Fan Controllers (black)??

[jreffy]

Hey guys,
I'm looking for a black fan controller (3.5" or 5.25"), preferably with red LED's (fits my case mod color scheme), if not I can always change the LED's I guess. If possible, having some kind of LCD display would be great, especially if it monitored temps as well.

I've done some research and found a bunch, I just wanted to know what other people are using, and the controllers that you guys have had good experience with.

Also, is it possible to control 2 fans with one controller? I have a dual 120mm radiator for my watercooling that I want to control, but I don't want to have to use a controller per fan. Just curious if this is possible.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[MrMaxwell]

The Sunbeam Chromatic Windmill is really cool. $27 at xoxide I think. It's got a black bezel with a LED screen and can control 7 fans, along with lots of other stuff.

EDIT:

http://xoxide.com/sunbeam-chormatic-windmill-black.html

There's the Windmill. If you're willing to lean on the scheme a bit, you'll find a cool device for pretty cheap.

 

[mrjminer]

First, you can control two fans with one fan controller. It's not 'recommended,' but you can do it. You'd want to get a 3-pin splitter to do this. An example of one is found http://www.pctoys.com/840556000037.html . The connector type might be different depending on the fans you use (ie, if you're using 4-pin molex connector fans, you'll need to get the appropriate cable to connect them to a fan controller).

Now, as for fan controllers, arguably the best would be the Vantec Nexus, but it does not fit your color scheme (the backlighting is blue). The only one that I can think of that could fit your scheme would be the Aerocool Gatewatch, but it is a very poor device and mainly used for looks only.

Edit: Never heard anything about the windmill the previous buy mentioned, buy it never hurts to give it a shot.

 

[jreffy]

First, you can control two fans with one fan controller. It's not 'recommended,' but you can do it. You'd want to get a 3-pin splitter to do this. An example of one is found http://www.pctoys.com/840556000037.html . The connector type might be different depending on the fans you use (ie, if you're using 4-pin molex connector fans, you'll need to get the appropriate cable to connect them to a fan controller).

Now, as for fan controllers, arguably the best would be the Vantec Nexus, but it does not fit your color scheme (the backlighting is blue). The only one that I can think of that could fit your scheme would be the Aerocool Gatewatch, but it is a very poor device and mainly used for looks only.

Edit: Never heard anything about the windmill the previous buy mentioned, buy it never hurts to give it a shot.

Yeah I saw the gatewatch. It'd be sweet if it wasn't so complicated and people didn't seem to have so much trouble with it. Not to mention the cable management headache. The windmill looks simple, I just have to find out if it comes in black.

mrjminer, is the lightsource for those lights LEDs? Do you think it's possible to swap out the blue LEDs for red ones?

 

[hartman]

I have this one from Frozen CPU, except my knobs are black.

 

[jreffy]

see, I like that, I just wish it was all red LED's but I guess I can live with LED's that are blue until they are at max voltage.

 

[omz]

see, I like that, I just wish it was all red LED's but I guess I can live with LED's that are blue until they are at max voltage.

silentpc has a mod on how to change the LEDs
if you decide to do it/someone ahs done it, tell me how it looks. i'm in the same situationa dn am looking for a black fan controller with red LEDs

 

[MjrStryker]

You could desolder the LEDs and turn them around backwards so that they're red most of the time and blue at max voltage.

 

[ShadowDragon]

Edit: Never heard anything about the windmill the previous buy mentioned, buy it never hurts to give it a shot.

I bought three of the Ultra branded ones for $6.00 a piece at Tiger. They are alright, they only control half way (pulsed) to full blast. It has three thermisters built in and you can set it to change fans to full speed at a certain temp. They can't handle anything but 3pin fans, must have an rpm lead or it won't work, lights are too powerful for it, etc. I kept my old sunbeam 4 port rheobus in my case for my cpu fan (panaflo) and lights so I can change the brightness of them. My wife's case and the server just run the "windmill" type device.

 

[racebanner]

The Sunbeam controllers have bi-colored LED's, when turned down below 7v they turn red, but otherwise are blue at normal voltage. The LED's can be taken out (by hand as they are not soldered in) and reversed so they go blue at 7v or less and red above that. So they should match your color scheme either way.

 

[Erasmus354]

Another vote for the sunbeam controller. Excellent fit and finish for something that is just as functional as any other fan controller and costs a fraction. You can find these for under 10$ if you look in the right place. Dont pay more than 15$ under any cicumstances. There are a couple different rebranded ones, some have a plain bezels, some have some logo and other stuff. The guts are all the same however, and this fan controller is 20W per channel which is almost as high as they come.