anybody has any first-hand experience with one of these things (controllers in general) and has any recommendations for one, even if it's something Newegg doesn't carry.
 
assuming this fan controller lowers the voltage to the fans, there's a good chance your LEDs will get darker too, and may even cut out.
 
Hmm, that would really piss me off. I just checked my fans and they appear to only need 2.04W, so it looks like I should be good. I'm guessing that when I turn down the fans though, that might cause the LED's to cut out. Does anybody know how much power an LED needs before it will cut out (i.e. how low I can turn the fans)?
 
One of my friends ended up tipping me off to FrozenCPU.com where I found this controller. I just got done installing it, and it seems to be just what the dr. ordered, albeit a little bit more than I wanted to spend, but the LCD is cool and worth it. I didn't have to pay any shipping either, since I found out that they were local to Rochester and I just went over and picked it up. So far, it seems to be very nice, and was simple to install. The instructions for changing the overheat warnings are non-existent though, and it's not very intuitive, so I'm going to have to try and figure that out. :)
 
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