MOBO v Fan Controller

[simontompkins]

Given that mobo's control fans is there any benefit in buying a Lamptron FC5 V2 for a gigabyte z77 board

[dokdek]

It is easier control over your fans, and you get to control more fans in your system than what would be allowed with mobo fan headers. Most mobo's support like 3-5 fan headers, for some, that isnt enough, so you get a fan controller which lets you control usually 5 more fans through molex power so it doesnt even interfere with your other fans. You also get to control the speed they run at through turning a little knob in front of your case, usually you would have to undervolt, or in some cases, go into the bios to lower and increase fan speeds to what you want.

[Pob255]

Also depends which board it is, the higher end boards often give you far better levels of control over the fans than the low end boards.
Also you could look at a cheaper controller, the Akasa AK-FC-06BK is only 3 fans but it is under £15 or the the SilverStone FP33 which is around the same price.
Granted they don't have the additional temperature probes or lcd readout but they are good basic fan controllers

[ZaO]

with a fan controller you can set each fan to whatever speed you want, whenever you want. With a motherboard it's automated. That's pretty much the difference. Depends what you prefer...

[csgohan4]

I would highly recommend the NZXT sentry 2, can be bought for about £25 and you can control up to 5 fans with temperature probes