I only have 3 fans in my machine; CPU, PSU and a 120mm exhaust fan. I connected all 3 to the controller so I can completely silence my case if I’m leaving it on overnight although to begin with, I ran them at full speed. (As with the thermal probes, it’s a good idea to write down what fans are assigned to each channel, as the display only shows the fans as roman numerals I to IV)

The last tasks were to install the sound I/O bracket, and to connect the power to the unit. Power is delivered through a single floppy power connector (if you haven’t any spare the device comes with a standard 4 pin Molex converter). At this point I had my doubts as to whether a single power connector would deliver enough juice to run the unit and three fans properly.

The display makes a fantastic addition to the front of any machine; the backlight has 7 changeable colours (some below) as well as an auto colour changing mode. With no instructions, it took a few moments to figure out how to change the backlight colour; the fan speed control has a secondary function as a button which cycles through them. It didn’t take me long to find a suitable blue that matched my PSU power and case temperature readouts.

I noticed a this point that the temperature readouts were in degrees Fahrenheit, and with no other buttons on the unit I tried holding the colour cycle button on. Sure enough, after 5 seconds the readout changed to degrees Celsius.

Switching between the different temperature readouts and fan speeds gives a real sense that this is a very high tech piece of equipment. All the dials feel very sturdy and give a satisfying heavy click when turned.

The volume control knob is a bit of an afterthought, as most people including myself sit closer to the speakers than the box itself making this a bit redundant. Although saying that, the device would look odd with only 3 dials, it’s more of an aesthetic choice.

Browsing the various temperatures and fan speeds is very easy once you have committed to memory the numbers for each device, although I’ve noted that there is a distinct loss in gain when routing your audio through the controller (but no loss in quality). Not a real issue, it just means turning the speakers up a bit.

After about an hour, the unit alerted me to a very big issue with itself. The backlight flashed red and beeped, switching the display to the PSU temperature readout... which read at 90 degrees! (Video Link) While shutting down the machine, I remembered my previous thought that the single power connector would not provide enough power for everything to run properly. This gave me a little idea to test how many RPM the fans were loosing when running through the controller.

In turn I hooked up a 60mm, an 80mm, and two 120mm fans to the CPU header on my motherboard. The BIOS then allowed me to see what speed they should be running at (I have included all the data from this test on an excel spreadsheet). My results concluded that individually the fans run 100-150mm slower when connected to the controller. When 4 fans are running simultaneously each fan runs up to 250 rpm slower. This is no major issue however my PSU suffered badly loosing that much cooling (1259rpm appears to be just sufficient). This could also prove difficult to run on a heavily over clocked system, or a radiator fan on a water cooling kit.

Thinking about the situation this is a minor flaw, running non critical fans through this really isn’t a problem. The loss of a few rpm may not be quite as effective but it makes them a bit quieter. In addition to this, I have to give credit where it’s due, the device did alert me to the problem very effectively. Even hardcore gaming with headphones on, seeing your box go into red alert itself surely would not go un-noticed!

(In a darkened room)

Conclusion. 

Overall this is a very good multi function controller. The build quality is fantastic, visually it looks stunning, and it is very intuitive and easy to use. The lack of instructions with it was a bit disappointing, I even scouted a few local retailers for this product to check whether it has instructions or whether I just got a lemon, unfortunately I could not find the product anywhere locally. I have given the power issue a bit of thought, and come up with a few possible solutions.

If run on a PSU that has separate rails, and a rail entirely dedicated to it the power may be enough to keep the fans running at full speed. Another possible solution would be to run all four fans off of separate connectors, modifying them to accept the voltage regulation from the controller, but the additional power may cause damage to the controller itself. I may try this one day, but for now I’m quite happy to just run chassis fans on it.

It is also a very good item to note, that the thermal probe in the PSU, cable and all survived the 90 degrees C that it was heated to against bare metal, without any deformity or any indication it had been exposed to that sort of temperature. Once again a good example of the build quality for this product. 

Pros 

• Fantastic build quality
• Visually stunning
• Easy and intuitive interface
• Generous package

Cons

• Not particularly good for critical fans.
• No instructions

A big thanks to Scythe who provided the review sample.

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