Vantec Tornado and NXP-205 Multi Fan Controller Review

Small Mods by piotke @ 2004-12-11

If you want extreme performance from your air cooled system then this Tornado fan might be what you need. The generated noise is equally extreme, that?s why Vantec recommends the use of a fan controller; In this review we take a look at the NXP-205 fan controller used in combination with their high CFM CPU/Case fan.

Vantec NXP-205

Today I'll take a look at two goodies from Vantec which are meant to be used together, as you will see in the review. A 80mm Tornado fan is coupled with a small size, multi fan controller to bring excellent performance, that's the goal at least.

Vantec NXP-205 Multi Fan Controller

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package contents :

3.5" Fan controller

Power pass-through cable

4x 3/4 Pin Universal cables

Mounting screws

manual (printed on packaging)

Specifications :

Housing Material : Aluminum

Max Power per Channel: 18 W

Input Voltage: 12 V

Output Voltage: 7 V ~ 12 V

Output Current: Up to 1.5 A

Outline Dimension: 102x25.5c120 mm

Weight : 120 g

Fits in a standard 3.5" Drive bay

The package also states following quote:

Great for Vantec Tornado or other high CFM fans

*bling* *bling* excellent, what a coincidence that I also received such a fan huh ? :)

The design is very simple but effective. Four turn buttons which can regulate four fans by changing the supplied voltage within 7-12V range. The finishing is excellent; just take a look at the pictures.

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Let's take a (slightly) closer look at the electronics inside. On the backside you can see the different connections. The Molex connector provides the power input for the fan controller. The four fan plugs take care of the output. You can extend these connections by using the included cables. That way you can also control fans which have only a Molex connector. This is a common thing with more powerful fans, such as the Vantec Tornado.

The Molex connection on these fans is due to the higher power usage. These fans just draw to much power to connect directly to the main board. A pity that the supplied cables have no pass-through for connecting them to the mainboard (for rpm monitoring), but you can't have everything.

On the third picture you can see that the buttons aren't individually lighted, there are a series of blue LEDs shining directly on a piece of transparent plastic. This is used as background and the light is divided evenly over the buttons.

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The blue LEDs create a very nifty look, just look at the pictures below. The first is with normal light, the second is made in a semi-dark room and the last one is made in a completely darkened room.

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The NXP-205 does its job perfectly, the only (very) small disadvantage I encountered has to do with a small delay which occurs when changing the speed of a fan from the minimum to the maximum setting (or back), it didn't bother me much, and depending on what you are used to won't even be an issue at all.

Onto the Vantec Tornado fan ->

Vantec Tornado Case fan

Vantec Tornado Case fan (TD8038H):

The name of this Vantec fan quite accurately describes its main feature: powerful like a Tornado!

looking for a powerful case fan to cool your hot computer? Vantec presents “Simply Power” Tornado Case fan to solve your problem. It generates up to 100% more air flow than other standard case fan, and double ball bearing fan construction for longer fan life. All retail packages come with a custom made cable for fan detection to protect your computer. Perfect for gamer and overclocked systems.

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Specifications :

Dimension : 80x80x38 mm

Weight : 175 g

Rated voltage: 12 V

Rated Power: 9.1 W

Rated Current: 0.76 Amp

Fan speed: 5700 rpm

Air flow: 84.1 Cfm

Noise: 55.2 dB(A)

Bearing system: Double ball bearing

Package contents :

Case fan

Mounting screws

Fan Guard

The Tornado looks like an 80mm fan on steroids, it's about 13mm higher then your average case fans, when you take a closer look you notice that there are 2 set of fan blades inside, the first ring is mounted onto a central rotor which spins at a speed up ~5700rpm, while the 2nd ring is fixed in its place to further increase the total pressure of the air being blasted out of this fan.

When you first power it on, you have the impression of sitting next to an airplane, at take-off, which is quite loud, of course. If you are holding the fan in your hand you better make sure to have a good grip on it.

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Coupled with the extreme noise comes also extreme performance, luckily. With the help of the NXP-205 fan controller the speed can be reduced to 3000rpm which offers a more quiet experience while still retaining quite some airflow.

Besides the fact that it can be used as a case or CPU fan, it also comes in handy in the kitchen. Pick the correct fan grill, turn the fan on, and chop or rasp your vegetables. Perfect for the lazy cook!

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I'm joking here :) !

Onto our PC-related practical tests ->

Testing & conclusion

Test Setup and Methodology

CPU temperatures were monitored with the software tool Mother Board Monitor (MBM). I also installed two temperature sensors. The first one was glued to the base of the heatsink, just next to the CPU. The second one was placed between the fins of the north bridge heatsink which is passively cooled (removed the noisy 40 mm fan).

No case was used

Ambient temperature was 24°C during all tests

thermal paste: shit-etsu based

Load temperatures were measured after 30 minutes stressing the CPU with Prime 95.

Test setup:

AMD thunderbird 1.4 Ghz
Thermalright SLK947 U
Soltek SL-75DRV2
Geforce4 MX480
256 Mb Corsair pc3000

Piotke’s Test Setup
CPU	AMD Athlon Tbird 1.4Ghz + Thermalright SLK947-U
Mainboard	Soltek SL-75DRV2
Memory	256Mb Corsair PC3200
Video card	Geforce 4 MX480

Three other fans were used for comparison

First of all I used a very similar designed 80mm delta fan (FFB0812EHE). As you can see in the specifications below it boosts out also quit a high cfm.
- Airflow: 80.16 CFM
- Noise: 52.5 dBa

- Speed @ 12v: 5700rpm
- 80x80x38 mm

Secondly we have the more known Papst 8412 N/2GML
- Airflow: 26.5 CFM
- Noise: 19 dBa
- Speed @ 12V: 2050 rpm
- 80x80x25 mm

And finally we have a more special fan in the running, a Cooler Master Radial fan (B8070-19CB-3BN-B1)
- Air Flow: 26.9 CFM
- Speed @ 12V 4500 rpm
- 70 x 70 x 70 mm

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Lower is better...

The Vantec and the Delta perform exactly the same. The theoretical performance difference is minimal. You can also see that with high rpm / cfm fans the chipset benefits from the extra airflow.

The third place is also for the Tornado fan. This time I turned it down to 7 Volt using the fan controller I talked about earlier. The fan spins at ~3000 rpm, airflow was lowered due to this, but the generated noise became bearable, hardly silent of course, but I couldn't hear the fan anymore with headphones on, while at full rpm I could hear it even when I was downstairs...(the test room is on the 1st floor)

As a summary I sorted the fans from loud to silent:

1) Delta 80 mm
2) Vantec tornado
3) Vantec tornado @ 7V
4) Coolermaster Radial fan
5) Papst

Conclusion

Vantec NXP-205

This very effective device is perfectly for even the all-round computer. While studying or sleeping turn down the fans to a minimal level for silence. While gaming or heavily stressing the computer, turn them to max, or a higher speed. This fan controller does it all !

It takes only one 3.5" slot in your case, installation is piece of cake, and it looks good. What more do you want?

PRO
Easy installation
able to connect 3&4-pin fans
Decent design & finishing
Easy in use

CON
the extra cables have no rpm monitoring headers

Vantec Tornado

Designed for overclockers and power users ! While pushing your computer to the max with air cooling this thé fan to get. Unfortunately high performance comes with high noise. If you attempt to use this fan 24/7 at 12V, I’m sure that you are already deaf, or that you'll be deaf within two weeks. So it’s highly recommended to use this fan in combination with a fan controller.

It’s very important that this fan comes with a fan grill, the blades can be very painful at that speed (we’re talking blood here).

PRO
Very High performance
A complete retail package
adequate balance between noise/airflow when used with a fan controller.

CON
Loud
could be dangerous when you have thin fingers :-)

I would like to thank Jennifer at Vantec for making this review possible.

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