Thermaltake Hardcano 8 VR

Company: Thermaltake
Product: 4 Channel VR Fan Speed Controller
Street Price: ~$25?? USD
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2003
Reviewed By: Jason R.
Rating: (6.5/10)

The Fan Controller:

It seems like every company is starting to make some sort of fan bus product. They vary from using switches, rheostats, LEDs, knobs, connectors, colors, panels, etc. Thermaltake has created their version called the Hardcano 8 VR. As you can see from the picture above it comes in blue with stainless knobs and adds some curves on front so it isn't so bland. Included in the package is the front panel housing, two rails, screws, four 3-4pin power connectors, and a 4pin connector to supply the power, also an instructions / specifications sheet.

If you take a closer look at the front panel housing, you can see there are alternating red & white connectors. They are clearly labeled which ones are for the fans and which ones are for power input. Also the wires connecting to these match the color scheme. The input power connector is a single 4pin connector that splits out to connect to all the white 3pin connectors. You can connect fans either directly to the red 3pin power connectors, or use the supplied 3-4pin extensions.

Also note near the fan1 connector there is a large heatsink that isn't present near the other connectors. This is because one channel is designed for more wattage than the other channels. More will be discussed about this later in the review.

The front of the panel has the for adjustable knobs each clearly labeled. Unlike a lot of the other popular units available on the market, the thermaltake doesn't have and LEDs. Since the LEDs really don't serve any purpose other than to just glow and look pretty, this really doesn't bother me. The knobs (and the curved design on the top & bottom) protrude about 3/8" out, which keeps the front of this unit pretty low profile.

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