Fan control

[rrjwilson]

I've been looking through projects and boastful sites saying they can control the weather with their £3 controller. The Scythe Kaze Master looks brilliant but only has 4 channels. Almost all other entrants have four channels but are a bit OTT for my liking. There is a Zalman 6 channel cooler which is great but the lights will annoy me as it is again too many lights. I've been wondering about some other sort of control instead like an automated controller.

I have 6 Yate Loon fans for my radiators, UV cathode (may get more if not all case is illuminated), red cathode (not bought as its for warning about temperatures). So 8x 12v channels are minimum requirement, dimmable/variable outputs, control of all outputs via some sort of program so I don't have to fiddle once its setup.

The BigNG controller sounds pretty good but has 4 channels, this can be expanded with extra boards (and sensors and cables and god knows what).

The Aquaero controller is again good and has 4 channels, this can again be expanded with the Aqua Multiswitch which gives 8 channels as well as the previous 4.

Which one is the better controller for what I want?

 

[rrjwilson]

BigNG, MiniNG and Classic can all only control 4 channels but can have loads of sensors which is no good for me.

That made the choice easier

Ok so the next thing is experience.

Has anybody had any dealing with the AquAero?

I intend on having the AquAero and the Multiswitch (preferably LT version) so I can hide the Multiswitch behind the the AquAero. Hopefully I can get everything to function under a nice system.

 

[JN]

I've got the Aquaero and Multiswitch and they are indeed very classy bits of kit. Don't quote me on this, but I think you can use the multi-switch without the aquaero to control fans. Obviously all controls would have to be in the software though.

 

[PV5150]

Have you looked at any of the Crystalfontz units. I think the SCAB only does 4 fans though. We have a review here. Alternatively there is the Matrix Orbital. Review here

 

[rrjwilson]

They are just screens though aren't they PV?

The ones reviewed are OTT for me. I want to be able to sleep near this thing, a gentle glow is okay, luminous blue is a bit much.

Yeh the multiswitch does work on its own but with my top PA120.3 stopping me fitting my 7" touchscreen I figured I might as well just have the AquAero being the "face" of my cooling.

Can you find LT versions of both the Multiswitch and AquAero (I can't)? If so I might go for the GX Typhoon HiRes display for a laugh or maybe just extreme mod the case to accept the 7" anyway.

How do you find the AquAero and Multiswitch to use Jim?

Most require USB header internally, wiring diagram?

That way I can build an adaptor and keep the header for proper use as well as the controller.

 

[rrjwilson]

*BUMP*

Jim can you give me an idea of your cooling setup, Like how you have the fans and lights and stuff setup to react?

I'm literally on the Buy button for the Aqua Multiswitch now

 

[rrjwilson]

Thought I'd give this another wiggle as I'm getting annoyed.

I bought the Multiswitch as it has enough controls happily with the idea to get the Aquaaero later. With the Multiswitch in and on fresh copy of XPx64 the system boots in ~30 seconds then I have to wait for another 90-110 seconds because once desktop is up Aquasuite loads and stops me doing anything. By stops I mean even if i can do anything like open IE (a button click) the processor is so stacked it doesnt even display google (my homepage). Obviously this means that my rig only gets passive cooling for the first 2-3 mins on startup becuase the fans dont start until the suite is loaded.

Is this normal for Aquasuite?

Or it is normal for Aquasuite running Multiswitch?

Does the Aquaaero on its own have this problem?