Introduction

Fan controllers are all the range these days and come in many shapes and styles. However, with the competition fierce between companies, a product better have some rather unique features.

Manufacturers  such as Aerocool, employ many LEDs and a touch interface, similar to that of a Star Trek Bridge Console. Lamptron concentrates on build quality and only uses the original metal in the construction of their units, while NZXT products are known for sheer good looks.

However, of the above products, the one that provides the most watts per channel is the manufacturer Lamptron (between 20 and 50) which is dependant on the model. For this reason, any computer water cooling enthusiast worth their weight in salt will use the controller for powering their Water cooling pumps, as well as their fans. We all know that most of the time there is no real need to speed up and slow down a pump, however, if we can use just one power source to the Fan controller unit then this would eliminate the need for a power cable to the pump. Until now, the only manufacturer that has offered sufficient wattage to enable this function has been Lamptron. Having said this, we all know that wattage is only part of the equation and amperage also has to be taken into account.

Enter Reeven, a previously unknown company from Taiwan that specialises in cooling products.

REEVEN is a newly established international manufacturer of PC related products. REEVEN’s product lines includes the best quality of advanced CPU coolers, Cooling Fans, Power Supply Units, PC Cases and many other items. the target of our products will be  a wide range of audience under our philosopohy “Professional Quality Gears”, for products that will withstand the highest demand.

(www.reeven.com last accessed 10/05/2012)

Specifications

Packaging

The packaging  of the Six-Eyes fan controller is very striking and differs greatly from many other products of the same type. The outer box features a carbon grey scheme with images of the fan controller in both Aluminum and Black, and the words ‘Six Eyes’ emblazoned in gold on the top panel.

The side panel sports a series of windows that display the colours available to the consumer, seven in total. Obviously, we can guess that the controller employs the use of Red, Green, and Blue LEDs in its specifications.

As shown above, the rear of the package concentrates on the warranty conditions and the product images. Upon opening the lid of the box, we are greeted with a foam-protective covering and the accessories. These include six temperature probes, a manual, the power lead, a rather attractive sticker and a set of mounting screws. The inner-foam packaging is pretty much standard faire for all products of this type, however it does the job and protects the product well.

All in all, a rather attractive packaging design and it should attract attention when placed on a shelf within a retail environment.

Product Photographs

Upon unwrapping the polymer-based bag from the Reeven Six-Eyes Fan controller, we get an almost wistful feeling as we see a design that is somewhere between the ‘Chronicles of Riddick-Negromonger’ and the “Sith-Lord” theme, which in all honesty is a rather attractive finish. We immediately notice the ‘Six-Eyes’ has monitoring LCD displays for each channel, giving it a multi-faceted look of the compound eyes of a bee.

Upon examining the product, we find that Reeven has chosen to employ a hard-polymer based material, rather than use metal. This could alienate some users; however, if the price is  lower than that of other manufacturers, then this will not be an issue.

Down the left and right-hand side of the front face plate of the controller are six dials each marked by a Roman numeral and these  correspond to each of the fan channels. In order to operate the fan speed, each dial must be pushed in, therefore when not in use the dial may be pushed again to ‘pop’ out. This a great idea because when a channel is no longer being used or adjustments have been completed, the consumer only needs to push the dial back in to achieve a rather ‘clean’ and flushed look. Overclockers Tech appreciates this creativity because we have never seen this feature employed before.

Looking around the rear of the controller, we examine the electronics used. We can see the product is made from two printed circuit boards. The first being used to power the LCD’s or ‘Eyes’; and the second to mount the fans, adjust settings, and provide power to the unit as a whole.

Using the above photos and by referencing the product itself, we shall move from left to right. On the left are the six fan connectors and above these are the six rather small heatsinks. However, these have no need to be overly large as they are only dispersing 12 watts of heat! Next we have the four pin power connectors (adapter to molex is included), which look alot like the old floppy drive connector. To the right of this, we have the mounting posts for the six channel temperature monitor probes. Exploring further right, we find the jumper switches for the alarm, the temperature standard readouts, and two sets of DIP switches to set the alarm temperature and the LCD colour readouts.

One of the concerns are the non braided cables between the printed circuit boards as we feel that these spoil the overall look of the build. The printed circuit boards could have been dyed a different colour-rather then the usual green, in order to give them a more appealing look.

Finally, on this section we cover the LED Colour Displays

As shown below, the Six-Eyes fan controller sports differing LCD display colours, employed by the use of RGB LEDs.  Obviously, with this method you cannot get a true white, only an approximation; however, most of the other colours shouldn’t be a problem. The colours shown below are red, apple green, purple, green, light blue and blue.

Some rather nice eye-candy for the Six-Eyes fan controller by Reeven.

Now we move on to the testing phase of the controller.

 Testing

The advertised specifications of the Reeven Six-Eyes fan controller are listed as one amp per channel. Unlike many other review sites, we concentrate more on the amperage rather than the watts. However, if we know the equation (see below), we can conclude that each channel has 12 watts.

If the volts and the amperage are known, but not the Watts, then we use the formula below:

For Example:

Watts = Voltage x Amps 

P = E x I
Example: 2.2 AMPS multiplied by 12v = 26.4watts

If the wattage and the voltage is known, but not the amperage, then we can obtain the latter mentioned by the use of the following formula.

Example:

AMPS = Watts / Voltage
I = P ÷ E
Example:
30 WATTS =divided by 12v = 2.5 AMPS 

So to sum up to find the wattage specification as it is not listed on the box we use this formula.

12 Volts X Amps

12 volt input

1 AMP per channel

= 12 WATTS

There we go -  simple and elementary maths to find the missing specifications.

To push the amperage tolerance to its maximum, we utilised a differing procedure, rather than by simply attaching as many fans onto one channel as possible. We connected a Liang DDC water cooling pump on one channel and a XSPC 750 bay reservoir on another. Both of these run on 10 watts, and they have a constant operating amperage of  0.83 at full speed. On initial start-up that can easily spike to a full amp or even slightly over that amount, and as a result we feel that this is a great test to put a strain on the Six-Eyes fan controller.

 Please view the video below in order to watch a full demonstration of the testing procedure.

Conclusion

It is not often that a component manufacturer from Taiwan or China holds ROHS and CE certifications. When we do see this, it is reassuring to those of us in the west that the product its not just another cheap Chinese copy. It is great to see that the Reeven ‘Six-Eyes’ product has this and more, which is a sign of attention to detail and protection for the consumer. The product certainly has some unique looks that remind us of a science fiction films, namely ‘Chronicles of Riddick’ and ‘Star-Wars’. It has some rather unique features, such as the ability to monitor and gather information from all six channels without depressing multiple buttons. In addition, we also appreciate the ability to push in the dials in order to promote a smooth and clean finish.

There are one or two items for concern. Namely, the material used in construction of the chassis as Reeven has used an all Polymer based material instead of metal for the unit’s chassis. The use of Polymer is not unique and AeroCool does the same; so it won’t convert the die-hard Lamptron owners, who are proud of their products for using the original metal. Also, to make the product more attractive to case modification enthusiasts, it would have been prudent to sleeve the fan extension and power cables.

Lastly, we add in the price and at 49 Euros (around £46) this would indeed bash up against the Lamptron FC Touch Prices. However, if more distributors are found in the west, we have been informed that this may drop  by as much as 8-10 pounds Sterling, making this a much more attractive offer.

Pros:

• Originality
• Proven to operate fine at 1A per channel
• Can attach water cooling pumps-albeit only up to 10 watts!
• Science Fiction Looks
• Dials can be pushed in to create a clean look