BitFenix Recon Black Fan Controller (BFA-RCN-KS-RP)

I've had this for a little over two months and I love it. I wanted something with a clean look that didn't have several colors on it. Pros: I just keep it on "auto" and let it do it's thing. The quality of the face is really nice. Some people don't like that it's hard to see at some angles, but to me its not a big issue. It's just a matter of bending down. Cons: The stickers on the temperature channels are pretty weak. Mine kept falling off. Use some other adhesive like electrical tape, and you'll be set. The online software is a bit of a pain as well, but since I don't do anything TOO intensive to my system (Mainly I don't overclock), I just keep it on auto and let it do it's thing.

It's okay if you want problems! This is the second unit, the first Amazon authorized return due to the fact that it was stuck on automatic mode and the software did not function at all. This unit does not fit well into my Corsair Obsidian 750D case. The tool less latch is in the way of screwing in the mounting screw, because Bitfenix made the sides way too short. Furthermore the first one I installed went right past where it was supposed to stop and latch and got stuck inside the computer case. That was amazing as I was pushing only with both index fingers ever so carefully. I installed the second unit with the assurance that it too would get stuck if it suddenly went past where it is supposed to stop. This unit functions like it is advertised to however the software does not. You have to manually start this program from within the hard drive you installed it on. There are two parts of the program that must be manually started then you can finally go to Google and manually type up the address to it and finally get it going. I found the most help with the buggy software here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HutTStr_JiQ The software and being that it it supposed to be on the internet was a selling point for me and ultimately the main fail point. I was under the impression that once you have the mobile app on your smart phone, it would give you some sort of warning when your computer was overheating while you were away from home, but this is not true. The warning beep is only on the unit installed into the computer. The manual mode keeps self adjusting as well, so therefore it is not a manual mode. The automatic mode works well and the display is nice. You may be happier with their Sentry line

The quality of the unit itself seems ok. No problems there. It has 5 temperature probes and controls 5 fans. I have some issues with the automatic fan adjustment. If I set a target temperature, of a fan to, say to 45c, and turn on set the recon to automatic mode, this is what happens: - The recon runs the fan slowly and quietly (which is what I want) - After a few minutes, the temperature rises to 46c for longer than 30 seconds - The recon beeps twice loudly, and turns the fan to max speed. It sounds like a hurricane inside my case - After a minute or two, the temperature drops to 43c or less for 2 minutes - Then the recon runs the fan slow again. Thank god the beeping noise can be disabled because this cycle repeats endlessly. It seems that the recon, in automatic mode, will NOT incrementally increase the speed of the fans in order to maintain a stable temperature. It only knows the minimum fan speed (which you can set) and MAXIMUM, leading to this endless +/- 3 degree cycle. While this cycling is happening, the fan noise from my computer goes from a barely audible whisper to a low roar and back again every 2 minutes. It's very annoying. I'm also a little concerned about what the constantly fluctuating temperatures might do to my hardware in the long term. The software which comes with the Recon totally sucks. There was almost zero documentation, and it took me over 2 hours of googling to figure out what was wrong. I had to uninstall and re-install it several times, trying different things I found in message forums before I finally got it working. Then when I finally did get it working, the 5 slider controls for controlling the fans' speed moved around randomly every 30-60 seconds, even when the fan's speed aren't changing. To this day I don't know why they do that - I wasn't even able to find a reason why. At some point during my Googling, I discovered that someone actually wrote an open source program to replace the crappy software that came with the recon, called Phoebetria. It has many more features and helps to resolve that cycling problem above somewhat, but even that didn't get rid of it entirely. It also doesn't run as a windows service, making it unsuitable to run on anything other than a workstation, while I'm running a headless server in my living room. The original recon software at least runs as a service. Eventually, after several hours of tweaking this thing and then about two months of being distracted by the constantly changing fan speeds, I set the recon to manual mode and adjusted the fan speeds so that the system will be cool no matter the load it's under. My system is now nosier than I was hoping for but, I barely hear the fan noise most of the time. I could have spent less on a controller that allowed me to do this. I really don't like the recon, but the only thing keeping me from giving the recon one star is the fact that I'm still using it. If you don't use the automatic mode, it works as well as any other manual fan controller, and hey, at least I can open up the software every so often to check on my temperatures. I am not, however, getting to make use of all the features. Ultimately, I could have spent less on a plain-old manual fan controller and gotten the same use out of it.

Unit looks great and does a great job with monitoring temps and fan speeds, however if you have your PC on the floor be prepared to do a lot of side stretches, the viewing angle is terrible. if you are on the same level looking at it then its great to look at.

For the money this controller is great, it includes some 3 pin extensions, 2 extra temperature probes. The rubberized finish is pretty sweet. But I can't read the display correctly unless I am at eye level with it. The vertical viewing angle is horrible. But if you're only going to be using the software, to make adjustments, that wont matter. .

This is a very cool fan controller, looks great, and is subtle enough to not look obnoxious. I use a Thermaltake P5 open case, and used a dremel tool on the sides of the case so I could "integrate it" - the effect of this is excellent and better than I hoped. My only complaint is I'm a lousy craftsman. Overall im extremely happy with the purchase, and likely would have still purchased this item if it cost upwards of $100. Minor complaint: the localhost webpage that you use to adjust fan speed/settings is ugly and feels kind of outdated and clunky compared to the integrated touch screen on the controller itself. It would have been really nice to have a standalone program or executable that had a modern interface to adjust fan settings.

First of all I apologize for my bad english. I live in Turkey and I bought it from Amazon for the sale of the product in our country. Very soon the product reached my hand and began testing. The product is very nice. 2 connected CPU liquid cooling fan and 4 chassis fan. I set the Auto mode and are trying very quiet safe as long as it does not exceed 35 degrees. Fans running between 600-700 rpm. Processor: FX8350 VGA: Gigabyte G1 Gaming 4GB 960GTX Case: Aerocool GT-A Processor does not exceed 45 degrees. Graphics card playing between 55-56 degrees. The average temperature around 33 degrees safe. I think there is a bad side of the product only. There viewing angle. :( Yazımın Türkçe Hali :) Öncelikle kötü ingilizcem için özür dilerim. Türkiye'de yaşıyorum ve ürün ülkemizde satılmadığı için amazon'dan aldım. Çok kısa sürede ürün elime ulaştı ve test etmeye başladım. Ürün çok güzel. 2 CPU sıvı soğutma fanı ve 4 adet kasa fanı bağlı. Auto modda ayarladım ve kasa içi sıcaklık 35 dereceyi geçmediği sürece çok sessiz çalışıyorlar. Fanlar 600-700 rpm arası çalışıyor. İşlemcim : FX8350 VGA : Gigabyte G1 Gaming 960GTX 4GB Kasa : Aerocool GT-A İşlemci 45 dereceyi geçmiyor. Ekran kartı 55-56 derece arası çalıyor. Kasa içi sıcaklık ortalama 33 derece civarı. Ürünün bence tek bir kötü yanı var. Orada görüş açısı. :(

great display, thats about it. dont buy this fan controller. makes a mess out of your case (all fan controllers do even in a full tower). you would be better off to use your mother board connections and software to control your fans. i installed it into my case and the first boot the unit started smoking and i immediately turned it of and removed the unit to pack it back up and send this garbage back. i checked my connections, they were all accurate. if you want to buy a good looking unit that may burn your house down it's right here!