PCToys Crystal 80mm Fan, Speed Case Thumbscrews

Date: July 29th, 2002

URL: http://www.pctoys.com

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Rating: Excellent!

Review:

PCToys recently furnished me with a few of their PC toys to install in my new case. Since I recently switched from a full tower that was difficult to cool with all my stuff in it to a plexi-sided case, I decided to try out one of the Crystal 80mm Fan with Blue LED lights and built in Automatic Thermal Speed Controller as well as some of their thumb screws.

Well, everything arrived (in 8 days I might add...very fast to Thailand) and I removed the black fan that had been in the plexi side (added it to the front panel to give me two fans pulling air in side by side up front). It was a snap to install using the screws that were already in the case, but the screws that came with the fan would have allowed you to install it with the included guard or as a standard case fan as well. There is a thermal probe, which I chose to place in the case near the video card.

The fan seems to work great. My CPU temps have not changed (44-46 degree C in this case, a 10 degree improvement on my previous case) but mobo temps have dropped from 34- 36 degree C to 32-33 degree C. It isn't a huge change, but it is a change that I'm happy to have. The fan looks great, and the blue light is cool.

I also switched the case screws to the thumb screws while installing the new fan. Why I never bought any of these screws before I have no idea. If you ever need to get inside the case for any reason, I strongly recommend these thumb screws.

Enjoy the pictures, I'm happy to have both of these additions.

Submitted by: Al