How much class and substance can a 5.25" bay six channel fan controller with brushed aluminium bezel – from the creators of the Define R2 no less – have?
Product on Review: Fractal Design Adjust 108
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Fractal Design
Street Price: ~£30 inc. V.A.T.
Credited by many as being one of the architects of the current wave of mainstream quiet computing chassis entering the marketplace, Fractal Design entered the chassis market with a bang (proverbially only, we assure you) in 2010 with the release of the Define R2. The R2 featured noise dampening, cable management and elements of modular design, resulting in a chassis which presented a unique alternative in the <£90 market. Since then Fractal Design have progressed to the Define R4 (which we reviewed in September), whilst also spreading to mATX, EATX and ITX form factors and budget market segments.
About Fractal Design
The concept – Design
The concept of Fractal Design is to provide products with an extraordinary design level, without compromising the important factors of quality, functionality and pricing. The computer of today has come to play a central role in most people’s home, creating a demand for appealing design of the computer itself and its accessories. Our main product areas are computer enclosures, power supplies and related accessories
Designed and engineered in Sweden
All Fractal Design products have been thoroughly designed, tested and specified in our Swedish head quarter. The well known ideas of scandinavian design can be found through all of our products; a minimalistic but yet striking design – less is more.
Visions and goals
Our vision is to have a constant, healthy growth together with our partners worldwide. Our goal is to be widely recognized for our designed products and to have them available in all major market regions within EU and US and Asia. We should be a good alternative to the already established retail brands of today. It’s of great importance for us that our partners understand the values of Fractal Design, therefore we are putting great effort into choosing the right partners from the start. We will work actively to maintain sales territories and profitable business for our partners.
The concept of Fractal Design is to provide products with an extraordinary design level, without compromising the important factors of quality, functionality and pricing. The computer of today has come to play a central role in most people’s home, creating a demand for appealing design of the computer itself and its accessories. Our main product areas are computer enclosures, power supplies and related accessories
Designed and engineered in Sweden
All Fractal Design products have been thoroughly designed, tested and specified in our Swedish head quarter. The well known ideas of scandinavian design can be found through all of our products; a minimalistic but yet striking design – less is more.
Visions and goals
Our vision is to have a constant, healthy growth together with our partners worldwide. Our goal is to be widely recognized for our designed products and to have them available in all major market regions within EU and US and Asia. We should be a good alternative to the already established retail brands of today. It’s of great importance for us that our partners understand the values of Fractal Design, therefore we are putting great effort into choosing the right partners from the start. We will work actively to maintain sales territories and profitable business for our partners.
The Adjust 108 is a slight step away from the chassis market whilst remaining all about cooling and quiet computing. Fractal Design have tended to bundle their Define chassis with integrated fan controllers, and the Adjust 108 is their first fan controller to be sold separately for installation in any tower PC with an empty 5.25″ bay. As we’ve come to expect the unit features a sleek finish – in this case black anodised brushed aluminium – on a product which is designed for optimal functionality and compatibility rather than ancillary features.
About The Adjust 108
The new Adjust 108 fan controller from Fractal Design offers a simple yet clean option to adjust the speed of your case fans. With a brushed aluminum front panel and smooth moving sliders, it does not only emanate quality but also robustness and preciseness.
The Adjust 108 Fan Controller manages a total of six fans with a maximum of 36W per channel, while grouped three by three for ease of use. With a bi-color LED beneath each of the six sliders, the controller shows the speed of the fan not only by the slider itself but also through the color of the LED; white indicates a low RPM and blue a high RPM.
The Adjust 108 Fan Controller manages a total of six fans with a maximum of 36W per channel, while grouped three by three for ease of use. With a bi-color LED beneath each of the six sliders, the controller shows the speed of the fan not only by the slider itself but also through the color of the LED; white indicates a low RPM and blue a high RPM.
Technical Specifications
Features
* A stylish and minimalistic aluminum front covers the fan controller
* The Adjust 108 is equipped with six (6) fan channels
* Vertical Slider Control
* Starts At 100% Voltage
* One bi-color LED per channel, where white describes a low RPM and blue a high RPM
* Intensity jumper for the LEDs, with options of 100% and 50% intensity and an OFF feature
* Uses only one 5.25″ bay
* The Adjust 108 is equipped with six (6) fan channels
* Vertical Slider Control
* Starts At 100% Voltage
* One bi-color LED per channel, where white describes a low RPM and blue a high RPM
* Intensity jumper for the LEDs, with options of 100% and 50% intensity and an OFF feature
* Uses only one 5.25″ bay
Tech Specs
* Stylish, minimalistic front in aluminum
* 6 channels
* One LED per channel
* Uses only one 5.25″ bay
* Intensity jumper for the LEDs
* Vertical sliders
* 36W per channel
* Shifting LEDs
* SATA power connector
* 6 channels
* One LED per channel
* Uses only one 5.25″ bay
* Intensity jumper for the LEDs
* Vertical sliders
* 36W per channel
* Shifting LEDs
* SATA power connector
Package And First Look
The Fractal Design Adjust 108’s packaging is almost uniformly dark which should be fairly prominent on store shelves thanks in part to the Fractal Design logo. It has this in common with most of Fractal’s products currently on the market, and so is in keeping with the branding.
The front is a stylised design stating the product inside and the fact that it has six channels of control and brushed aluminium bezel. Interestingly it does not include an image of the controller itself, perhaps indicating that they believe most of these products will be sold online rather than by though browsing in store.
The pack rear is where the contents and technical information can be found, though there continues to be no image of the Adjust 108 itself. Here they mention the key features – aluminium front, 6 channel control and 36W per channel being chief among them. Also worthy of note is the compatibility information – 5.25″ bay mounted and requiring SATA or 4-pin Molex power – and the inclusion of 600mm long cables to connect fans which allows routing of cables behind a motherboard.
Although the packaging doesn’t exactly sell the Adjust 108, we can’t fault the information presented to the customer. Internally the device is held in place by polyethylene foam, which should securely hold it during shipping and protect it from all manner of bumps.
Our first impressions of the Adjust 108 are pretty good. The package as a whole contains the fan controller itself and four metal screws to fit the devices in a 5.25″ bay of a PC chassis. Thankfully the entire unit – front, back, all cables and the PCB – is coloured black which shows a fantastic attention to detail from Fractal.
We should also not here that the Adjust 108 is only half as long as a standard 5.25″ bay device such as a DVD drive and most other fan controllers on the market. Though not of much relevance to most users, there are niche circumstances where having this additional room can be useful such as a heavily modified chassis with radiator and fan assembly in the roof which would normally obstruct a 5.25″ bay device. On the flip side, it can make the Adjust 108 a little less secure if utilising certain tool-less drive bay fixings, in which case the four screws will come in handy.
Closer Look And Performance
First up, a closer look that that brushed aluminium bezel. The finish is excellent, though keep in mind that aluminium tends to pick up fingerprints very easily so you’ll want to be careful to wipe them away quickly following installation. Six rubberised sliders independently control the fan voltages (and hence RPM) and are raised from the bezel just enough to facilitate adjustment over without getting fingerprints over the bezel.
Under each slider is an indicator LED which glows white at low fan RPM, blue at high RPM and off when not in use or in operation with no tachometer response (i.e. there is no 3rd/yellow fan wire connected, see below).
Here we can observe the six fan cables and SATA/Molex power cable. Providing both options for power supply is a neat way of future-proofing the Adjust 108 for a time when Molex connections are removed from PSUs, and also have the potential of improving cable management as these days SATA power to a DVD is much more commonly used than any form of Molex.
We should note that there is very little additional cooling for the Adjust 108 in the form of heatsinks. This makes running high power draw components such as water pumps at low speeds over extended periods a relatively risky proposition.
The Adjust 108 offers three brightness levels for the LEDs, but if you were expecting a discrete switch on the front you will be disappointed. Brightness is controlled via a jumper on the PCB, a pretty old-fashioned solution to this knotty problem. On the other hand this does mean that the aluminium bezel isn’t marred by an additional switch or slider.
Performance
One interesting feature of the Adjust 108 is that the fan controller briefly runs at 100% through each channel when the system is powered up from off or sleep, before falling to the slider-selected level. This should allow fans to start which would otherwise fail to at low operating voltages.
Testing Spec
PSU:- Corsair GS800
Fans:-
– 1 * 140mm Generic (12V 0.1A 1200RPM)
– 1 * 230mm Generic (12V 0.16A 900RPM)
– 1 * 230mm Generic Red LED (12V 0.24 900RPM)
– 1 * 120mm Cooler Master Blue LED (12V 0.37A 2500RPM)
– 1 * 80mm Cooler Master Green LED (12V 0.15A) 2 PIN
Fans:-
– 1 * 140mm Generic (12V 0.1A 1200RPM)
– 1 * 230mm Generic (12V 0.16A 900RPM)
– 1 * 230mm Generic Red LED (12V 0.24 900RPM)
– 1 * 120mm Cooler Master Blue LED (12V 0.37A 2500RPM)
– 1 * 80mm Cooler Master Green LED (12V 0.15A) 2 PIN
Each channel was able to drive the fans without issue. When testing the two-pin 80mm fan, we discovered that the channel’s LED will not activate in the absence of a tachometer reading (typically the 3rd wire, yellow); however the slider will continue to adjust voltage (and hence fan RPM) as anticipated.
The Adjust 108 doesn’t detail the maximum and minimum extent of voltage control it’s capable of. Through the use of a trusty multimeter we measured voltages across each channel during minimum and maximum settings. Given a stable 12V supply, the Adjust 108 varies between 5V and 12V in each channel, +/- 5%. Overall the Adjust 108 performed admirably, and though it doesn’t provide detailed fan speed feedback it does meet the needs of the vast majority of users.
Conclusion
Gone are the days of the PC as function over form design – fan controllers need to excel in two key facets to be a truly great product: functionality and the aesthetic. Fractal Design attempt to achieve in these areas by adhering to the old adage of keeping it simple and avoiding over complication.
First impressions of the Adjust 108 were very good, as is often the case with Fractal Design’s products. The brushed aluminium finish of the bezel is exceptional, and the sliding voltage adjusters feel sturdy with reasonable responsiveness; by contrast the LED lighting is a little uneven at mid/high levels and the white brightness is clearly higher than blue. Two minor flaws turned out to be the LEDs shining up the slide channel (having not been blanked off behind the bezel) – which is ameliorated by the black PCB – and a slight amount of light bleed behind the left-most slider, but they’re still minor.
Functionally, the Adjust 108 works well. By varying between 5V and 12V it allows control down to levels where many fans are almost stalling or fail to spin up, though the latter tends not to happen thanks to the system booting at 100% fan speed for a couple of seconds. This allows you to throttle down even loud 80mm fans to near whisper quiet levels of noise, either individually or as a daisy-chained group. We’re also pleased that the Adjust can cope with 2-wire and 4-pin PWM fans too, though it should be noted that 4-pin fans will be controlled through the cruder voltage adjustment rather than PWM.
Advanced users should note that the Adjust 108 doesn’t incorporate any additional cooling for its electronic components. Long-term operation near the channels 35W limits with high amount of throttling could conceivably cause the controller to overheat, and would certainly be something we’d want to keep a close eye on.
In a couple of instances, the minimalist design of the Adjust 108 has served to reduce its potential feature-set. Key examples are: locating the LED brightness controls – a jumper setting – on the PCB behind the bezel, effectively requiring removal of the device to change; and having no facility to turn off a fan channel entirely on-the-fly. The former is more of a frustration, especially if wanting to place the PC in the front room or a bedroom; the latter something of a functional limitation. Neither would rule out the Adjust, but may be stumbling blocks for advanced users who want absolute control.
The Fractal Design Adjust 108 is a great fan controller with very good aesthetic qualities and solid, if unremarkable, functionality. Capable of 35W per channel, it will immediately be of interest for those running more exotic cooling setups who nonetheless desire a smart, unassuming 5.25″ mounted controller. At near £30 it’s more expensive than controllers with similar functionality, yet also far more suitable for systems with chassis doors than many competing solutions. Overall it’s well worthy of a Vortez Silver Award.
Pros
+ Compatible with most PC chassis on the market
+ Single 5.25″ Bay required
+ Compatible with up to six 3-Pin and 4-Pin Fans
+ Brushed Aluminium finish
+ Per-fan status LED
+ SATA or Molex power
+ Doesn’t encroach deeply into the chassis
Cons
– Fractal Design logo not particularly discrete
– Difficult to access LED brightness control
– Cannot disable a fan channel altogether
Tips
= Low profile design makes it perfect for chassis with doors such as the Define series
+ Compatible with most PC chassis on the market
+ Single 5.25″ Bay required
+ Compatible with up to six 3-Pin and 4-Pin Fans
+ Brushed Aluminium finish
+ Per-fan status LED
+ SATA or Molex power
+ Doesn’t encroach deeply into the chassis
Cons
– Fractal Design logo not particularly discrete
– Difficult to access LED brightness control
– Cannot disable a fan channel altogether
Tips
= Low profile design makes it perfect for chassis with doors such as the Define series
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
