Testing

Well, how can you test a fan controller ? Either it works or it doesn't. But how user friendly is it ?
I've been working with this fan controller for sometime now, so I know where the hot and the cold spots are ....

The first thing I noticed was the screen. Besides the blue backlight (blue always looks cool), you have to look at it when sitting in front of it. Installed in a case, you can't always look straight at your 5,52" bays, but most of the time your view comes from a different angle. When looking for example from above at the Silverstone fan controllers' screen, you see "everything" coming through.

It was hard to make decent pictures of this, but you can see this phenomenon with the fan speed indicator. it's full, instead of only a few fanblades.



Click for bigger picture...



When the provided connectors and sensors are not in use, one would like to hide the unused cables. Putting them somewhere between the hard disk or where ever out of sight, the bare connectors could possibly cause a short-circuit and ruin your day. This is luckily not possible with the Silverstone SST-FP52S. The fan connectors and sensors have special covers you can use to protect from short circuit.



Click for bigger picture...


As you might have seen on the previous pictures, there are only two buttons. A "Mode" button, with which you can toggle between the three sensors. And the "Set" button; guess what it's for... Right on ! Setting the time, ...

I borrowed the table from Silverstone installation guide below. You can see the fan voltage that is being used at a certain temperature range. Unfortunately this is not adjustable. The only thing you can do is to make the sensor reacts faster or slower to the temperature by positioning it closer to or farther from the heat source.




Conclusion

I can't deny the fact that not only the Silverstone fan controller looks great, but also a dream for every computer user. Unfortunately it could be too simple to some. For example, you can't adjust any settings such as temperature range or fan speed. Then, it's definitely fool proof this way.

There are only three sensors and three possible fan connections. Enough for the average computer user, not quite enough for the enthusiasts. You decide for yourself to what group you belong.

PRO
Stylish looks
Easy to use
Everything is preset


CON
Lower quality screen
Only three fans


And last but not least, I would like to thank Jurek from SilverStone for the fancontroller and his patience.

/piotke out

Questions/Comments: forum thread