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decent fan controllers?

S

st4rk

Gawd
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
1,013
i have a zalman fan controller, it supports 4 fans with 3 pin connectors. i also have a thermaltake one that came with my case.

there are major problems with both:

the thermaltake creates a massive wire mess, and makes the fans run way to fast even on low.

the zalman only has two settings: extremely slow, or extremely fast. even though they are knobs you twist, midway through twisting the fan goes blazing fast.

i would like suggestions for a fan controller that isn't like either two, and actually does adjust the speed of the fan. i don't care about price.

thanks.
 
I use a Fan Master in conjunction with a Matrix Orbital MX222. The Fan Master is manual control while the MX222 is manual or automatic. The MX222 uses PWM, pulse width modulation, or something like that. Basically sends pulses of power to power the fans. Not a problem unless you have led fans. The pwm makes them pulse and can be annoying. Which is why I use the fan master for my front led fans. Of course the MX222 is much more than just a fan controller and I highly reccomend it for its other uses.

One of the biggest problems with any fan controller is the potential wire mess. It's tough to get around routing all those wires. It can be done, it's just a pain.
 
Most of the PWM fan controllers have a low setting that is really fast. What they end up doing at the lowest setting is adjusting the average voltage to 7V, but in reality, the fan spins at a much faster speed than it would at a constant 7V. This is because the pulses that get sent to the fan actually make the fan turn faster than what it should at 7V and the force of friction for some quieter fans isn't much and so you end up with a high fan speed at their low setting.
 
Sideroxylon said:
I use a Fan Master in conjunction with a Matrix Orbital MX222. The Fan Master is manual control while the MX222 is manual or automatic. The MX222 uses PWM, pulse width modulation, or something like that. Basically sends pulses of power to power the fans. Not a problem unless you have led fans. The pwm makes them pulse and can be annoying. Which is why I use the fan master for my front led fans. Of course the MX222 is much more than just a fan controller and I highly reccomend it for its other uses.
Click to expand...

Wow, Maybe I am out of date, but thats the first time I ever seen the MX222. Im thinking of getting one. Being able to monitor stocks, news, temps, weather, etc.. is something i can definatly use. It is a little expensive though. A lot of those accessories will add up fast. I dont know how many of those accessories are necessary though...
 
ewarz said:
Wow, Maybe I am out of date, but thats the first time I ever seen the MX222. Im thinking of getting one. Being able to monitor stocks, news, temps, weather, etc.. is something i can definatly use. It is a little expensive though. A lot of those accessories will add up fast. I dont know how many of those accessories are necessary though...
Click to expand...

I have just the basic unit with no accessories and that's all I really require. I would suggest looking at the MX422 if you have the space. Those extra 2 lines on the display makes it a lot more informative per screen.
 
Sideroxylon said:
I have just the basic unit with no accessories and that's all I really require. I would suggest looking at the MX422 if you have the space. Those extra 2 lines on the display makes it a lot more informative per screen.
Click to expand...
ohh nice, and its only 20 bucks more. thanks! i think i already convinced myself to buy one... now i just have to accept it and make the purchase! :D


EDIT: I just noticed the MX414 has buttons on the front. However it doesnt list features such as stock quotes, etc...

What is the advantage/disadvantage to having buttons?
 
ewarz said:
ohh nice, and its only 20 bucks more. thanks! i think i already convinced myself to buy one... now i just have to accept it and make the purchase! :D


EDIT: I just noticed the MX414 has buttons on the front. However it doesnt list features such as stock quotes, etc...

What is the advantage/disadvantage to having buttons?
Click to expand...

The units differ only in the fact that you can only access features in the software verses the front panel of the one your talking about. Same functionality in each unit, just one has buttons and one has a MUCH cleaner look.
 
awesome thanks man. in that case, i prefer the one without the buttons. this will be a nice addition to my current project.


i just realized i hijacked this thread. i'm sorry st4rk. to get you back on topic, here is the fan controller i use in both my computers. in my opinion, it looks much cleaner than most controllers. it offers 12v (full speed) and 7v (low speed) settings which is more than enough in most applications.
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/bus-11.html
 
Thanks for the info sideroxylon. So you can guarantee that it will actually adjust the speed of the fan? And not just have a high or low setting?

And thats okay ewarz, although I basically have the same fan controller, only mine are knobs and not switches, and I need something that has more than just a high and low settings. Sometimes low is too low, and other times high is way too high.
 
I got this little guy:

http://www.xoxide.com/suflfanma4po.html

It's great not only because it comes with different faceplates but also because it has the rheobus knobs and allow the speed control you are looking for. It also has alarms for temps and for fan failure. The LED display is great as well and also has different colors you can set it to.
 
st4rk said:
Thanks for the info sideroxylon. So you can guarantee that it will actually adjust the speed of the fan? And not just have a high or low setting?
Click to expand...

That is correct, fully adjustable from the low setting to the high and anywhere in between. Be aware that you can't turn the fans completely off with this unit though. This is one of my favorite fan controllers. I have several others that work just fine but sit in my unused parts bin.
 
st4rk- Im not sure why your Zalman controller only goes 2 speed. I have one and it is quite noticeable hearing the fans go up in speed as the nob gets turned. Low speed is about 1/2 of fast speed. Exactly as it should be. I have all 4 fan controllers going and the 2 wire in low/high switch ones. not much trouble keeping the wiring cleaned up. Just takes a bit of time.
 
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