There are no shortage of fan controllers on the market at the moment, with everything from software controlled systems, sliders, touch panels, dials, smart phone apps or even just hard wired solutions on the fans them selves, so its not too hard to find the solution that is best suited to both your needs, or of course to the design of your rig. Some people prefer a stealth system, but if that’s what your looking for, the bright and colourful Touch-2000 likely isn’t for you.
The readout on the the display on the device is fantastic, is very clear, the touch points are responsive enough that you don’t feel like you need to jab away at it and the inclusion on some extra USB ports, e-SATA are a welcome addition, although I’m a little unsure the headset ports are really required, given that 99% of pc cases on the market have these built in to the front, but in saying that, extra features are always welcome.
While I don’t want to talk about the cooling performance of this device, since its really dependant on each individual systems components, quality of the fans installed and so on, I can say that it does exactly what it says on the box. It was easily capable of taking our test fans down to 300RPM and upto 1200RPM, but you can go higher if your fans support it. The difference in noise was massive too, as you can figure it should be after you drop fans to 1/4 of their maximum speed.
Installation was pretty simple too, only taking me around10 minutes from opening the box to having all fans and sensors connected, while there are a lot of cables on the device, they are all clearly labelled and provide plenty of length to allow for some cable management. It’s a good thing too as the instructions that came with the device were not very helpful, but if your confident with some light hardware installations, you won’t have a problem.
The only thing I wish this touch panel had would be some profile keys, but given that it only takes a few moments to dial in the speed of each fan, its not exactly a deal breaker. If you looking for something that not only helps you get the best out of your systems air cooling, but that also looks fantastic at the same time, then you won’t be disappointed with the Touch-2000, which is why I’m awarding it our Editors Choice Award.
In my experience these coloured LCD panels tend to dim significantly after about a years usage. The inclusion of audio/mic jacks & an eSATA port is a little silly although extra USB ports are welcome.