Review: Lamptron SM436 PCI fan/RGB controller

#5756993 Posted on: 02/03/2020 05:04 PM

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or you can install Corsair iCue and control and infinite amount of fans
yes it comes with it's own problems, mostly affecting corsair rgb memory users : youtube.com/watch?v=Cipj9genxHk

pros
- make complete system rgb/speed/watercooling profiles switchable with 1 key
- make fixed rpm profiles and switch them rather than use obvious fan-curves ramping up/down (a constant noise is less noticeable than constant changes)
- tweak your fans for noise, shut them off and raise 1rpm at a time if you wish to pinpoint which one causes the most noise, with an easy UI
- profiles that can be automatically switched when an exe starts
- complete customisation led by led of everything RGB (as long as it's corsair of course)
cons
- you are stuck with Corsair brands for rgb
- it's not a cheap solution
- commander pros are bulky

but on the fan side, even when I "regained my sanity" and removed all RGB I was still using the corsair commander pro rather than the motherboard for fan control...or a separate controller
taking 3 pcie slots

#5757023 Posted on: 02/03/2020 07:09 PM

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I find this panel useful in the sense that it can be added to any motherboard, but aesthetically it is unsuccessful and only offers fan information.
The one that looks better and more varied information offers at the same time is the Rog Front Base of Asus, they left it without getting the maximum performance and beyond the Coffe Lake they did not support either the Software or Hardware to the following motherboards, nor The possibility of making it compatible with different brands of motherboards was exploited, because this Asus front is truly useful and beautiful.

https://www.asus.com/es/Motherboard-Accessories/ROG-Front-Base/

#5757035 Posted on: 02/03/2020 07:49 PM

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or you can install Corsair iCue and control and infinite amount of fans
yes it comes with it's own problems, mostly affecting corsair rgb memory users : youtube.com/watch?v=Cipj9genxHk

pros
- make complete system rgb/speed/watercooling profiles switchable with 1 key
- make fixed rpm profiles and switch them rather than use obvious fan-curves ramping up/down (a constant noise is less noticeable than constant changes)
- tweak your fans for noise, shut them off and raise 1rpm at a time if you wish to pinpoint which one causes the most noise, with an easy UI
- profiles that can be automatically switched when an exe starts
- complete customisation led by led of everything RGB (as long as it's corsair of course)
cons
- you are stuck with Corsair brands for rgb
- it's not a cheap solution
- commander pros are bulky

but on the fan side, even when I "regained my sanity" and removed all RGB I was still using the corsair commander pro rather than the motherboard for fan control...or a separate controller
taking 3 pcie slots

And let it use 5% of core 1, lose all your profiles after updating the app. Constant crashes of ICue and sometime fans stopping when left unattended. Marvelous alternative.

Lest I forget, don't use a fan splitter on a Corsair commander or it'll go kaput. It barely has the power to run 6 fans without blowing.

#5757092 Posted on: 02/03/2020 11:17 PM

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or you can install Corsair iCue and control and infinite amount of fans
yes it comes with it's own problems, mostly affecting corsair rgb memory users : youtube.com/watch?v=Cipj9genxHk

pros
- make complete system rgb/speed/watercooling profiles switchable with 1 key
- make fixed rpm profiles and switch them rather than use obvious fan-curves ramping up/down (a constant noise is less noticeable than constant changes)
- tweak your fans for noise, shut them off and raise 1rpm at a time if you wish to pinpoint which one causes the most noise, with an easy UI
- profiles that can be automatically switched when an exe starts
- complete customisation led by led of everything RGB (as long as it's corsair of course)
cons
- you are stuck with Corsair brands for rgb
- it's not a cheap solution
- commander pros are bulky

but on the fan side, even when I "regained my sanity" and removed all RGB I was still using the corsair commander pro rather than the motherboard for fan control...or a separate controller
taking 3 pcie slots

Best alternative is Aquacomputer Aquaero without the question is one of the best fan controllers on market or if you wish then Aquacomputer Quadro or new Octo are too good alternatives if Aquaero is expensive for you

Aquasuite SW is a very easy to use and easy to navigate etc, creating fan curves takes just seconds, virtual temperatures sensors(air delta T or water delta T), RGB control is possible as well et

I wouldn't touch Corsair SW on my PC or loop, no way I would be using such SW, few years back remember I used their iCue my god its caused just issues nothing more

Hope this helps

Thanks, Jura

#5757438 Posted on: 02/04/2020 08:13 PM

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And let it use 5% of core 1, lose all your profiles after updating the app. Constant crashes of ICue and sometime fans stopping when left unattended. Marvelous alternative.

Been using iCue for tha last 3-4 years, never seen it use 5% of any core, neither any crashes, fans stopping or profiles getting lost cause of an update.

#5757441 Posted on: 02/04/2020 08:51 PM

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Nice looking product but:
-Why using Corsair only when nearly everyone use own standard and other brand compatible?
-Why don't they put the PCIe fixing plate on top of the screen instead of below? Below you could be able to hide pci card with the screen.

#5757442 Posted on: 02/04/2020 08:52 PM

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Me neither (and i am not a pro iCue fan)

#5757494 Posted on: 02/05/2020 12:56 AM

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You mustn't peruse the ICue forum.

#5757505 Posted on: 02/05/2020 01:54 AM

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Makes sense doesn't it?
I would only have read their forums if I had faced an issue with iCue

#5757724 Posted on: 02/05/2020 04:46 PM

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I will try to help with iCue

1) the cpu usage is true but it's not that bad a problem if you don't have corsair rgb memory and/or have a hedt type cpu
2) if you care about 2% cpu usage there's no reason to have anything rgb related, rgb management always cost something if it's not windows ressources it'll be current draw on your motherboard and PSU (with 7-10 rgb fans I can guarantee you that if I set color to white at max brightness the psu fan starts spinning) yes those % usage will reduce your scores but which benchmark-maniac uses rgb memory and whatnot ? they don't for a good reason
2) corsair rgb memory control has a big problem : youtube.com/watch?v=Cipj9genxHk disabling that setting doesn't "destroy" rgb but it removes the "led by led" customisation, in my comments I also say that this large cpu usage is not specific to corsair I had the same thing 5-10% cpu usage with g.skill memory using the "audio visualizer"
3) I never had profiles disappear when upgrading and that's my 4th pc with icue and corsair gear but they do disappear when you try to downgrade the software, you have to manually backup your settings files in appdata, personnally I ghost my system before upgrading
4) that rgb memory setting ? it also makes the memory "disconnect" from icue (red triangle) it seems to be quite buggy so I stopped using it (other than for pictures or videos)
5) if you use a mix of 3 and 4 pins fans on commander pro you need to set them up manually in the settings tab, auto is often buggy with mixed types and will hardware crash
6) other hardware monitoring app will make the commander pros crash, it's annoying but it's not unique to corsair, hardware sensors don't like being read from multiple sources at the same time, what corsair is lacking is a "share data" option like Aida64 has so you can do that kind of stuff youtube.com/watch?v=42u2KZajZ-0 (I have my cpu temp on-screen thx to afterburner/aida64)
7) talking about aida or hwinfo etc...you can't use them together with icue if you cannot disable their access to specific sensors I disabled everything corsair/asetek related in the "stability" settings tab of Aida64 except corsair PSU sensor support and DIMM thermal sensor support (corsair memory has sensors) it's annoying because I lose the water temp in my "stability test" graphs page but it's better than crashing the commander pro (it worked fine with my H150i pro aio btw but something either in recent icues or recent AIO/hydrox breaks now)
8) if after testing stuff your commander pro (or one of them, I use two in my current build) crashes you can go to the icue settings and try "restart icue service" if it doesnt work a reboot is in order

yep all that is annoying but because I use a good chunk of corsair features I learned to live with it, I understand not everyone wants to