 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Advertisement |
 |
 |
 |
|
DriverHeaven Review |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
I’m sure every computer user knows how loud CPU, case
and PSU fans can be. It can be distracting and downright
irritating at times, especially if you are like me and sleep
in the same room as your computer. This is where fan controllers,
or rheobusses come in.
The fan controller I’m reviewing today the Noise
Isolator RH-35SE Rheobus. I picked it up
for AUD $25, not expecting too much for a cheaper rheobus.
Here are the specifications from the website I ordered
it from, as well as the manufacturer’s image of
the product:
• Allows you to control the speed
of the fans inside your case with ease What’s in the box? When I picked up the purchase, it came in a non-descript
cardboard box that was bent and slightly squashed. It
must have been in the warehouse for a fair amount of time.
A quick search on Google helped me find out who the manufacturer
was.
Luckily the contents of the box were protected in a bag of bubble wrap, which once empty revealed the rheobus, 2 plastic bags with two 3-pin fan extension leads each, a green Molex “y-cable,” mounting screws and a plastic bag wrapped around the rheobus with the two face plates (black & silver). There was no hint of a manual or installation guide anywhere.
Two things I would like to mention at this point are: a) the Molex “y-cable” appears to be UV-reactive, but I can’t test it at this point in time as I don’t have any UV lights at hand (I will report on this in the forums once I get the chance to test it), b) I received twice the advertised amount of fan extension leads. Having two separate bags makes me think of two things, either the manufacturer or the re-seller packed the extra bag by mistake, or the re-seller thought it made more sense to pack enough leads to use with each channel of the fan controller. In any case I’m not complaining, as I needed all four (more on this later). Installation I realised I had a small problem when I saw that my
case fans were using 4 pin Molex passthrough connectors,
and I only had 3 pin fan cables at hand. Scissors, a soldering
station, and an old Molex “y-cable” (not the
new green one ?), sticky tape and 10 minutes work fixed
that. That was 2 channels on the fan control down. Now
for the other two.
My CPU fan is the Coolermaster Aero 7+, which those who own one would know, uses its own variable resistor to control its speed. That paid a visit to the corner of my desk with the soldering station too. I also did the same with my chipset fan, which had overdrawn the power output from the motherboard, and had been using an extension cable with bare ends jammed into a Molex plug. I figured it would be a little safer this way.
Installation of the rheobus itself is pretty easy, if you have a case with a removable cage its easier still. The mounting holes are a fair way back along the mounting frame so if you plan on installing a floppy drive, install that first below, and then the rheobus above it, as it will make things easier when trying to screw the rheobus into place.
Installing the fan cables, however, was a different matter. Due to the small size of the device, and how far back from reach it is from inside the case, connecting the fans when it’s installed would be almost impossible. I think the idea it to connect the extenders first, and then install the drive, but if that's not possible, like with my CPU fan cable, try to hang the cable out of the bay and connect as you are installing the rheobus. This can get a little tight, especially with case fans at the rear of the case, but that’s what the extenders are for. In Use Using the device is simple, turn the knob left and the
fan speed decreases, turn the knob right and the fan speed
increases. My only real issue is that the knobs are completely
smooth, no easy-to-grip grooves that I can turn with a
single finger, I need to use my forefinger and my thumb
to turn it.
When the computer is powered up, bright blue LEDs light up from around the controller’s knobs, the light of which is accentuated by the acrylic cover. Also, when reducing the speed of a fan, the brightness of the LED of that knob is also reduced. It’s not too noticeable, and only the middle work the best, but it’s a nice little feature. Fan Speed and Voltage Differences I used a digital multimeter to test the output voltages of the rheobus, and compare to the 12V rail directly from the PSU. To get these readings I am connecting the probes of the multimeter directly to the Molex plug of the passthrough connector for a 12V 120mm fan. The law of parallel circuits states that
voltage stays the same across all branches, and as the
multimeter is being connected in parallel to the fan when
attached to the rheobus, the voltage read by the multimeter
will match the voltage that the fan receives.
The difference in voltages between the 12V rail and the output from the rheobus is to be expected, as it needs to power its own circuits, but the differences between the output with and without the load of the fan are concerning. The output voltage should stay constant whether or not there is a load on it, but the extreme difference between lowest setting with and without load, 6.34V and 9.54V respectively, gives me reason to believe that the controller can only just handle a single fan per channel. If a second fan were added, I doubt the rheobus would be able to supply enough power to run the fan. This aside, just over 6V is an ideal level to set as the lowest point, as some fans, especially LED fans, will not run with less than 5V, so this margin of safety is welcome. The 11.37V available to the fan is almost 800mV below the 12V rail, and therefore the fan will not spin as fast as it could when connected directly to the PSU, but the difference is small and the difference in airflow should be negligible, especially with a larger fan, like the 120mm in use. Conclusion I didn’t expect too much when I purchased this rheobus, with AUD $25 being at the lower end of the spectrum for fan controllers, but I am pleased with its performance. If you are looking for a simple device to do the job, without all the flashy extras of the high end devices, this rheobus probably suits your needs, provided you only use one fan per channel. However, I would have liked to have seen 3-pin to 4-pin Molex adaptors for use with case fans and CPU fans that require the Molex connector. Pros: Cons:
|
|
|
