Moderator Review: Aerocool Gatewatch

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PV5150

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Well I managed to get my hands on an Aerocool Gatewatch rheobus, from CoolPC in Brisbane, Australia. If you are in the hunt for some really cool mod gear; these guys really know their stuff and will ship either locally, Nationwide and even Internationally. The unit costs around the Aus$70/A$50 mark and is available in black or silver.

gwsb.jpg


Specifications

*Fan Voltage Input-12V (Each channel can handle up to 1.7A)

*Material-Plastic and Aluminum Alloy

*Device Space-2 x 5.25” driver device

*Dimension-150(W) x 85(H) x 62mm(D)

*Weight-460g


Features

* Large LCD display – uses 2 x 5.25” bays

* Futuristic panel and graphic designs

* Monitors and controls 4 channels of fan speed and temperature

* Precision digital button controls

* Master volume control knob

* Sound equalizer

* Auto / manual switch for auto detect or user’s personal settings

* °C / °F switch

* Alarm warning for overheat or when abnormalities are detected

* 3 color backlit display


LCD Display

* 4 x fan speed display

* 4 x alarm temperature display

* 4 x temperature readings display

* Active Sound Analyzer

* Aerosorus with moving tail

* Computer status indicator

* Channel indicator

* Auto and Manual indicator

* Fan and temperature channel selection indicators

* 24hr time display

* Volume indicator


Buttons

* CPU fan and thermal readings

* VGA fan and thermal readings

* Case fan and thermal readings

* HDD fan and thermal readings

* Auto / Manual mode

* Master volume control

* °C / °F Display

* RPM and time set

* Alarm setting

* Fan speed and temperature alarm increase and decrease

* LCD backlight selection


How the Equipment was rated

Before starting the actual review on the Aerocool Gatewatch, I decided upon what were important factors in helping me decide to purchase gear. I came up with 4 areas where I think its important for equipment to rate fairly high and these then became the benchmarks for my review. The areas I considered essential were:

1. Build quality;

2. Value for money;

3. Functionality, and

4. :anisx: factor.


Each of these areas were given a marking scale of 10, the marks were tallied and the end result given as a percentage. We here at SysXtreme forums pride ourselves on using nothing but top quality gear, and so have come up with a scale of :anisx: yness for our members. Any gear coming through the review section shall be given the following awards:

*90% and upwards- :anisx: Top Performer*70-89%- :anisx: Recommended *Any gear that has serious bang for the buck value- :anisx: Bargain buy

Now on with the review...

A little bit of info on fan controllers

A lot of newer fan controllers are emerging with the ability to 'pulse control' fans. Fan control is done via pulse method, in which the fans are driven by electricity pulses and do not have their voltage reduced, as is the case with most other fan controllers. This causes a constant and very unpleasant rattling sound, especially with smaller fans, or even in extreme cases a steady 'woop woop' sound. The rattling can hardly be heard though with 120 mm system fans. In contrast to these other fan controls, the Aerocool Gatewatch does not use pulse control. That means that some of the cheaper controllers interrupt the current as soon as a certain fan rpm level has been reached. This has the disadvantage that although the connected fans do turn more slowly, they make even more noise than before because they constantly have to speed up again. The controller in the Aerocool Gatewatch isn't of this sort, and as such won't get on your nerves.

Some more info on PWM can be found HERE

First Impressions

Upon receiving the parcel via air express I eagerly opened the packaging to find my review subject, the Aerocool Gatewatch. The packaging was very rugged and able to withstand the rigours and punishment of the worst mail service in the world, I'm sure :D .





Once I got the Gatewatch out of the box I was surprised at how much gear they had managed to fit in there, along with the main controller unit. Along with the controller itself, Aerocool had included: 4 fan connector leads (2 pin); 4 thermal probes; 1 battery (for time and settings backup); case screws for installation; thermal tape; installation manual, and a bracket mounted audio controller. All of this was shrink wrapped to the back of the controller unit, a nice touch was the inclusion of a plastic film over the circular screen to prevent both fingerprints and accidental scratching of the LCD screen.





Installation

Installation of the Gatewatch was a breeze and a pleasure to undertake, apart from two (2) engineering design problems that I shall mention later in this section. In order to fit this beast into my rig I had to remove two...yes two, optical drive bay face plates and relocate my CD ROM drive up a notch in my Antec P160 WF case.



Before putting in the controller unit, the battery for the backup needs to be put in, and the location is on the back of the unit under a metal backing plate. In order to achieve this you need to have fingers like a stick of spaghetti, anyone trying this with fat fingers or big hands will need to take a few deep breaths. One of the design flaws I noticed was that for those of us with tool-less cases, (i.e TT or Antec) the fixing points on the back of the Gatewatch don't really allow for drive rails to be attached. There are two (2) screw holes available and these I believe are intended solely for those with optical bays that secure the drive in place with the 4 screw fixing points, pre-drilled into the case itself. Any way I managed to get my drive rails attached by one (1) screw on each side, we'll see how that goes.



Routing the wires from the controller unit is a cinch as all of them are clearly marked, although I would have liked to have seen some form of cable sleeving over the wiring like on my now deceased TT Hardcano 12 (pls see pic below for what I mean). But to Aerocool's credit they have included clear plastic shrouds that cover the thermal probes to prevent accidental breakage or damage. The other design flaw that I noticed was that the plugs attaching the thermal probes to their respective leads were decidedly flimsy. So flimsy in fact that I reinforced them with a little electrical tape.



But for AUS$70 I think I have saved enough money, to buy some cable sleeving and do it myself.



Anyone who is a clean wiring freak like me, or who has a case with a side mounted window will probably want to invest in some sleeving, to try and keep the innards of their rig in a manageable state. The last part of the installation process is the inclusion of the audio controller, although a little gimmicky it is quite handy. The idea behind it is that you can control the volume of your monitor or desktop speaker setup via the volume knob on the controller. For those too lazy to reach over to the volume knob on your speakers, just raise the arm a little and reach for the controller knob on the Gatewatch!!!





Does it do the job?

You bet it does!!! This baby is currently running three (3) 120mm fans and one (1) 92mm Sunon fan on my Thermalright XP-90 HS, and hasn't skipped a beat. The controller is able to be run in either auto or manual modes. Automatic mode is great...just set the alarm temp for the unit and it shall adjust the fans accordingly. Manual mode obviously allows for the manual adjustment of fan speeds if you find that the controller is allowing the fans to spin too loud for your taste and hearing. The LCD panel includes a clock that runs in 24 hour time, and the display also shows the volume setting for the controller mentioned previously. The beauty of this unit compared to others I have used in the past is that it allows the user to have complete control over the cooling system in their rig. Instead of allowing temp alarm settings at 40/50/60 and 70 deg C like on TT gear, the Gatewatch allows you to advance it in 1 degree increments. The thermal probes supplied with the Gatewatch are of a high quality, they give exactly the same reading as the ones that came with my Antec temp monitoring panel. It also has a button for switching between Fahrenheit or Deg C monitoring.

The colour of the LCD screen is also customisable to suit your mood, allowing blue, red and violet screen settings. One thing to note is that if your fans do not have a thermal monitoring adjustment provision inbuilt, the Gatewatch will not show the rpm of your fans. This is not a fault, most rheobus's experience this phenomenon. Now lets see how the Gatewatch shapes up in our
:anisx: test.



Build quality

I cannot fault the build quality of this unit!!! Its solid and built to last, which considering the price in comparrison with other temperature monitoring devices is astounding. Apart from the flimsyness of the thermal probe connectors that I mentioned previously, the build quality is second to none in its price range. 9/10

Value for money

I still cannot believe that this controller only costs AUS$70, and for what you get this is an absolute bargain. Awesome quality without the pricetag to match!!!

9/10

Functionality

The Aerocool Gatewatch oozes functionality!!! Food for thought for future design revisions would be to:

1.Reduce the space required for installation-this unit is a space hog...and users without the flexibility to lose 2 x 5.25” drive spaces are going to opt for something smaller, and

2.Incorporate media capability into the unit-a lot of mainstream rheobus manufacturers' are including USB/FireWire and Flash memory connectors into their products.

But ultimately, this is a fan controller and at that job, it does extremely well.


7/10

:anisx: factor

Its big and probably not everyones idea of a good time...but we love it!!! It stands out from the crowd and would make a fine addition to any rig, and to boot it comes with most of the bells and whistles. This product has the SX factor by the bucket load. Well done Aerocool on making an outstanding product!!!

8/10

82.5%

:anisx: Recommended

You may discuss the review here
 
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