Installation

The AeroCool PowerWatch is a system builder's nightmare when it comes down to wire management.  However, that's the price you pay for such a highly functional front bay accessory.  Considering just how many cables you have to manage, it is a good thing that the unit does come with all cables attached to the PCB.  The PowerWatch is capable of monitoring both fan speed and temperatures...a total of four to be exact.  Fortunately, both the fan connectors and the temp probes are indeed labeled. 

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The PowerWatch did fit perfectly on two 5.25" bays and was very easy to mount.  However, the only issue I had with installation was a result of the very low quality temp probes this product does feature.  In fact, this certainly put its alarm features to the test!  However, it took over 45 minutes to figure out exactly what was going on.  After installing the product and powering the system for the first time, the large color display would beep and flash consistently.  I narrowed it down to the VGA sensor, which was the only mode that was flashing.  It turned out that one of the ends from the VGA temp probe broke off and I had to pop one end of the cable lead back into the probe to keep it from blinking.  I've reviewed quite a number of products sporting similar temp probes and I will honestly say that these are definitely the worst I've seen.  At this point, I was quite skeptical as to just how reliable they would be.  But that's something I'll touch on a bit later.

The AeroCool PowerWatch was evaluated on one of my EMHz test systems that features the excellent AeroCool ExtremEngine 3T.  I don't know if this was coincidence, but this panel was the perfect match.  It not only blended in quite nicely with the color and the large front 140mm fan, but only the display would be shown when closing the aluminum front panels, adding to its overall pleasant design.  For those who happen to own this particular chassis, you'll be quite pleased with just how well it does accent it.

Performance

When I first powered-up the PowerWatch, my first impressions were a mixed bag.  At first, I was pleasantly surprised by the color display on such a product, but was a bit disappointed by the viewing angles of the display itself.  The pics above look quite spectacular, but were taken with a quality camera on a tripod pointed directly at the display.  The viewing angles are pretty bad, and unless your staring directly at it, you will not get the same effect.  The vivid colors on the dials will look the same, but the background will fade out and show more of a very light purple color.  Also, the color dials themselves are not animated and only the black/white fan meter is consistently active.  While there are very small dials on the color "wheels" that will move and display current settings, they are barely visible.

Unfortunately, this is where it all ends.  I was planning on providing you all with a video of the display in action, as well as a few more pictures, but ran into more issues before I could even get to it. 

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The problem was once again due to the temperature probes.  They are the worst I've ever seen in terms of quality.  By this point, even after being careful, the CPU temp probe broke on me as well.  Remember that I had issues with the VGA probe earlier as well.  I was completely appalled by the quality, considering the high cost of this product.  You can see by the pic above that the probes just simply fell apart, even with care.  Mind you that this happened after simply removing it from the included adhesive tape and attempting to place the sensor in a better position for monitoring the CPU temp.  This actually led to another problem.  The display would go into alarm mode and while you can mute the beeping, you cannot keep it from flashing until the sensor was operational.  I managed to fix the VGA sensor, but the CPU sensor was beyond repair at this point.  Believe me, I tried everything, including removing the sensor all together but it would keep on blinking as if there was a problem.  There was no way to make the display "ignore" a sensor all together.  I found this completely irritating.

My other issue with this product was the fact that it does not come with the highly rare PowerUSB cables.  It is important to note that they are indeed optional. 

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What is PowerUSB?

PowerUSB is actually nothing new.  Think of a quality USB hub.  They can run off the USB bus, or optionally be connected via a power adapter for power hungry devices such as some hard drive enclosures, scanners, printers, etc.  The AeroCool PowerWatch is simply the first front bay accessory to allow such a connection via the optional PowerUSB cables supplied by them as well.  They come in either 5V or 12v.  While a standard USB port on your computer can indeed charge devices like cell phones or smartphones, they draw very little power and you can dedicate more power for those that require them.

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to test these new and very hard to find cables.  After numerous attempts to have them ship out the cables, even with the help of Xoxide, I was promised a shipment but they never actually did come through with their request to provide them.  Needless to say, it is important to note that these cables are indeed optional and do not come with the PowerWatch, making this main feature completely useless.  Personally, I was in quite dismay that they chose not to include them considering just how difficult they are to acquire.  I strongly feel it is "part" of the product and considering its hefty price tag, it is just senseless not to bundle them.

Next: Conclusions