Logisys Digital Thermal Controller Review

Rob Williams · 09-02-2005, 12:13 AM

Feel the need to add a cool mod to your case but are slow on ideas? We are checking out a quality digital thermal display that tracks 9 read-outs! Let's take a look at the product, and see if it can stack up with our high expectations!

After reading the review here, feel free to discuss it here! Registration is not necessary, but please input a name!

Greg King · 09-02-2005, 03:42 AM

Man that review is bomb digity!

Ain't no digital thermal controller review like a Greg King digital thermal controller review!

All right, getting silly, just read the review and tell your friends that techgage is 1337!

09-05-2005, 03:40 PM

This may be a stupid question, but do the monitored fans plug directly into the unit? Or do you need to use fans that draw power from the motherboard and have the specific umbilical for RPM control?

I have a few 3-wire fans (power, ground, rpm) on the way, and am interested in purchasing this unit, however if I need special fans to run with it, it may not be what I need.

Thanks.

Greg King · 09-05-2005, 06:34 PM

graffix,

You will not be able to power your fans from this unit. There are wires coming from the back. You are provided with a wire that Y's that plugs into the motherboard and then the fan and the thermal unit plug into the other ends of the Y. This makes for a wireing nightmare but the wires are long enough that you can easily route them out of sight. All in all, I am enjoying the thermal controller so if you decide to get one, feel free to post back should you need any help. Even if you dont need help, send us a pic when it's hooked up, I would like to see how you managed your cables. Best of luck, you wont regret this purchase.

09-05-2005, 11:41 PM

Thanks for the reply.
Well, I threw caution into the wind and ordered it from xpcgear.

I currently have a Dual MDD G4 that's in desperate need of a cooling overhaul. Right now my software thermometer (which may not be that accurate) is stating that my cpu's are running at about 58.8 degrees C, which isn't that good (137.8 degrees F). Apple sure dropped the ball when it came to engineering cooling in these machines, so I'm reworking the cooling system, and figure that I'll use the Logisys as the brain.

I currently have a 120mm Papst 4212H as my case fan, and even though it's not a bad fan, it's getting replaced with a Sanyo Denkis 120mm (39dBA vs. 49dBA for the Papst @ 105cfm).

I also have a Radeon 9700 Pro that's getting a makeover with a Vantec CBB-A4C heatsink/fan combo, and I'm adding two AVC 60mm x 15mm 17cfm fans to the top of my dual heatsink (which currently is only cooled halfway by the case fan).

I know this is kinda OT, but I just figure I'd let you know what's up.

I'll take some pix as I do the overhaul and post when I'm finished... hopefully it'll be sometime within the next couple weeks (once all the parts get here). I plan on putting the Logisys controller in the lower 5-1/4" bay in the front of the machine, behind the door flap. It won't be immediately visible, but it'll still be accessible if I need to make any adjustments and check the temperature.

Thanks again.
David.

Rob Williams · 09-06-2005, 12:30 AM

Welcome to the forums graffix!

I hope you enjoy the controller when you receive it. I'd personally love to see pics of your rig once it's all done up. Mind if I ask what you use that Dual G4 for?

Feel free to sign up on the forums, we'd love to have you stick around!

graffix · 09-06-2005, 01:00 AM

Well, I'm officially a member now.

I mainly use my G4 for digital video editing, and for Photoshop work (I'm an amateur photographer).

Otherwise I'm just a techie, and have been upgrading this machine rather than buying a new G5... I'm kinda waiting until Apple transitions over to the new Intel-based machines in Q4-2006 before I really consider upgrading again.

Thanks for the reply. I'll make sure and take plenty of pix.

Oh... I guess I should state it's specs:
Dual 1.25GHz G4
2GB PC2700 DDR
280GB of HD's ( two 80GB and a 120GB )
Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
Pioneer DVR-109 DL DVD-RW (crossflashed to A09 firmware)
Apple 20" cinema display (the new aluminum one)

You can see that I have a lot of stuff that generates heat, which is really putting a strain on the cooling in this puppy... thus the need for some good-ol' backyard engineering.

09-17-2005, 12:04 AM

does this thing control the speed of the fans or does it just monitor them

Greg King · 09-17-2005, 02:22 PM

it only monitors the speed of the fans. Keep an eye on the site as there will be another review that you might be interested in if you are looking for afan controller.

Rob Williams · 09-17-2005, 02:52 PM

graffix, I didn't see your post, no idea why. Welcome to the forums

10-09-2005, 07:04 PM

Ok so Saturday Morning, my Digital fan controller arrives in the post and first thing, no instructions!! Thats just what you get for buying it from eBay! So I started installing it, and messed up the orange wires and stickers and made them all non-sticky (stupid dust) so they became useless, then I connected the CPU fan to the wire that said CPU, the chipset fan on the motherboard which is next to the CPU to the wire labelled SYS-F and a 120mm case fan that I have on the back to the wire labelled SYS-R

Now I turn on the PC...all seems fine...WAIT AN ALARM! CPU shows RPM but no TEMP as in 0.0 Temp?! Might I add all three fans were connected to the extra wires that came with it. So I try swapping wires round and well its now sunday evening, tired exausted and have a constant ringing from that damn alarm in the back of my head, like I said I try switching some wires, I connect the chipset fan to the SYS-R wire and the 120mm to the CPU and the CPU to the SYS-F (please note this was a last resort as I thought maybe the wires just were labelled wrong) so I turn on the PC...*BANG* OH BEEEEP!! Smoke RUN FOR IT!!!

I grabbed my mobile in a panic and rang my friend "I JUST BLEW UP MY PC!" after some checking the motherboard seemed fine, no capaciters blown, still smells like a bikers backside (LOL...burning rubber) turns out I blew the friggin Thermal controller!! So now Im awaiting a response to a refund from the ebay seller and have just purchased the same item from a hopefully trustworthy internet computer store.

If anyone has anything they can help me with because theres no way in heck im gonna install this thing without where and how each and every wire is meant to go. I hope this will appear on here...E-Mail me your very desperatly needed help at: [email protected]

Thank you in advance, I will be posting back when I recieve the 2nd Fan Controller!!

10-12-2005, 08:51 AM

Hi I'm back with my second controller! So after blowing-up my first one I decided not to install this one without getting direct info on the setup of it. I jus read another customer review for this on another site, the guy says after its hooked up, if you fan temp drops below the set temp the controller really slows the fans down, and if the fan temp rises even 0.1 above your max set temp, the alarm goes off for the 20 secs, it speeds up the fan, the temp drops, the fan slows, the temp rises, the alarm goes off again and that this keeps happening!! It honestly sounds like a nightmare!

I decided to buy my 2nd controller from a trusty web-site rather than ebay this time. At least this one comes fully sealed and with instructions, well only how to set the led, AGAIN!! Someone has to contact me and let me know the functionality of this thing! Coz if it's like last time, I'd hate for the damn alarm to go off everytime i turn on my PC because the CPU or what-not temp or fan speed isn't being displayed! I also just purchased a Gigabyte CPU Cooler, which should arrive tommorrow, but before I fix that I want to buy some Arctic Silver thermal compound on my CPU, so il fix them all up on the same day!

Soooooo, if this thread is still active, SOMEONE HELP: [email protected]

Rob Williams · 10-12-2005, 09:28 PM

Hmm, I will ding Greg and see if he can help you out.

Greg King · 10-12-2005, 10:40 PM

I will email you tonight when I get home from work Crow. If you are up late or around when I am online, feel free to hit me up on AIM or Yahoo. I would be more htan happy to get you through your problems.

10-14-2005, 10:41 AM

Ok thanx a lot I really appreciate any help I can get! I received my Gigabyte GT 3D CPU Cooler this morning so once I get some Arctic Silver thermal paste I'll be ready to get fixing! The CPU has instructions, a little confusing but I think I'll sort that out, although it did come with thermal paste Id rather buy the Arctic Silver one because this one looks like cement!

09-02-2005, 12:13 AM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Logisys Digital Thermal Controller Review Feel the need to add a cool mod to your case but are slow on ideas? We are checking out a quality digital thermal display that tracks 9 read-outs! Let's take a look at the product, and see if it can stack up with our high expectations! After reading the review here, feel free to discuss it here! Registration is not necessary, but please input a name! __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

09-02-2005, 03:42 AM	#2
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Man that review is bomb digity! Ain't no digital thermal controller review like a Greg King digital thermal controller review! All right, getting silly, just read the review and tell your friends that techgage is 1337! __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-05-2005, 06:34 PM	#4
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	graffix, You will not be able to power your fans from this unit. There are wires coming from the back. You are provided with a wire that Y's that plugs into the motherboard and then the fan and the thermal unit plug into the other ends of the Y. This makes for a wireing nightmare but the wires are long enough that you can easily route them out of sight. All in all, I am enjoying the thermal controller so if you decide to get one, feel free to post back should you need any help. Even if you dont need help, send us a pic when it's hooked up, I would like to see how you managed your cables. Best of luck, you wont regret this purchase. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-06-2005, 12:30 AM	#6
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Welcome to the forums graffix! I hope you enjoy the controller when you receive it. I'd personally love to see pics of your rig once it's all done up. Mind if I ask what you use that Dual G4 for? Feel free to sign up on the forums, we'd love to have you stick around! __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

09-06-2005, 01:00 AM	#7
graffix Obliviot Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1	Well, I'm officially a member now. I mainly use my G4 for digital video editing, and for Photoshop work (I'm an amateur photographer). Otherwise I'm just a techie, and have been upgrading this machine rather than buying a new G5... I'm kinda waiting until Apple transitions over to the new Intel-based machines in Q4-2006 before I really consider upgrading again. Thanks for the reply. I'll make sure and take plenty of pix. Oh... I guess I should state it's specs: Dual 1.25GHz G4 2GB PC2700 DDR 280GB of HD's ( two 80GB and a 120GB ) Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB Pioneer DVR-109 DL DVD-RW (crossflashed to A09 firmware) Apple 20" cinema display (the new aluminum one) You can see that I have a lot of stuff that generates heat, which is really putting a strain on the cooling in this puppy... thus the need for some good-ol' backyard engineering. Last edited by graffix; 09-06-2005 at 01:07 AM.

09-05-2005, 03:40 PM	#3
graffix Guest Poster Posts: n/a	This may be a stupid question, but do the monitored fans plug directly into the unit? Or do you need to use fans that draw power from the motherboard and have the specific umbilical for RPM control? I have a few 3-wire fans (power, ground, rpm) on the way, and am interested in purchasing this unit, however if I need special fans to run with it, it may not be what I need. Thanks.

09-05-2005, 11:41 PM	#5
graffix Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Thanks for the reply. Well, I threw caution into the wind and ordered it from xpcgear. I currently have a Dual MDD G4 that's in desperate need of a cooling overhaul. Right now my software thermometer (which may not be that accurate) is stating that my cpu's are running at about 58.8 degrees C, which isn't that good (137.8 degrees F). Apple sure dropped the ball when it came to engineering cooling in these machines, so I'm reworking the cooling system, and figure that I'll use the Logisys as the brain. I currently have a 120mm Papst 4212H as my case fan, and even though it's not a bad fan, it's getting replaced with a Sanyo Denkis 120mm (39dBA vs. 49dBA for the Papst @ 105cfm). I also have a Radeon 9700 Pro that's getting a makeover with a Vantec CBB-A4C heatsink/fan combo, and I'm adding two AVC 60mm x 15mm 17cfm fans to the top of my dual heatsink (which currently is only cooled halfway by the case fan). I know this is kinda OT, but I just figure I'd let you know what's up. I'll take some pix as I do the overhaul and post when I'm finished... hopefully it'll be sometime within the next couple weeks (once all the parts get here). I plan on putting the Logisys controller in the lower 5-1/4" bay in the front of the machine, behind the door flap. It won't be immediately visible, but it'll still be accessible if I need to make any adjustments and check the temperature. Thanks again. David.

09-17-2005, 12:04 AM	#8
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	does this thing control the speed of the fans or does it just monitor them

09-17-2005, 02:22 PM	#9
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	it only monitors the speed of the fans. Keep an eye on the site as there will be another review that you might be interested in if you are looking for afan controller. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

09-17-2005, 02:52 PM	#10
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	graffix, I didn't see your post, no idea why. Welcome to the forums __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

10-09-2005, 07:04 PM	#11
TheCrow785 Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Oh Dear God! Ok so Saturday Morning, my Digital fan controller arrives in the post and first thing, no instructions!! Thats just what you get for buying it from eBay! So I started installing it, and messed up the orange wires and stickers and made them all non-sticky (stupid dust) so they became useless, then I connected the CPU fan to the wire that said CPU, the chipset fan on the motherboard which is next to the CPU to the wire labelled SYS-F and a 120mm case fan that I have on the back to the wire labelled SYS-R Now I turn on the PC...all seems fine...WAIT AN ALARM! CPU shows RPM but no TEMP as in 0.0 Temp?! Might I add all three fans were connected to the extra wires that came with it. So I try swapping wires round and well its now sunday evening, tired exausted and have a constant ringing from that damn alarm in the back of my head, like I said I try switching some wires, I connect the chipset fan to the SYS-R wire and the 120mm to the CPU and the CPU to the SYS-F (please note this was a last resort as I thought maybe the wires just were labelled wrong) so I turn on the PC...BANG OH BEEEEP!! Smoke RUN FOR IT!!! I grabbed my mobile in a panic and rang my friend "I JUST BLEW UP MY PC!" after some checking the motherboard seemed fine, no capaciters blown, still smells like a bikers backside (LOL...burning rubber) turns out I blew the friggin Thermal controller!! So now Im awaiting a response to a refund from the ebay seller and have just purchased the same item from a hopefully trustworthy internet computer store. If anyone has anything they can help me with because theres no way in heck im gonna install this thing without where and how each and every wire is meant to go. I hope this will appear on here...E-Mail me your very desperatly needed help at: [email protected] Thank you in advance, I will be posting back when I recieve the 2nd Fan Controller!!

10-12-2005, 08:51 AM	#12
The Crow Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Recieved 2nd Controller Hi I'm back with my second controller! So after blowing-up my first one I decided not to install this one without getting direct info on the setup of it. I jus read another customer review for this on another site, the guy says after its hooked up, if you fan temp drops below the set temp the controller really slows the fans down, and if the fan temp rises even 0.1 above your max set temp, the alarm goes off for the 20 secs, it speeds up the fan, the temp drops, the fan slows, the temp rises, the alarm goes off again and that this keeps happening!! It honestly sounds like a nightmare! I decided to buy my 2nd controller from a trusty web-site rather than ebay this time. At least this one comes fully sealed and with instructions, well only how to set the led, AGAIN!! Someone has to contact me and let me know the functionality of this thing! Coz if it's like last time, I'd hate for the damn alarm to go off everytime i turn on my PC because the CPU or what-not temp or fan speed isn't being displayed! I also just purchased a Gigabyte CPU Cooler, which should arrive tommorrow, but before I fix that I want to buy some Arctic Silver thermal compound on my CPU, so il fix them all up on the same day! Soooooo, if this thread is still active, SOMEONE HELP: [email protected]

10-12-2005, 09:28 PM	#13
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Hmm, I will ding Greg and see if he can help you out. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

10-12-2005, 10:40 PM	#14
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	I will email you tonight when I get home from work Crow. If you are up late or around when I am online, feel free to hit me up on AIM or Yahoo. I would be more htan happy to get you through your problems. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

10-14-2005, 10:41 AM	#15
The Crow Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Thanx Ok thanx a lot I really appreciate any help I can get! I received my Gigabyte GT 3D CPU Cooler this morning so once I get some Arctic Silver thermal paste I'll be ready to get fixing! The CPU has instructions, a little confusing but I think I'll sort that out, although it did come with thermal paste Id rather buy the Arctic Silver one because this one looks like cement!

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