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Enermax UC-A07FATR2 Multifunction Panel |
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Written by Mikhail Ivanenkov
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Wednesday, 13 June 2007 |
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Page 1 of 2
Thanks to Crazy PC for the product sample.
Though it seems like only yesterday, fan control has been around for several years now. What started out as simple switches evolved into rheostats and finally a combination of the two. But even that quickly lost its appear. Companies like Macpower have innovated on several occasions, most notably with the release of the DigiDoc 5. Though not the cheapest at the time, it was a luxury no one else offered so having one meant being special, in an elite sort of way. Since then 5.25" panels have come in many flavors, but until now few have attempted to produce an all-inclusive solution.
Which is exactly what Enermax set out to accomplish with their series of 3.5" and 5.25" multifunction panels. The main idea is simple: create an all-in-one package with fan speed control, temperature monitoring (and alarm), a display of all that, and expansion ports for dessert. All wrapped up with the budget user in mind. The current series consists of the UC-A3FATR2 (3.5" bay, two monitored fan speeds, two temperature readings, no ports), UC-A5FATR2 (5.25" bay, two monitored fan speeds, four unmonitored fan speeds, two temperature readings, no ports) and what I have today, the UC-A07FATR2 (5.25" bay, two monitored fan speeds, two temperature readings, USB/Firewire/audio ports). All available in black, silver or beige for a total of nine possible versions.
Blister pack opened, you'll find a complete kit. One problem that arises with these types of devices but is unavoidable is cable clutter. Anything short of a full tower and you'll have to spend some quality time tucking away cables to keep up the airflow. The contents consist of the unit itself (featuring two 3-pin plugs, a pair of flat thermal probes and a pass-through 4-pin molex connector for main power), two USB wires, two audio wires, a Firewire plug, bag of screws for mounting, a PCI bracket for feeding the wires around back, three zip ties to help with the cable organization, and an easily read manual. Not shown but also included: chip, CPU and HDD stickers (three of each) and two pieces of (thermal?) tape for sensor mounting.
The actual panel only takes up an inch in depth with the majority of the PCB less than half of that, leaving the rest of the space for mounting a hard drive or installing a pair of 80mm fans, though there's not much of a point. The included screws amount to six (four for the panel, two for the HDD and none for the fans), so you might want to find some more should you choose to install either of these items. The entire unit is made out of aluminum so it's fairly lightweight. But even more appealing is the reflective gloss coating. Though fingerprints are noticeable, they're just as easily wiped off.
Props to Enermax for labeling almost everything. Each 3-pin connector and temperature probe is marked to coincide with the control up front. All the knobs and buttons are labeled. The only parts unmarked are the port hookups in the back, but each one has a unique pin layout. Furthermore, each of the wires is marked with the word "up" on a side to remove any final traces of confusion. Also, the fan/temperatures/power wires are clamped down at the rear of the unit so at least some clutter is avoided.
As previously mentioned, all the ports are labeled (handy for differentiating the line in/out plugs) and so are the fan control knobs. The LCD screen measures 43mm x 20mm which is more than enough to display a pair of temperatures and fan speeds to be viewed from a reasonable distance. The screen is protected by a thick piece of plastic to prevent damage. Around back, from right to left we have the aforementioned expansion port plugs. Directly at the edge of the left PCB is a jumper (circled in blue) which controls whether the temperature is displayed in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 15 June 2007 )
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