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Just For Fun

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Just For Fun

2005 CPU Special Issue

Control Freaks
Panels & Switches For Your Modding Delight
With so many modding products on the market, its easy to go overboard and leave your
modified PC bristling with bunches of disjointed components and their associated power
switches. Dont leave your PCs setup messy and convoluted. Instead, invest a little extra
cash in control panels, switches, and other goods that will streamline component
operation and make your PC easier on the eyes, too.
You already know that PC parts makers offer a plethora of products to please knob
twiddlers and compulsive button pushers. Well give you more insights on the kinds of
products youll find online and offer some insights on how you can best put them to use.
Control Panel Pizzazz
Control panels are the primary product category for adding new features to your PC
while helping you converge your computers existing capabilities and system data. These
panels provide features such as component temperature tracking, fan speed control, and
much more.
20-In-1 Superior Panel
Approximate street price: $35
Sunbeam
www.sunbeamtech.com
Available from:
www.frozencpu.com, www.xoxide.com
Some panels shoot for simplicity and elegance while others,
such as Sunbeams 20-In-1 Superior Panel, attempt to cram as many features as
possible into your drive bay. This product has so many ports and capabilities that it
resembles a digital Swiss Army knife.
For starters, the panel has four flash card slots that accept nine flash card types and
transfer data at USB 2.0 speed. There are two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, a VideoOut port, and even two SATA connectors for external hard drives and other similar
devices. There are three audio ports, including Line-out, Line-in, and Mic connectors.
A small blue LCD on the right side of the panel displays temperature and fan speed
information. The two-channel fan controller will help you control fan speeds, and should
a fan failure or overheating problem arise, alarms will sound. The panel provides a
maximum of 10W per channel.
Of course, Sunbeam bundles all of the cables you need to connect these features to
your motherboard, including the fan cable extensions that some companies omit. You

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also receive a users manual, driver CD, sensor labels, and plastic ties to help you keep
things tidy.
MX6 Series Panel
Approximate street price: $110
Matrix Orbital
www.matrixorbital.com
Available from:
www.frozencpu.com, www.crazypc.com
A lot of front-panel products have integrated LCDs that display pertinent system
information. Unfortunately, most of these devices use VFD (vacuum-fluorescent display)
technology that makes things hard to read due to ghosting and lag time. The MX6 Series
USB displays from Matrix Orbital, however, use PLED (Polymeric LED) technology that
provides brighter characters should be much easier to read.
The front of the MX6 has a four-way keypad, two Function buttons, and an Enter button.
It also has that bright display, which shows up to 20 x 2 (horizontal x vertical) characters
simultaneously. Using the included software, you can program the MX6 to display a
massive rotation of information, from component temperature to customized slogans and
graphics.
The unit includes an external USB cable, mounting hardware, and software CD. Optional
accessories include temperature probes ($9.95), internal USB cable ($8.25), and LED
indicator expansion ($12.95).
Logisys 3.5-Inch Bay Fan Controller
Approximate street price: $25
Logisys
www.logisyscomputer.com
Available from:
www.xoxide.com, www.xpcgear.com
Most front-panel devices are designed for 5.25-inch drive bays, but if youve already
filled those bays with drives, youre out of luck. Unless, of course, you can find panels for
your 3.5-inch bays.
We located a 3.5-inch fan controller from Logisys. This controller has a bright-blue
display that shows you temperature sensor readings, fan speeds, time, and more. It also
lets you control fan speed and set temperature thresholds that if exceeded will set off
overheating alarms. The limited size of the faceplate leaves little real estate for lots of
controls, so this panel has just two buttons to help you with setup.
Enermax 3.5-Inch Multifunction Panel
Approximate street price: $25
Enermax
www.maxpoint.com
Available from:
www.xpcgear.com, www.pcextreme.com
Enermax also makes a 3.5-inch control panel. This model (UC-A3FATR2) has a small
blue status display that will give you temperature readings from three sensors and also
offers heads-up on fans speeds.
As with other small control panels this one has a fairly simple setup. You use two primary
knobs to control fan rotation and then cycle through the Mode and Set buttons to engage
the other features, such as overheat alarms, although these alarms reset to their default
values every time you restart your computer.

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This aluminum panel provides 10W per channel. Each temperature sensor comes with a
label sticker that helps you figure out which internal component you should apply the
sensor to. Enermax includes special thermal tape for this task.
Front Power Panel
Various manufacturers
Approximate street price: $10
Available from:
www.frozencpu.com, www.directron.com
True geeks are always tearing their PCs open to mess with the electronic guts, but even
hardcore enthusiasts tire of dismantling the case just to power up a new component for a
minute or two. With a front power panel, you can put a stop to this kind of frustration.
These come from a number of manufacturers and have varying configurations. One
model slips into a 5.25-inch drive bay, and has a four-pin Molex connector and a
standard 3-pin connector. Of course, youll still have to turn off your computer before you
connect anything to these plugs, but to test fans, drives, or any other standard-power
component, you wont need to open the case. Youll find similarly priced versions with
Molex-only connectors, and those with SATA ports, too.
CoolerMaster Musketeer 2
Approximate street price: $35
CoolerMaster
www.coolermaster.com
Available from:
www.frozencpu.com, www.xoxide.com
Digital readouts for front-panel controllers are great, but if youve seen one blocky digital
alphanumeric character, youve seen em all. Thats why the analog Musketeer displays
from CoolerMaster are so intriguing.
The Musketeer 2 fits 5.25-inch drive bays and has three analog dials separated by two
volume control sliders. The middle dial connects to your hard drive and indicates drive
activity, and the left and right dials show audio output levels from your sound card. Unlike
many controllers, this one doesnt give you any power over fan speed.
There are many illuminated displays that clash with your PCs existing color scheme, but
the Musketeer 2 lets you choose from seven different background colors. You can select
red, blue, green, yellow, light blue, purple, or white. If you want a full-fledged
extravaganza you can set the device to cycle between all of the colors. For even better
color matching, you can choose from a silver or black faceplate.
Zalman Fan Mate
Approximate street price: $7
Zalman
www.zalmanusa.com
Available from:
www.xoxide.com, www.directron.com
Some case fans come with miniature knobs that let you adjust your fans rpm speeds,
but these are few and far between, and sometimes those controllers consume extra
space in your PC. Front-panel fan controls are nice, too, but only if you have a free bay
for installation. Thus, the Fan Mate from Zalman is a nice compromise for fan speed
control.
This product is basically an adjustable resistor that comes in a small plastic box. You
connect the Fan Mate to just about any three-prong fan plug and then you can manually
control how fast the fan blades spin. The Fan Mate is about 5 inches long, so its not

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incredibly small, but it is small enough to tuck behind other internal components. Its
output is rated for 5 to 11V at 6W.
Sunbeam Lightbus
Approximate street price: $30
Sunbeam
www.sunbeamtech.com
Available from:
www.crazypc.com, www.xoxide.com
Whether youre looking to re-create Saturday Night Fever or want to create a creepy
haunted house inside your box, no modded PC is complete without some sort of lighting
effects. Sunbeams Lightbus lets you put on a light show worthy of a midnight rave.
Sunbeams Lightbus lets you drastically alter the way your current lighting setup works.
This four-channel light controller slides into an empty 5.25-inch drive bay and lets you
dictate how you want its five lighting effects (On, Off, Sound Reactive, Hard Drive
Reactive, Fade In/Out) to work on your various bulbs. These modes mean you can
create more than 600 lighting routines.
The Lightbus comes equipped with four primary control knobs, each of which is
surrounded by four buttons that let you configure each lights behavior individually. The
knobs themselves let you adjust each lights brightness, and if you prefer, you can also
connect the unit to your fan and use the knobs to control rpm rates instead. In addition,
each knob has a backlight that makes the entire faceplate glow in a darkened computer
room. To the side of the panel, youll find two ALT buttons that cycle the lighting effects
from one channel to the others.
You have a choice of either a black or silver faceplate. The Lightbus comes with
mounting hardware and wiring extensions to help you complete the installation.
Pop That Switch
So now your heavily modded PC has a dozen snazzy lights, super-glow fans, and other
eye-catching accoutrements. But theres one problem: The switches for each component
are completely boring. Adding new switches with aesthetic flair will raise your PCs
coolness factor exponentially, and better yet, many switches require only modest
soldering and tool skills for a safe, tidy installation.
Military-Style Toggle Switch
Approximate street price $10 to $15
Various manufacturers
Available from:
www.directron.com, www.xoxide.com
Your dreams of growing up to be a Top Gun pilot might never
have materialized, but that doesnt mean you cant add fighter
plane mystique to your PC. You can install a military-style toggle switch capable of
controlling various PC components. A number of retailers offering various versions of
these switches in different colors and with or without LEDs imbedded on the tips of the
switches.
Our favorite military-style switch, though, is the carbon-fiber model that has a unique
pattern on the surface of the switch guard. Flip up this fancy switch guard, flick the metal
toggle switch, and the connected component will come to life.
Large Pushbutton
Approximate street price: $10

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Various manufacturers
Available from:
www.directron.com
If youre old enough to remember the early 80s, before the U.S.S.R. fell, you likely had a
few nuclear-war nightmares with visions of The Button. Now you can bring your
childhood fears to life, with a large red pushbutton from Directron.
This large (1.6-inch diameter) button has a mushroom (or mushroom-cloud)-shaped
head and resembles emergency shutoff switches at some gas stations. The switch
requires a 0.5-inch mounting hole and uses 15A at 12V. If you have a clashing color
scheme, you should know the button also comes in green, but you could feasibly paint
the button any color youd like.
Illuminated Toggle Switches
Approximate street price: $6
Various manufacturers
Available from:
www.directron.com
Also in the 80s, you saw a multitude of sci-fi and war movies with
sets that included large, computerized panels, behind which vicious
aliens and human generals flicked glowing switches to unleash
devastation. These illuminated toggle switches offer the same effect,
only instead of nuking Mars, youll be powering up, say, a case fan or other device of
your choice.
These toggle switches come in various colors and light up when you flip the aluminum
handle. The base fits a 0.5-inch mounting hole, and the switch uses 20A at 12V. If youre
so inclined, it would be easy to match these switches to the color of a case light you want
to activate.
LED Rocker Switches
Approximate street price: $5
Various manufacturers
Available from:
www.directron.com, www.pctoys.com
Fancy switches are all good, but elegantly decorated systems
demand switches with more subdued aesthetics. To that end,
youll find an entire range of rocker switches from several online
retailers.
Rocker switches offer a number of advantages. They come in a variety of colors, and
often with different colors of embedded LEDs, so you wont have problems finding one to
match your color scheme. These products also have a low profile, so they wont stick out
and make it look like your case has odd protuberances sprouting on the front. The
rockers switches we bought were rated for 16A at 12V and required a 21mm installation
hole.
TouchOne
Approximate street price: $20
VLSystem
www.vlsys.co.kr
Available from:
www.xoxide.com
Switches are, by and large, pretty ordinary devices that dont seem to have a lot of room

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for improvement. However, the VL System TouchOne takes your PCs power switch to a
whole new level.
This switch uses capacitive switch technology thats activated by the touch of your skin.
It has a metallic, fingerprint-resistant finish and a surface area thats a little more than 1
inch in diameter. There are no moving parts whatsoever, and when you touch the button
it creates a bright blue flash to confirm activation.
The TouchOne requires continuous access to a 5V rail from your PSU, so youll have to
do some careful fiddling inside your case before it will work. Once youve installed it,
youll have one of the coolest power buttons ever to grace a computer. Whats more, if
youre a security-minded individual, you can mount the TouchOne in an obscure place
on your case and no one will know exactly how to power on your PC.
Ultimate Control
There are a multitude of products you can use to control your PCs various components.
You can keep tabs on temperature, spin your fans, drastically alter your power button, or
add a variety of control gadgets that will accentuate your case design. With some careful
consideration for your PCs needs and a few gentle PC case alterations, you can take
ultimate control of both your computers functionality and aesthetics at the same time.
by Nathan Chandler

Copyright 2006 Sandhills Publishing Company U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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