-- Feeling PC's Ice Hole
-- Price: ~ $34.95
USD
-- 11.29.2001
-- By: GideonX
-- Page: 1
By now, many people have seen 80->60mm fan
adapters available on most modding retailers. This allows you
to use a larger and quieter 80mm fan on a smaller 60mm fitted
heatsink. Take that idea, add some bright LED lights to the
adapter and you have the Ice Hole from Feeling
PC.
In the Ice Hole package (say this name a
few times, its funny), you will receive:
- 80mm to 60mm Acrylic Fan Adapter
- 3pin->4pin adapters
- Bag of screws (various sizes)
The adapter comes with a tiny PCB that
has dipswitches to control the LED lights and fan speed. The
3pin adapter that came with the unit is supposed to power the LEDs and
the fan. I thought that was quite a big strain to put on a
motherboard. So I chucked out the instructions, and slapped on
the 4 pin molex adapter and used that instead. My 300W PSU
should be enough power to run the adapter.
There are three LEDs, a blue, red and
green light. You can use the dipswitches to change them from
individual colors or turning them on all at once. I prefer the
all on option, it looks like a light show in the dark. The
adapter also lets you lower voltage using the dip switches located above
the word FAN, that way you can quiet the fan if needed. This
kind of reminds me of the dip switches located on most Lian Li
aluminum cases, they also have switches for fan speed.
The adapter uses screws, so if your original heatsink
utilizes clips this is not going to work. The bag of screws that
came with the package is packed full of goodness. There are
numerous sizes that will accommodate whatever heatsink you have.
We threw the Ice Hole on our Dynatron
aluminum unit. I had to use the smallest screws to attach the
adapter correctly to the heatsink. The rest were way too
long. I also used our Sunon 80mm fan rated at 2300rpm, 31CFMs
and 25dBA. Very quiet and powerful, which is what we are
shooting for here.
I didn't attach anything to the 3pin fan
adapter on the Ice Hole. My Sunon had a 4pin molex already
attached so I opted to use that instead. Drawing too much power
through the 3pin may be a bit too much for my taste. Also, the
80mm isn't at all fast or loud so lowering the voltage may hinder its
performance.
Here are some shots in total
darkness. On the instruction manual, which is really not much
use, they mention that the adapter may sometimes improve temperature
performance. They were pretty good in predicting this, since the
adapter did nothing to help out temperatures. They stayed
the same as they were when I had the heatsink using its stock 60mm
fan. I could have use a higher powered fan, but then again, that
would pretty much defeat the purpose of a fan adapter right?
We're looking for a quiet unit here, which is what it tries to
deliver.
Overall, the adapter is eye candy.
It isn't going to give you a drastic drop in temperature and noise, in
fact nothing was changed. Keep in mind though, you're not going to benefit from
the eye candy if you have
a stock case. You need at least a window to see this
thing. The adapter is not too big, so it shouldn't block
anything in your case. It is always a good idea to measure first
before going in for the purchase. At $34.95, the choice is
pretty much yours. Its a vanity thing in my opinion : )
Thanks to PC
Mutants for sending us a sample. They're a new shop that has
these in stock, so if you're in the market for a light show, get 'em
there!
Pros:
- Easy to install
- Dipswitches to adjust LEDs and Fan settings
- Lots of screws!
- Looks kick ass in the dark
Cons:
- Not much temperature change
- Might be a bit too much load to put on a 3pin Mobo head
|
|
| < Back to the Main
Page |
Discuss this in our Forums! > |
|
