Best Computer Fan Controllers of 2021
It's time to get a control of all those noisy fans in your system
- Last Updated Jun 14, 2021
Internal fans play a vital role in cooling your system. As most people know, heat is the death of longevity for computer components (and the universe). The cooler you can keep your PC, the longer you can keep it running smoothly and efficiently.
Most computer cases come with a number of internal fans, anywhere from just one or two all the way up to ten or more. However, these fans run on their own and cannot receive information or be modulated. If you are lucky, your case may include an on/off switch at most.
This is where a fan controller comes in. It gives you the power to customize and run your fans the way you want to. This has a number of benefits over autonomous fans.
Fans can be rather loud, and if all you’re doing is browsing the web, there is no need for them to be going full throttle. This also increases the fan’s longevity and is more energy efficient. If you switch to a more demanding task, like gaming, though, a PC fan controller will allow you to quickly adjust your fans up to speed.
In this guide, we will cover the best fan controllers on the market today. Then, we’ll go over everything you need to know to make the best purchase for your set-up.
Products at a Glance
Best Computer Fan Controllers of 2021
The Kingwin FPX-001 is an excellent budget fan controller that gets the job done. It has speed adjustment knobs for up to four fans. Unfortunately, this controller only allows 3-pin fan connections.
On the plus side, it comes equipped with nice-looking LED lights that indicate whether or not the fans are on, which is a nice, albeit largely unneeded (you have ears, right?) quality of life feature.
While the Corsair Commander Pro doesn’t look like much on the surface, it offers an impressive amount of functionality and customization. Using their Corsair Link software, you are able to fully manage and control your case fans. This does take place of an actual display, but honestly, we prefer just using a powerful, feature heavy software.
This controller can fit up to six fans, as well as two RGB channels, four temperature inputs, and even a couple internal USB devices. When it comes to connectivity, this fan controller is the king.
It even includes four thermal sensors, along with some other extras. The fan connectors can support both 3-pin and 4-pin fans.
The NZXT Sentry LX is a larger dual bay fan controller and comes with a display to match. It includes automatic and manual modes for controlling fan speeds.
It also has a temperature alarm that notifies you when temperatures go beyond safe levels. It even stores fan and calendar settings when the controller is off. The main downside is that it only supports 3-pin connectors.
There is one other downside, however: it uses two 5.25” bays. On its surface, this might not seem like a big deal, after all, nowadays disk drives are less useful than ever before. But that’s exactly the problem. Because 5.25” bays are less useful, they are gone from many cases altogether and the rest rarely go out of their way to include two of them.
The 5.5 inch touchscreen on the Thermaltake Commander FT looks sleek and provides many options for those in need of choice. This controller can run auto, manual, or silent modes to give you options for any occasion. It works with 3-pin and 4-pin connectors to control up to five fans at once.
Another simplistic-looking fan controller, the NZXT Grid+ V2 uses CAM software to allow for fine control and modulation of fans. It can control up to six different 3-pin or 4-pin fans. The software itself also comes with preset fan profiles to make getting started faster.
This fan controller is great for those looking for detailed control of their fans, and are not overly concerned with touchscreens or digital displays.