Sunbeam PL-RS-PCI Rheosmart PCI 20W Fan Controller

Pros: Adjusting fan speeds works.

Cons: Unless you fasten them individually (non-clamp style), they might fit rather loosely in the back of the case.

Pros: This keeps my always-on PC quiet without jeopardizing the health of the components. Software fan controllers may allow for low RPM inputs but often times, they just bottom-out and shut off the fan.
Since this is a hardware controller, it will go continuously from zero to max.

Cons: If I were to employ this as something I touch constantly, I'd be upset with it. It gets very hot to the touch after just a short time of use. Since I "set it and forget it", I'm not really bothered by it.

Pros: Cheap (as in low cost)

Cons: Controller was in my garbage can within 10 minutes of opening the package. Non-Working, Cheap material...you get what you pay for.

Pros: I had a problem: my motherboard (ASUS P9X79PRO) supported only PWM fan regulation, but I had CPU cooling fans with 3PINs that require voltage regulation.
Connected the 4pin connectors of the Rheosmart to the mobo, connected fans to the 3-pin connectors, set "pwm" mode (red led is on), compiled approprate kernel driver (nct6775-master), and hoplya! -- now I can control fan speed from software. Wrote a simple program for setting the pwm depending on temperature, and now my computer is quiet unless I run really heavy tasks that use all 6 cores at full throttle.

Cons: LED light is too bright. Put a dark electric tape on it.

Pros: slows down my fans to a whisper.

Cons: hasn't burned out after 6 months of use.

Other Thoughts: installed one in my HTPC and one in my file server. the HTPC only gets used about 8hrs/week but the file server has been running three 120mm fans continuously for over 6mo without any issues.

Pros: Very smart. You can switch it from board auto control to rheo control. Turns a 3-pin fan into a smarter 4 pin controllable fan. Does about what it claims. Reasonable price.

Cons: Only cuts fan speed in half. Output range is 6-12V. If you want a really quiet fan, it needs to run at less than about 800rpm. So if your fan runs at more than 2000rpm at 12V, at this things minimum 6V it will still run over 1000rpm and may still be noisy. My cpu fan is running at about 1250 on minimum and I can still hear it, though it's a lot quieter.

If you want near silence, get a fan that maxes at about 1800 rpm for use with this.

Other Thoughts: It would be perfect if the minimum output voltage were 3V instead of 6V.

Pros: Allows control of up to two fans manually
Easily installed into a spare PCI slot
Good cable length
Supports 4 pin plugs as well as 3 pin
Has a PWM function (not what i needed it for)

Cons: Needs a molex power option as well (maybe via adapter?)

Other Thoughts: I purchased 2 of these to quieten some extra system fan that were not being powered from the mainboard
2x 20mm hard drive cooling fans and 1 extra exhaust case fan
This device will slow down the fan speeds 50% so the audible noise level drop drastically, but I also have the option to speed them up to full speed if required.

As a side note: Interestingly enough my hard drive temperatures only went up 2degF with the fan speed cut to half. So this product may be good for a multitude of purposes

Pros: I haven't bothered with the PWM on this. However, as just a manual knob for controlling fan voltage, works just as expected. Feels cheap, but that is because it IS cheap.

Cons: I suppose my only complaint is that front panel fan controllers are all made so cheaply that they all seem to fail on me quicker than I'd anticipate. Also, this only goes down to 6 volts. Some people would be happier with 5 volts or even 4.

Other Thoughts: I currently use it for my file server. The 20w limit allows me to control all of the fans using this with just one knob. Simple and effective.

Pros: supposed to control two case fans either manually or from MB fan header.

Cons: broken on arrival. a couple of wires came out of the connectors.

Pros: Excellent product with good price and service

Cons: None