-- Cobalt3 Pyramid II Fan Silencer
-- Price: ~$32.00
USD
-- 10.16.2002
-- By: GideonX
-- Page: 1 At the current state of case modding and
cooling, fan and bay buses are as common as screws in a case.
Everyone knows the benefits of using these bay controlling devices to
monitor and tune fans and other items within a case. With demand
comes innovation, which is what
Cobalt 3 has
provided. They have created a fan device that automatically
speeds up a fan when it is needed and speeds it down when it is not.
Let's take a look at their Pyramid II.
The Pyramid II is simply a device that
takes over the job of a fan/bay bus. Instead of manually
flipping switches and turning knobs, this little device has a
temperature probe at the top that controls whether to speed up or
speed down your fans. Let's take a look at some quick specs:
-
Multiple fans can be controlled, up to 2.0 amps, ~24
Watts of total power (3-6 fans) chained together
-
Operating Temperature : 32° F to 122° F (0° C to 50°
C)
-
Relative Humidity : 5% to 95% (non condensing)
-
Dimensions : 1.5" X 1.5" X 1.1" (W X L X H)
The Pyramid II is designed for use in
personal computers, it is not recommended in heavily used server
machines. Possible future revisions may be directed towards
these environments.
In the box you get the device itself, a
packet of alcohol wiping cloth and instructions.
The Pyramid is very light and can be placed
just about anywhere within your box. Recommended areas include the
top rear where heat passes through, or any region where heat is
abundant.
A temperature probe is at the tip of the
Pyramid. Avoid touching the tip of the sensor for better
results.
The pictures in the manual are pretty
dark and blurry so take note here as to how to install it. A
female and male molex connector is attached to the Pyramid itself.
The female molex from your 80,92 or 120mm + fan will connect to the
male connector, pictured on the right above. Power the Pyramid
by attaching a male connector from your power supply to the female
connector, pictured to the left above. You can chain more fans
this way controlling between 3-6 total fans not exceeding 24 Watts.
Remember to do this after powering down your computer.
Once you finish the connectors, find a
place to stick the Pyramid inside the case. For my quick test, I
placed it at the bottom of my plexi case first. I used a 27CFM
Sunon 80mm as a single fan test subject. Since each case
and environment is different, your temperature results will vary.
From the product description, this device
basically aids in silencing your noisy fans when the system does not
need it. For example, if you are heavily using the system, more
than likely CPU temperatures will rise which will also raise case
temperatures. This rise in turn causes the sensor on the Pyramid
to kick in and start the process of pumping more juice to the fan.
As soon as case temperatures drop, the sensor sees the change in
temperature and starts limited the amount of voltage, causing whatever
fan that's attached to slow down. This minimizes noise
when it is not needed without much human intervention.
In my test with the Sunon, it
accomplishes what it states pretty efficiently. The test bed was
our test rig that consists an AMD TBird 1.4Ghz with no fans other than
the CPU fan. While the Pyramid was sitting at the bottom of the
case, the fans were roughly at about half voltage. I ran another
fan on a fan bus that had 7V controls, noise level was close in both
situations. As soon as the Pyramid was moved upwards towards the
CPU's heatsink, the Sunon fan spun up in about 13 seconds.
Moving the Pyramid back down away from the heat caused the fan to spin
down in about the same time.
To see how well it handles numerous fans, 5
80mm fans rated at 1.5V were hooked together, handled without any
problems. This was a mixture of whatever fans that were
available, which include Sunon and other generic models. A quick
check with our thermal probe showed case temperatures did not change
too much when the Pyramid was being moved to a warmer location.
At most 1 degree C were noted on our probe.
Overall, the aim of this Pyramid Fan
Silencer is quite simple. It aids in the control of case fans
without any switches being flipped by the user. It also has a
failsafe backup where if the Pyramid fails, it will automatically
provide the fan with the maximum voltage. If you have some high
power fans and want an automated solution, then the Pyramid II is the
perfect candidate. On the other hand, if you are using low noise
fans like Panaflos then there really is no reason to get this item.
You will barely hear the difference with the use of low noise fans.
Thanks to
Cobalt 3 for
sending us this item, one of the more innovative items to come through
lately.
Pros:
- Easy to install
- Pyramid II able to support numerous fans
- Small enough to fit nearly anywhere in a case
Cons:
- Not much use for slower fans
- Major change by the increasing/decreasing fan speed not that
noticable
- Self adhesive foam makes it a one time use item.
Velcro would be a better choice
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