Zalman MFC2 Video and Pictures

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

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Druneau
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:06 am
Location: Ontario

Zalman MFC2 Video and Pictures

Post by Druneau » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:02 pm

Hi,

I said I would post pictures of the MFC2 fan controller in another thread, i thought I'd make a new thread since the other one was initially for a different subject.

Facts:

-Ordered the unit from www.ncix.com (canada) on july 17th
-Received it on july 31st

Configuration:

-Fan channel 1 controls a 120mm nexus on a Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120
-Fan channel 2 controls a 120mm nexus exhaust fan
-Fan channel 3 controls 2 120mm nexus intake fans (can be seen in pictures)

-The case is a Coolermaster Stacker 830 Evolution

The video shows the unit from a cold boot, you can see it spins up the fans then applies the saved rpm's from memory to each one. The beep is there I assume from fan 4. I haven't plugged a fan in to see if it removes it.

One thing I found weird was how Fan 2 and Fan 3 are both set at 600rpm in memory, yet upon booting up Fan 2 reaches 960rpm before beginning its descent to 600 while fans on channel 3 only reach 760 ( I think the answer is right there in my sentence... fanS on channel 3, I've hooked up 2)

From there you can see the power meter fluctuate during boot sequence, once in windows I put loads on my 4 cores to raise the power meter. I then adjust the fan speed to better show how the unit behaves.

That's pretty much it... not really an action packed movie. I hope it gives people a good idea of what the unit does.

NOTE: When I lowered the RPM's of fan 2 and 3 to 60 and the MFC2 reported those channels as having an RPM of 0, they were in fact still spinning. The unit does not do Zero Volts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMyb_PzkoT8

Here are a couple of pictures, I took some when daylight was still around then some with the room pitch black. I tried to show the effect the viewing angle has on the display. The camera's exposure does somewhat give the display a glow, but it still give a pretty good idea of what you can expect.

Dark room, Angle from top
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2_angle_from_top.jpg

Dark room, From where I sit at my desk
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2_angle_from_seat.jpg

Dark room, from bottom
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2_ang ... bottom.jpg

Other
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2029.jpg
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2028.jpg
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2027.jpg
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2008.jpg
http://druneau.googlepages.com/MFC2007.jpg

Jason W
Posts: 140
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Location: Houston, TX

Post by Jason W » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:25 pm

Very nice, thanks. Do you have the temperature sensors hooked up, and if so, to what?

Looks like your fans spin reliably at 600 RPM... nice.

In using this controller, you don't have any fans hooked into your motherboard, right? You simply supply power to the controller, plug the fans into the controller, and you're off and running? Is it any problem running any of your cables/wires?

Thanks again for taking the time to do all of this. Much appreciated.

Jason

Druneau
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:06 am
Location: Ontario

Post by Druneau » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:34 pm

The temperature sensors are hooked up.. and that's about it :D . They are still bundled together in the case right behind the top intake fan (under the controller)

You're right, I don't have any fans hooked into the motherboard. (although I'm thinking of splicing the fan's RPM sensors and hooking them up to my motherboard for no real use but to be able to monitor them with software)

As for running cables, zalman supplies 3 pin extension wires which I'm sure are long enough for most people.

I've been waiting for the MFC2 since I first saw pictures around February! I'm glad I can post some pictures and answer questions about it.

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:24 am

Slow fans running at minimum voltage will drop the tach signal out of the monitor's reach. Same thing will happen with Noctuas if you ever try it. My Akasa has a fit every time I try to reduce voltage to minimum, as it only sees 0 RPM and thinks the fan has just died. The jumpy RPMs probably result from a kickstart the controller gives to the fans.

The pictures look nice and give a good idea of how the thing is in real life. Thanks for the effort, this has only made me lust more after that controller. 8)

Seems like the power monitoring is working fine too. I'm pretty intrigued by that feature specifically.

mtavares
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Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:14 pm
Location: Brazil

Post by mtavares » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:44 am

Druneau,

Very nice configuration and review. You did a really good job in the photos and video. Thanks.

We would much appreciate if you could provide more information of the following points:

a) Temperature probes: sensors installtion components/location and if you found any problem to hook up the sensors into the components. Does the tape adhere properly?
b) Is it possible to you to give a more detailed feedback regarding the viewing angle. Looking the photos it looks OK, but we saw some people complaining about that.

We consider that your setup deserves to be included in the General Gallery section for reference. The only issue is the fact that the ZM-MFC2 will be covered by your case front door. This controller gives also a nice looking to your configuration.

We believe that Zalman needs to increase the production rate of this controller very fast.....

Best Regards,

Marcos

Q.J.A

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:57 am

Case door covering the controller is a blessing, not a problem! This way you can run your PC in a room where the extra light glare is bad. My Sonata II is perfect for the living room because of that. If you want to have the door open for easy access, you can do that too -- it's a choice provided, no drawbacks. (or maybe one, if you want to mask the fans with the door and it closes everything up as it's full-length)

Doubt there is a problem with the door closing, as none was mentioned.

Druneau
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:06 am
Location: Ontario

Post by Druneau » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:35 am

Slow fans running at minimum voltage will drop the tach signal out of the monitor's reach.
This is pretty much what I was thinking, the tachometer signal was either to weak or not uniform and the unit could not pick it up.
Seems like the power monitoring is working fine too. I'm pretty intrigued by that feature specifically.
The power monitoring function is the main thing I wanted from this unit. It's addictive... I moved my case on my desk for two hours of testing. While playing age of empires III the power usage fluctuated depending on graphical settings (AA, resolution, shadow settings) and what was on the screen (I.E. going to edges of the map dropped the wattage by around 30 watts).

I also wanted to check what additional load my overclock put on my Corsair PSU. At stock speeds of 2.4Ghz Idle in windows I'd get 134watts, and the max I was able to get (running various things to try and get as much as possible) was 205watt.

Now at 3Ghz, Idle its normally around 160watt and I can get it to reach 275watt.


a) Temperature probes: sensors installation components/location and if you found any problem to hook up the sensors into the components. Does the tape adhere properly?
As I mentioned earlier in the posts the sensors right now are just thrown in the case. They are still bundled together the same way I received them. Four pieces of yellow tape are included. They are 0.5x0.75 inches. The wires of the sensors are all of equal length at 20" long. They are all on one connection to the unit (I.E. you plug one, you plug them all).
b) Is it possible to you to give a more detailed feedback regarding the viewing angle. Looking the photos it looks OK, but we saw some people complaining about that.
I haven't put enough of my thoughts on the viewing angle in the main post. I don't like it at all, the picture "angle_from_seat" is exactly what I see when I try and read the unit from where I sit. Granted I zoomed in with the camera, this is how I see it. The numbers for the power meter are too close to the top of the unit, even if viewing angles were perfect they would get cut off when looking from the top.

It seems this is caused by the display type. The unlit parts of a digit (segments) easily reflect light from its neighboring lit digit segments.
The only issue is the fact that the ZM-MFC2 will be covered by your case front door.
As Das_Saunamies mentioned this is not a problem at all (for me anyways). I'm happy to have a door. If I want to change settings or check power usage I just open the door.

The unit sticks out a mere 3/8", I would think every case with a door provides more clearance than this.

mtavares
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:14 pm
Location: Brazil

Post by mtavares » Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:38 am

Druneau and Das_Saunamies,

After read your comments, we figure out that the point of cover or not is very personal and depends of the application. In my case we prefer that uncovered due to the fact that we could have direct access to the fan speeds, temperature and power consumption without any SW in the loop. In addition, I consider this unit very nice for a desktop PC. For an HTPC I consider that it will be annoying also.

We understood your points.

Best Regards,

Marcos

Q.J.A

lor77
Posts: 205
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:08 am
Location: Hellas

Post by lor77 » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:44 pm

Greetings to everyone.
I have MFC2 fan controller for allmost a month now and im quite pleased.
Since the controller is doing 6-11 volt or better it doesnt seem to sense rpm signal below 500 i was wondering if there is a way to make it so?
That is to make sense below this limit.
And yes the controller have some problems with the viewing angle.
You can see it clearly only if you look at it at the same level.

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:01 pm

The problem is with the way the tach signal is presented to the monitor. No way to fix it but to run the fans at higher voltages.

kaange
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by kaange » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:42 pm

Das_Saunamies wrote:Slow fans running at minimum voltage will drop the tach signal out of the monitor's reach. Same thing will happen with Noctuas if you ever try it. My Akasa has a fit every time I try to reduce voltage to minimum, as it only sees 0 RPM and thinks the fan has just died.
Yep, I disabled the alarm in my Evercool controller due to this problem. The only answer is a PWM fan since they are always presented with full voltage. Too bad the MFC2 only has a single PWM controlled socket, else I'd run a suite of AC 120mm PWM fans.

hybrid2d4x4
Posts: 310
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Post by hybrid2d4x4 » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:35 pm

Hello Everyone! I've been reading on these forums for a while (sadly not before buying my OCZ GXS600 PS) and decided to finally join and start contributing...

First off, thanks to Druneau for the vid and pics, as well as all the useful info.
I've been looking into this fan controller and been getting some mixed impressions. Some reviews (incorrectly?) state that this controller doesn't actually use the rpm reading to determine output voltage (they say that output voltage to the fans depends on what you set the fan rpms to -- ie: 4V when set to 60rpm and 12V@5940rpm, and everything in between). I recently found a better review that actually tested all the attributes of the controller, which put my initial concerns to rest: {ummm.....i guess i can't post the link in my 1st ever post on here... see the post below for the link}
I thought that those interested in this controller as well might find this useful...

At any rate, my only remaining concern is that the case fans i have (Thermaltake 120mm, currently modded to run @7V) use a 4pin Molex connectors plus a separate 3-pin with only one wire (which i assume carries the rpm signal). As I see it, i should be able to take the 12V cable from the molex (and a ground) and route it to accompany the lone RPM wire into the 3 pin to get a regular 3pin connector that I could use with this controller.....right?

hybrid2d4x4
Posts: 310
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:45 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Post by hybrid2d4x4 » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:36 pm

Here's the link to the review that tests the MFC2 fan controller in detail
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=43 ... pert&pid=5

Fuzzilla
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:45 am

Post by Fuzzilla » Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:14 pm

Hi Druneau,

Thanks for the review, especially the video!

Unless I'm wrong the video looke like PCPer was right that the RPM display matches the correct RPM of the fan. Do you think I'm right?

The video/photos make the MFC2 lool like ther is more than a little bleed from the display segments, especially the green numerals. Are the photos pretty much accurate?

Druneau
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:06 am
Location: Ontario

Post by Druneau » Sat Sep 08, 2007 5:56 am

Yes the RPM display matches the correct RPM of the fan. So if you know the fan you've plugged in normaly runs at 1200rpm@12v, then setting the rpm to 1200 on the controller will get you close to 12v.

And yes again, alot of bleeding from the display segments at anything but 0 degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles.

Fuzzilla
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:45 am

Post by Fuzzilla » Sat Sep 08, 2007 7:42 am

:D
Thanks!

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