Lamptron CM430 Review
Category : Modding
Published by Luca Rocchi on 07.09.16
Lamptron, well known for its fan controllers, presents their news CM430. This new model is availbable in different colors and it's capable of managing up to four fans with 30W per channel. The price also looks quite interesting, which means this could be a compelling product.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Preview |
| Page 3 - Closer look |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
Specifications & Features
| Model | CM430 |
| Dimensions | 148.5 x 42.5 x 63 mm (W x H x D) |
| LCD Dimensions | 129 x 32.5 mm (W x H) |
| Power Output | 30W per channel |
| Control Channels | 4 |
| Panel Colors Available | Red |
| DC Input | +12V (Standard 4 Pin Molex) |
| DC Output | 0 - 12 V DC |
| Fan Connectors | 1 x 4-pin Molex 1 x 4- or 3-pin fan 3 x 3-Pin fan 80cm 4 x 2-pin Temperature Sensor 80cm |
Package / Bundle
The CM430 fan controller is being shipped well protected surrounded by foam inside a black box, which ensures nothing gets damaged during transportation. The front of the box features a picture of the product in action. Above and below you find the brand, the name of the product and the main features. On the back side there are the specifications and as well as features list along with an illustrated list of the items bundled. The presentation of the product is nice and as soon as you open the box you see the product and the cables.
The contents include a manual, four temperature probes, three 3-pin extension cables, one 4-pin PWM extension cable and four screws.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Preview |
| Page 3 - Closer look |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
Closer Look
The Lamptron CM430 is a touch screen fan controller, in other words the design is plain and simple without any buttons or knobs. The looks are clean and there is a solid, black aluminum frame. The build quality is on a very good level, which gives the CM430 an overall high quality feel.
A quick look at the back side shows all the internal connectors. First of all the power is being fed through a 4-pin molex connector located in the bottom right corner. All the other connectors can be found at the top edge. In this case there are the four headers for temperature sensors as well as the four fan connectors. Each of those channels can manage up to 30W per channel. Since there are a lot of cables do connect, we suggest to use zipties, since otherwise you will have a spaghetti mess in your computer.
The CM430 doesn't come with a USB header. Infact there is no software that you can use with this fan controller. Programming the CM430 is simple and straight forward, while there aren't too many options. You can set the fan controller to auto or manual mode. In auto mode it will use the temperature probes to set the right speed and monitor the different zones of your system. Set to manual you can choose the rotation speed you want. When the temperature surpasses a certain limit an alarm will go off. In addition there are also a couple of extra modes like "Full power mode" and "Silence mode", in case you want to set the controller up quickly. We tested the CM430 with a couple of Corsair ML120 Pro and it all worked perfectly fine.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Preview |
| Page 3 - Closer look |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
The CM430 from Lamptron is an overall good product. Build quality and finish are solid and nicely done. The screens responsiveness can be called good, yet it doesn't feel like a capacitive touch screen you find on today's smartphones. Apart from that we like the display viewing angle stability. Color and brightness are good and every information can be read easily. Unfortunately there is only one color available and at the moment there are only three different products available: green, red and blue.
30 Watts per channel is more than enough and with additional Y-splitters you could even manage more than four fans. The Lamptron CM430 is a solid choice if you need a fan controller with a classic design and no complicated software. Unfortunately the product is hard to find yet at the price of 34.99 US-Dollar it would be very affordable.
| Page 1 - Introduction |
| Page 2 - Preview |
| Page 3 - Closer look |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |