Anyone using the T-Balancer bigNG?

[tensim]

After failing to get my system fan's setup the way I want them using uGuru/BIOS, I've decided to buy a dedicated device to do it properly

After much consideration I've gone with the bigNG, mainly due to it's software and the ability to program different profiles etc... Plus it's future expandability is pretty good.

Just wondering if anyone here is using it? If so, how have you found it? Useful? Any advice for a new owner?

cheers

[peterb]

Not used one myself (and no intention of doing so) but after reading this review/description

http://www.t-balancer.com/english/pr...tban_bigng.htm

I would say that it over-hyped, over priced and not worth it - bottom line is that all it does is control the speed of four fans.

No if you were building a model hovercraft - it might just (only just) be justified.

But if you have money to burn and you think it will improve your system's performance, go ahead - I' expect it will do what it says.

[tensim]

I guess it could be considered a 'glorified' fan controller, but I think it's much more than that... Hope so anyhow ! Here are a couple of actual reviews (rather than the manufacturers website):

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=get...29&articID=533

http://www.custompc.co.uk/reviews/10...cer-bigng.html

thanks for your thoughts

[Betty_Swallocks]

I have one of the original ones but I stopped using it. It was great apart from the fact that the sensors were really difficult to get close enough to the heat source to get an accurate reading. Sticking them on the side of the cpu cooler with double sided tape just didn't inspire me with any confidence that the temperature reading was anything like accurate. It seems you have to use something else to measure the temperature and then adjust the software to weight the reading from the sensor but it occurred to me after a lot of faffing about that if I had to use the internal cpu sensor to tune the mCubed device I might as well just use that in the first place.

The fact that the double sided tape loses it's stick after a while and the sensor falls off didn't help either.

I may try it again with the watercooling addon when I recommission the wc on my pc again.

[tensim]

Might be a silly thought... but could I sandwich one of the sensors underneath the CPU cooler? Would this cause any problems? And would it give an accurate or even relevant temperature reading?

cheers

[Will404]

it would damage the CPU possibly...Almost defonatly. Could squash it, and would obstruct the cooler from absorbing heat propelly.

NO

[tensim]

Suspected it might be a silly thought Wasn't sure how big these sensors are to be honest, I kinda thought they were thinnish 'filament' like things...

Hmmmm... just had a bit more of a look and it turns out they're 2.5mm thick, so obvious to me now that the 'sandwich' approach would be all wrong! Should look into these things a bit more before opening my mouth

cheers

[cl0ck_ed]

very expensive, but a nice toy and when set up proparly would be a dream.

[Will404]

Suspected it might be a silly thought Wasn't sure how big these sensors are to be honest, I kinda thought they were thinnish 'filament' like things...

Hmmmm... just had a bit more of a look and it turns out they're 2.5mm thick, so obvious to me now that the 'sandwich' approach would be all wrong! Should look into these things a bit more before opening my mouth

cheers

Would not have wanted you to go and murder your CPU

[tensim]

very expensive, but a nice toy and when set up proparly would be a dream.

not that expensive... £50 or thereabouts vs £35 for a similar fan controller like the Scythe Kaze Master.

I think you're right, once setup properly this should do what I want and be rather nice to play with

cheers

[Will404]

not that expensive... £50 or thereabouts vs £35 for a similar fan controller like the Scythe Kaze Master.

I think you're right, once setup properly this should do what I want and be rather nice to play with

cheers

Have fun

[shadowcreaper]

most quality pc builders use them in watercooling set-ups with mutiply loops and fans, it depends on how many fans you got and what type/ how good they are.

if set-up properly it very good but it you very notice it can be wasted money...ie sticky tape them ect.....

[smargh]

I have two. It's a bit of a bugger to work with two. I have one set up great, but the UI on the Navigator software is a bit of a pain in the ass - the wording is quite ambiguous, i.e. buttons that say "Transfer" when it means "Transfer to device", but then it resets the fan speeds to some other values, making you think that perhaps it is actually "transfer from device". Also, it's a pain to fit in the 3.5" bays on my Lian-Li PC-A97 - the mounting points are not the full length of 3.5" HDs - the midpoint screw(s) have to be used, which involves removing the big inside fan bracket.

In low-power analogue mode with a few fans, the heatsinks on the BigNG can get quite toasty. I can easily imagine the onboard monitor switching to PWM when it overheats if it is placed in a PCI slot without airflow.

My second BigNG is controlling two external fans ATM (HD & UPS), and it seems to forget the manual speed setting when mains power is turned off - upon powerup, it just turns off the fans completely. Perhaps it need setting up properly, or maybe it needs some sensors setting up with a curve profile in the assignment matrix.

The t-balancer software hasn't actually been updated since sometime in 2006, but it seems to work okay though.

I also got the Sensor Hub and a MiniNG, all of which work fine.

The other main problem is the mess of cables everything makes - fan wires, sensor wires, wires going to the 3-way bus splitters (for the digital sensors/sensor hub/miniNG).

It's a bit of a bugger to switch between profiles, it seems - the interface lists the two BigNGs, but "Activate" doesn't seem to do anything. *shrug*

In summary: one BigNG works fine once it's set up properly. Two is a bit overkill and troublesome, but probably work fine once both are set up correctly. The BigNG responds to temp changes quite quickly - when I pinch an analogue sensor with my hand, the fan speeds increase within 2 seconds and have a very slightly slower response time for cooling down.

edit: note that some fans (including my hight-flow NMB-MATs) really don't like PWM and exhibit a clicking noise in that mode.

[peterb]

I guess it could be considered a 'glorified' fan controller, but I think it's much more than that... Hope so anyhow ! Here are a couple of actual reviews (rather than the manufacturers website):

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=get...29&articID=533

http://www.custompc.co.uk/reviews/10...cer-bigng.html

thanks for your thoughts

Thank you for the links (perhaps I was a tad harsh in my coments ) However the one review gave it a 'novelty' rating!

To my mind, it seems hard to justify and is an additional layer of complexity (and heat source in its own right and I would guess that the software is Win based only). It is something else to worry about (Is it set up optimally etc) - but then my approach to temperature control tends towards the "If it hasn't shut down, its probably OK!" approach. However if it meets a requirement for optimising noise and cooling, then fine, but the faff of where to place the sensors, and the additional wiring to the sensors...

[tensim]

Yeah, I think the extra wires may be a bit of a faff, but I'm not that much of a case neat freak to be honest... I just want to have better control over my fans (and I like the idea of how I'll be able to setup programs to automatically adjust fan speeds as temps increase).

I'll let ya'll know what it's like once I get it installed and operating

if set-up properly it very good but it you very novice it can be wasted money...ie sticky tape them etc.....

What do you reckon the best way would be to attach these sensors? superglue?

cheers!

[peterb]

Yeah, I think the extra wires may be a bit of a faff, but I'm not that much of a case neat freak to be honest... I just want to have better control over my fans (and I like the idea of how I'll be able to setup programs to automatically adjust fan speeds as temps increase).

I'll let ya'll know what it's like once I get it installed and operating

Thanks!

What do you reckon the best way would be to attach these sensors? superglue?

cheers!

(Qualified) No! The problem comes if you want to site the sensor elsewhere (I don't know if you can buy replacements) but in any case you want a thermally conductive adhesive. However the only ones I know of are epoxy based and therefore permanent. The other option is thermally conductive tape.

However one tip I saw on a forum (overclockers??) suggested using a very thin (really thin) layer of convential thermal compound with a tiny dab of supeglue at each corner to secure it - but I don't know how feasible that is (depends on the fragility of the sensor) or how effective it would be.