|
Statistics
Visitors: 864043
Advertisement
Notebook Computers
For the best deals on laptop computers visit www.Geeks.com.
|
|
Cobalt3 Pyramid V Fan Controller |
|
|
|
|
Written by Mikhail Ivanenkov
|
|
Wednesday, 13 June 2007 |
|
Page 1 of 3
Thanks to Crazy PC for the product sample.
Fan control was never an issue "back in the day", when overclocking anything short of a Celeron 300A was useless. Times have obviously changed, and with the exponential growth of the PC enthusiast market (as well as the PC market in general), several imbalances have occurred. For instance, we see video cards with technology that won't be in games for years, just because people want to "future proof" their systems, even though when those games finally do appear, they'll most likely have the best of then, not the best of now. How does this relate to cooling?
Overclocking is synonymous with heat. Memory, CPUs, GPUs, all those transistors dissipate relatively large amounts of heat. Even worse, they do so over a very insignificant surface area. And that's why the Delta fan was made; to help squeeze a bit of speed that results in no more than self satisfaction, all at the cost of noise. But history repeats itself, and it's nice to see that we're slowly, but moving, back to the era of quiet computing. Personally, I think it all started with Shuttle's HTPC box alongside VIA's passive C3 processor, reminding us once more that we don't have to go deaf to enjoy what a PC has to offer.
But really, back to the task at hand. The rheobus was a great innovation but it's aging and begging to be replaced, or at least improved upon. And many companies have done just that. DIY kits are almost nowhere to be found, and $20 will get you a decent pre-built 5.25" controller. The folks at Cobalt3 have decided to try something a little different, and that's how the Pyramid came to be. In a nutshell, it's a device that variably controls fan speeds (like a rheostat/potentiometer) and comes with an alarm and a nifty light underneath. More on all that later. Packaging was ok I suppose, no fancy marketing but not utter crap either.
Aside from the box, you get a foldout pamphlet with pictures and installation instructions, something that's great for the average user (though I don't see many average users buying this) but useless for someone who built their own computer. It is, however, something that'll make almost anyone do a double take because of its unique shape. Why they chose a pyramid I have no clue, as there doesn't seem to be any purely functional purpose. Which leads me to believe that it's simply there for looks, just like the LED underneath, though I'm not complaining. In terms of connectors, there are two 4-pin plugs, one for power and one for connecting fans, nicely labeled with warnings against using it to power other devices (like an HDD) or the CPU fan. As for specs, here's the list from their website:
- Sensor Temperature Response Range: 65° F to 90° F (18° C to 32° C)
- Operating Temperature: 32° F to 167° F (0° C to 75° C)
- Relative Humidity: 5% to 95% (non condensing)
- Power Requirement: 12V
- Internal Power Consumption: 0.025 Amps (0.3 Watts)
- Maximum DC Fan Current: 4 Amps (48 Watts)
- Dimensions : 1.5" X 1.5" X 1.1" (W X L X H)
The Pyramid V uses up only 0.3 watts of power, so its heat output is negligible and doesn't require the use of heatsinks like the first generation rheobus. It's also pretty "powerful" for something that'll fit in a 1.5" box. The ability to command up to 48 watts is nothing to scoff at, since even the 10 or so fans in an enthusiast's case won't add up to that much (that's 4.8watts/fan, something that only high RPM models need). It also has something called dPOD technology, an acronym for Dual Power Output Driver. Supposedly it provides N+1 type redundancy under a continuous 4 amp load, while only losing 0.025A in the process.
According to Cobalt3 you can daisy chain up to eight 4-pin fans as well as connecting a couple 3-pin parts, but this is just a number that means nothing to me. There's no way the internal processor can tell if you have one fan connected or all 10. So feel free to add whatever wherever. You should in theory be able to get the 48 watts out of only one power line. The biggest improvement over the Pyramid II is the inclusion of an alarm that looks to be the same used as a "system speaker" in all Chieftec-style cases. This rings (annoyingly loud might I add) when the probe temperature reaches the critical point, in this case 32C. Unfortunately that's not entirely true, but let's continue anyway.
Aside from the microchip and speaker, there's an LED mounted on the bottom, used to light up the pyramid for a visual treat. At the apex is a little knob; this is the temperature probe. There are two popular "styles" of probes, flat ones for surface measurement (think CompuNurse thermistor) and round ones for airflow (both can be found in the famous DigiDoc). This is the meat and potatoes of the Pyramid V and you should strongly consider where you want to mount it in your case for optimal results (between the CPU and video card, or CPU and PSU seem to be the hottest spots).
Another interesting feature is the multi-step "failsafe" quality of the Pyramid V. Supposedly, if the chip malfunctions, all fans are automatically returned to full speed and the device then acts as a mere extension of the power cables. When it first starts up, all fans are revved up to full speed for a few seconds, then adjusted according to the surrounding temperature. This is especially important as many models (most notably low output ones, and the worst is the 120mm sub-1000rpm part, which requires a lot of torque) won't spin up with anything short of full power.
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 15 June 2007 )
|
|
|
