ShosMeister

Coming down to the last decisions on my build and was looking at a lot of cases that have built in temperature display and fan controllers. Are these any good? Are they worth it?

NOT assuming an unlimited budget, would you spend the extra money just to have a display and a knob?

Are third party ones better? If so, which ones?

I was looking around and found things like the Silverstone FP series.

If I'm building a gaming rig with only 1 video card, dual core CPU and not much else added on, is it that critical that I monitor all of the temps or is it just something neat to have?

The case I'm leaning towards is the Apevia Supra which has one fan controller built in, but, I'm thinking I could bypass that knob and wire into something like the Silverstone (or whatever).

So again, is it worth the investment? Who else other than Silverstone would be good value for the $?

forcifer

umm depends on the case. i really liked the aepiva ones (x-navigator) but it controlled all the fans. http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=23085 is a very popular one, and http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3227 is as elegant as it gets. for both, i would go with the kaze master

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ShosMeister

Thanks for the input Forcifer! I was looking for something that would keep the clean look of the front of the case though and I don't think those knobs would do it.

I did find a few others on the Performace-PCs site though that hold some promise. I need to look up a bunch of reviews to see if users have had problems with them. This is one I thought would be good as I can drop the all-in-one that I was going to buy anyway.

Even though it has control knobs, here's another one I was going to look up.

forcifer

im leaning more towards the knobs, but thats just me. akasa makes some really good stuff thats quality. so does scythe. couldnt go wrong with either :)

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ShosMeister

Thanks again! Anyone in particular I should stay away from? I was also looking at a couple of Aerocool's here and here. I'm thinking since I was already planning on getting one of the multi-card readers, why not combine them?

ShosMeister

I noticed a few of the reviews on various controllers on NewEgg indicated to be careful about plugging in fans that draw too much power. The question is, how do you know? Most of the specs for the cases simply indicate the number and size of the fans and not the power draw or the voltage.

Don't want to get a controller that I'll fry when I hook it up. Any suggestions?

forcifer

aerocool makes some good front panel thingys (whatever they are called) i think they are too busy to look at, but thats just me. to stay away from, just (try) to stick it well known brands. sunbeam, scythe, silverstone, aerocool make pretty good ones. zalman also makes some good ones. there are others that im forgetting thats just what i have off the top of my head

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ShosMeister

Thanks as always for the input! I think I've settled on the Zalman. Great reviews, clean display and, as you mentioned, Zalman makes some good s**t :) :)

I kept thinking that with nearly all things electronic, you DO get what you pay for and I didn't want to trust the cooling of my build to a $19 controller.

Think I've got everything set. Now just need to order everything (ordered the CPU Tuesday as they showed up on NewEgg) then I'll have to post the final list and some pics of the assembly.

forcifer

awesome :D you better have some good wiring :P hmm i will probably make a guide for it or something...its simple though, but varies alot from case to case. what case are you getting again?

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ShosMeister

I'm leaning to the Apevia Supra. It has a built-in rear and side fan and I was planning on adding a 120mm in the front. That with the CPU fan should fill it up.

What do you mean by "good wiring"? and when are you going to do the guide? Maybe I'll wait :) Or I could help a bit if you want.

I was thinking of getting a cable management kit to help make things look cleaner. Is that what you mean?

forcifer

umm it will work. however, it will only do so much.


see how you see very few cables? was a PITA but i think it was worth it :)

where they all are now. out of the way, not ugly (no one can see them) and they dont restrict airflow. ill get a guide up just give me a day or so :)

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ShosMeister

Awesome! It will be a bit before I'm ready to assemble anyway so I can wait. I like the way you put everything not being used under the motherboard tray.

Where did you get your kit or is the one I linked to good enough?

forcifer

my psu came pre wired like that =/

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Ssrogg

Beings this thread is already going, and mostly done, I'm gonna hijack it.

I'd like a Display-type fan controller with temp readouts. Need to support 4 fans, have a card reader, at least a couple USB ports, and audio I/O for my headset. Could you suggest a good one? I'd prefer black.

Also, do I NEED to have 3pin connectors, or will Molex work for these units? And if I need 3pin, is there a way/kit to add one to existing fans (think the 200mm fan on Antec 900)? I'm going to end up replacing the 3 120mm fans in my case, but I'd rather not have to deal with the cash for that monster fan. It HAS a 3 position switch installed, can I splice in a 3pin (again, if needed).

Thanks,

Eric

ShosMeister

Hey Ssrogg, did you check out some of the links I had in my posts? They may not be exactly what you are looking for, but, the sites have a lot of others to choose from.

As for the 3 pin/molex, most that I've been looking at (at least those with 4 fan input) seem to all have 3 pin. I do think there is a molex4 to 3 pin adapter although I can't remember where as I was going to go all 3 pin.

Ssrogg

Thank you for the reply. I have checked out the links you posted, and dug through the other items on the site. Seems I can get MOST of what I want, but not all. May have to give up and just use 2 bays. One for temp/fans and one for I/O. I'll dig around for the 3 pin adapter.

Mebbe I still get lucky. I don't want to use all my available bays simply for aesthetics. Have all my front grilling painted up and it would suck to replace it all with basic black faceplates. = )

Eric

ShosMeister

LOL! Understood about the aesthetics. THAT'S the one thing I've been dealing with as well. Good luck!

forcifer

90% of front panels on the bays can be removed and painted if you need them to be :) thats what i did with my dvd burner in [Project] SilverStoned

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