Lamptron FC5-V2 Unboxing and Overview

[chaozbandit]

 

DISCLAIMER: My experience with the FC5-V2 comes after ditching the 3.5" eye-sore a.k.a. the Scythe Kaze Q that was nestled into the 5.25" to 3.5" mesh drive bay adapter that shipped with every Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced. It was decent for what it was; a small, compact controller I salvaged from my previous build. There were a few things that left me wanting more though: the insufficient voltage control, the ugly cables and fan extensions, the lack of temperature / rpm display, build quality, etc. And then I stumbled upon Lamptron...

 

This upgrade came earlier than I had expected for my build; I had it pinned on my list of to-do upgrades, but not until I started getting into water-cooling. However, at the time I was purchasing a new XFX power supply and some new fans and thought if I have to re-do my cable management, I might as well check off the fan controller at the same time. Thus the order was placed for a XFX Pro 850W BE, an assortment of Swiftech Helix fans (to replace the Cooler Master R4s I had), a bunch of miscellaneous parts (rubber grommets, fan grills, splitters), and the Lamptron FC5-V2.

 

Onto the unboxing. Initially, I wasn't expecting much for the packaging. I mean, it's a fan controller; how much packaging do you really need? So on first impression, it seemed Lamptron took the simple route. A simple sleeve on the outside with the black FC5-V2 on one side, and the silver FC5-V2 on the other. Removing this sleeve reveals a small, slightly stronger cardboard box with the company's name printed against a black background. See? Simple.

 

 

 

 

Upon opening said box, I was blown away at the quality. Lamptron didn't skimp out on the packaging after all. I mean, look at it! Closed cell foam... Linus (and many other enthusiasts) would go crazy over this stuff. There's not much packaging, but it gets the job done. Everything arrived in a decently organized manner as well and I was able to find everything I wanted.

 

 

First thing I did was clear the box of everything except the controller so  that I could inspect it. Man, is the FC5-V2 a work of art or what? On the face it features a nice, clear, multi-coloured display flanked along the bottom edge by four quality knobs (extensions for the actual dials soldered onto the PCB) and surrounded by a quality, brushed finish. The make and model are distinctly made out on the top left of the front face, and the frame itself is black to go with the overall theme of the device. Around back, you will find a black PCB and an assortment of components including pin-outs for sensors, the fans themselves, a temperature alarm, and the molex power.

 

 

Most of you who know the Lamptron series of controllers know that a lot of their displays are capable of multiple colours. The FC5-V2 is capable of a total of 7 different display colours based on the RGB system: 3 primary, 3 secondary, and white. Here is where the colour is changed via jumpers; simply insert for the colour you want or insert all three for white. In addition, you can also change whether you want to monitor your temperatures in Celcius or Fahrenheit via the use of a single jumper; using both jumpers on these pins will change the readout to measure channel voltage.

 

 

So what does Lamptron include with the FC5-V2 in it's wonderful box of goodies? There's an instruction manual for what you should plug into where and how, a sleeved molex power cable, four sleeved fan cables, four long temperature probes, four black screws, an extra jumper, and the device itself.

 

 

Below are images of the device installed into my CM 690 II. As you can see, the white is very clear and the display easy to read both in bright and dark conditions. The dials themselves feel very solid, and the mounting brackets keep the device in place (though it did take a bit of work making sure it was flush with the front panel). I don't mind the mesh and brushed face side by side, but that's me and it might not be the same for everyone. I opted to run my FC5-V2 with four channels (two channels are running a 2 fan splitter) and two temperature probes.

 

NOTE: Channels with single fans don't seem to be affected by this, but both of my two-fan channels seem to alternate between different RPM readouts. There isn't any physical change in the fan speed (from an acoustic standpoint at least) so I'm not too worried about this. As for the temperature probes, they do tend to fluctuate +/- 0.5 degrees Celcius but are overall pretty good indications of interior temperature.

 

 

Before I finish off, there are just a few things I want to go over. While shopping for a Lamptron controller, you may find the FC6 in the same bracket as the FC5-V2 in terms of pricing. The only thing that differs between the FC5-V1 and the FC5-V2 is the screen, amongst other small quality control items. Not much differs between the FC5-V2 and the FC6 however, besides the fact that the former is a 30W per channel controller and the latter is a 20W model. The FC6 also has visible screws on it's front face but uses teh same bright display that is present on the FC5-V2. There is also a FC5-V3 model which includes two additional channels and permits the monitoring of temperature and voltage at the same time, in addition to more colours (the V3 costs 50% more than the V2).

 

Controller: Lamptron FC5-V2

Channel #1: Scythe Ultra Kaze 120mm 3,000 RPM (x2)

Channel #2: Swiftech Helix 120mm 1,800 RPM (x2)

Channel #3: Swiftech Helix 140mm 1,500 RPM (x1)

Channel #4: Swiftech Helix 120mm 1,800 RPM (x1)

 

I've been looking for a replacement fan controller for quite some time now. A lot of the options I looked at were either too expensive, didn't offer the functions I wanted, or didn't seem aesthetically pleasing enough. Due to the way I had planned my upgrade path, double-din (dual bay) controllers were out of the question and I had opted out of touch. After working with it however, I can definitely say I made a good choice. The sleeved cables mean that should you have to run your cables exposed inside the case (the CM 690 II's cable management isn't the best but I love the case), they'll add to the look instead of taking away from it. The cables themselves are easy to work with and position, making routing and managing them quite easy. The temperature probes are long enough to reach the majority of locations within a mid-tower case while still being hidden, and the leads are more than long enough to reach the fans.

 

The FC5-V2 has superior voltage control compared to my previous controller. Rather than relying on resistors to do the job of reducing fan speed, Lamptron provides users the ability to completely turn off fans. In addition, being 30W means you have sufficient capacity to run multiple beefy fans on a single channel for say, a rad or something. You can also run them at very low speeds without any problems if you're going for a silent build; if you plan on watercooling your rig, the temperature pin-outs on the FC5-V2 PCB also accepts reservoir temperature probes (plug type) from manufacturers such as XSPC. The FC5-V2 is a very customizable device that can be used for a wide range of applications. and the multi-colour, multi-function display ensures that it will be a great add-on to any build.Overall, usage provides a very pleasant experience and it is worth the investment if you wish to have real-time management of your cooling ecosystem.

 

Would I recommend this product? Absolutely. In my opinion, this is the best all rounder in terms of form and function, at a reasonable price. I'm not saying if you need a fan controller that you should buy this right off the bat; evaluate what you have available to you. If you want just a basic fan controller, by all means spring for something that costs less. If you want a few more doo-das, then go for this. A fan controller doesn't have to be ridiculously expensive especially given what it is designed to do. The MSRP of the Lamptron FC5-V2 is $59.99. 

 

Product page: http://www.lamptron.com/product/controllers/fc5-v2/

[Wferr]

Ohh those pictures look great :c what camera did you use outta curiosity? 

[chaozbandit]

Ohh those pictures look great :c what camera did you use outta curiosity? 

 

The camera on my phone LOL. It's produced pretty good pictures in the past at it's full pixel resolution, but it's heavily reliant on having a good light source. It's a Samsung Galaxy SII but I'm planning on getting a Sony Xperia Z1 soon.

[alpenwasser]

I also have this controller, and can pretty much agree with this review.

One thing which might be of interest to some people: 30 W per channel means you can

run (and regulate) a D5 off of this. Works very well in my experience (at least

so far). In fact that's the reason I bought this controller.

If you have a Vario, you can crank the knob on the pump up to 5 and use the fan

controller to regulate the pump. The rpm curve is a bit funky because the pump

tries to do some regulation by itself it seems, but it does work.

[outofmyheadyo]

Awesome review and awesome controller, but here is a question, I  have seen some versions come with non sleeved cables, and I really want one with black sleeved cables, how do I know the unit I will order has black sleeved cables ? What I have seen some units have green pcb and those ones seem to have the non sleeved ugly cables, but the other units like yours with black pcb have those wonderful black sleeved cables.

I tried to contact lamptron about it but I havent recieved a reply as of yet.

[chaozbandit]

Awesome review and awesome controller, but here is a question, I  have seen some versions come with non sleeved cables, and I really want one with black sleeved cables, how do I know the unit I will order has black sleeved cables ? What I have seen some units have green pcb and those ones seem to have the non sleeved ugly cables, but the other units like yours with black pcb have those wonderful black sleeved cables.

I tried to contact lamptron about it but I havent recieved a reply as of yet.

 

Not entirely sure. I read somewhere that Lamptron makes their controllers by hand (or at least the early production models, for sure). If anything, retailers like FrozenCPU most likely either order them sleeved or specially sleeve the cables themselves.

[outofmyheadyo]

I revieved this reply:

 

Yes, they are. While extremely unlikely however, if you buy from a retailer who has old stock, it could be you get the first version of the FC5V2 which does not bring sleeved cables but again, this is very unlikely.