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Installation & Testing
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**click to enlarge** |
**click to enlarge** |
Installation went very easily, although there are a lot of new cables to deal
with in an already messy case. The device worked well with the tool free
system in the NZXT Nemesis Elite, and provided some much needed fan control.
Most of the devices on this panel are simply extensions of the rear panel
connectors, and don’t interfere or retransmit the signal itself. So, my
testing in that area merely consisted of making sure that they worked – which
they all did. The only item I didn’t have on the back of the PC was the Video
Out, and for that I passed the signal through a DVD player.
I ended up having to run a few benchmarks on the card reader to verify that it
was indeed a USB 2.0 device. The tests were run using the SiSoft SANDRA
Filesystem Benchmark, using three media cards – a Sandisk 96MB Compact Flash
card, a Sony 128MB MagicGate Memory Stick, and a Lexar 64MB Memory Stick.
Conclusions
I have some mixed feelings about the CoolPanel
overall. I like the thermal monitoring and the fan control, as well as the
glut of connectors right on the front of my case. The panel also made it very
convenient to work with the multiple types of flash memory for my Digital
Camera and Camcorder. The flip side is now I almost can’t see my pretty
motherboard with all the new wires run through to the back of the case, and
ultimately I’m just repositioning connectors, not adding new ones. With the
cables easily attached and detached, I’m surprised none were included to
interface with internal headers. This is a pretty decent catch all solution,
if you’re a real media geek who really does not care what the inside of
his/her case looks like. EM Recommended!
You can pick one up over at
Xoxide for about $45 USD. They also have a silver model available.
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Pros |
Cons |
- Lots of functionality
- Ability to remove unused cables
- Fast USB 2.0 interface
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- Does not add new ports
- Lots of cables hanging out the back
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Questions? Comments?
Discuss them
here!
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