Introduction

Scythe, well known for the CPU heatsinks, is expanding their product line-up, today I take a closer look at a multi functional 5.25” control panel called the “KamaMeter”. It features fan control, temperature readout, and volume control.



Specifications

Dimension: 149x42x75mm (WxHxD)

Front Panel Colors: 3 (Black, Silver, White)

Backlight Colors: 7 & Auto Illumination Mode

Temperature Module Channels: 4

Temperature Range: 0 ～ 90 °C (32 ～ 194F)

Fan Channels: 4

Maximum fans per Channel: 1

Maximum current per Channel: 1 Ampere (= max. 12W consumption)

Weight: 320g

Inside the package a descriptive manual explains how to hook everything up, but before you get to that you need to decide which color front panel fits your case. Scythe conveniently includes three different colored face plates, black, grey and white.

Swapping the face plate is easy, one screw at each side holds it in place, the knobs can just be pulled from their respective rheobus.



These knobs are of good quality and the overall impression of the KamaMeter is that it is build to last.



The backside reveals the working of the KamaMeter, the top two knobs control the fan and temperature probe selected. The bottom two control fan speed and volume; the one for the fan speed can be turned endlessly left/right with small clicks, the volume control revolves smoothly from one extreme to the other.

Color switching

The fan speed control knob also functions as the selector for the LCD panel color when you press on it.

The LCD’s readability does change when switching colors, some are better suited than others.






Looking from the side the LCD remains quite readable if you select a darker color, like this red:

Functionality

The KamaMeter has four temp probes which measured values within ~0.5°C (you can switch to °F by pushing down the fan speed knob for 3 seconds) of other temp probes I have lying around, not too bad I’d say. When the measurement temperature exceeds 90°C or goes below 0°C an alarm will sound and the display will flash; these values are fixed and can not be changed.

The audio volume is controlled with a pass-through PCI bracket and accompanying 2-male jack cable; while the idea behind this feature is certainly commendable, I found the volume button too small to really be useful for day to day use, plus the added connections are extra failure points and may add noise to the audio signal.

The fan speed knob is less used on daily basis and does it job well, although the fan speed controller itself seems to have a life of its own, it reacted different with different fans, the maximum voltage as well as the maximum decrease in RPM differed quite a bit. Take a look at the table below, I hooked up different fans and measured voltage at the 3-pin header and noted down the RPM readings I got from the KamaMeter.



As you can see, I was unable to turn the fans off completely, only reducing their speed by 20~50%. The KamaMeter relies on the RPM readout to check if the fan is spinning, when the fan is blocked or fails an alarm will sound (loud beeping) and the display will flash. Scythe mentions in their manual that RPM readout is not 100% accurate, but the alarm will go of when RPM goes below 400.


Conclusive Thoughts

The KamaMeter is a quality product with good array of functionality; it does need a bit of refinement to truly shine. As a fan controller the voltage control is quite limited, at best you can cut the fan speed in half which is simply not enough, the ability to turn the fan completely off is lacking too. As a temperature monitoring tool it’s quite good with high accuracy of the temp probes, but not being able to change the preset alarm value to a custom value (and per probe) does make this functionality redundant, how many hardware components inside your PC will be damaged before they reach 90°C ?

Scythe latest product is priced as low as €35 which is an average price for a multi functional 5.25” panel.

If you’re in the market for 4-way fan controller with thermal monitoring and master volume control, and don’t mind the minor downsides, the KamaMeter will fit in your system nicely, no matter what the color.