Crystalfontz, does anyone have experience with them?

[Nickel020]

I'm looking to buy a Crystalfontz CFA-633 and I emailed them about it a week ago, but hey're not replying to my email:( I'm just wondering if anyone knows a little more about them because not replying to my mails doesn't exactly makes me confident in sending $150+ their way.

Also, is this the type of sensor I need?
http://www.crystalfontz.com/product/WRDOWY17.html

I'm a little confused by the description since it says "temperature sensor cable featuring..." in there. So does this mean that it comes with the actual sensor? Just want to be 100% sure before placing an order to Germany.

[Langer]

I don't have any experience with Crystalfontz, but I can answer your second question:
32" temperature sensor cable featuring the Dallas/Maxim DS18B20
translation: 32" wire w/ sensor

[Nickel020]

Thanks!

That's how I interpreted it as well but it's better to be safe than sorry :)

[mcoffey]

Best FC on the market right now based on what I've used. If you can deal with a serial version, you can save a ton of money. I got two of these, and the guy selling them was great.

http://cgi.ebay.com/CrystalFontz-633-LCD-DISPLAY-PC-BAY-Serial-Cable-NEW_W0QQitemZ250347766263QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Def aultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

And yes, those are the correct temp sensors.

andyc

[RedRaider]

Rubidium, CrazyJoe and Mcoffey will see this thread and respond today...;)

I'm also looking to acquire a CrystalFontz CFA633-RMC-KU (http://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFA633-RMC-KU.html) in RED...

edit: See Mcoffey already hit it...:)

[Nickel020]

Thanks! That's a lot cheaper than from Crystalfontz directly :)

And again, just to be sure, serial is COM, right?

[mcoffey]

Thanks! That's a lot cheaper than from Crystalfontz directly :)

And again, just to be sure, serial is COM, right?

Yep,

and the one from Ebay comes with an internal ribbon cable. So if your MB has a serial port connection, your all set.

Rubidium, CrazyJoe and Mcoffey will see this thread and respond today...;)

I'm also looking to acquire a CrystalFontz CFA633-RMC-KU (http://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFA633-RMC-KU.html) in RED...

edit: See Mcoffey already hit it...:)

Oh man, that is sweet looking in red. The 635 is the 4 line display, and even nicer for front panel looks and function.

andyc

[RedRaider]

I'm sorry, but those GREEN displays look like :turd:...

[CrazyJoe]

You've already hit it on the nose with all the part numbers !

Mine is just going to be used in the test PC ... so the looks didn't matter to me. It'll be hidden away in the garage or the basement. ;)

[Nickel020]

I have an Aquaero for my normal PC, the Crystalfontz is "only" for the test PC as well.

I just checked that Ebay shop again and can't see any sensors there, do I have to order those directly form Crystalfontz or is there another place you can recommend where I should order the sensors?

Edit: Just checked and Gigabyte decided not to put a COM header on the X58 boards, just when I need it it's not there anymore:crazed:
Will the display work with a COM to USB adapter?

[mcoffey]

I have an Aquaero for my normal PC, the Crystalfontz is "only" for the test PC as well.

I just checked that Ebay shop again and can't see any sensors there, do I have to order those directly form Crystalfontz or is there another place you can recommend where I should order the sensors?

Edit: Just checked and Gigabyte decided not to put a COM header on the X58 boards, just when I need it it's not there anymore:crazed:
Will the display work with a COM to USB adapter?

COM to USB drivers are a monster pain in the ass. Even the USB drivers for the USB type CF units can give you a fit on 64bit OS. My MB doesn't have COM ports either, so I got a cheap COM port PCI card. Works great and the drivers are native to VISTA 64.

Cool thing is, you can pull the board to external port connector off on the PCI card, and connect the ribbon cable direct to the card for internal use.

Here's the one I got.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166003

And yes, I got the Dallas probes direct from CF.

andyc

[Odin Eidolon]

sorry for being a crystalfontz noob, what can this display do? its like an aquaero? how many watts can it handle?

[mcoffey]

sorry for being a crystalfontz noob, what can this display do? its like an aquaero? how many watts can it handle?

It a fan controller and display unit. 1.5 amps per channel, 4 amp total. Much more than the AQ FC can handle Go to their site/forum and read up, interesting stuff.

andyc

[Odin Eidolon]

It a fan controller and display unit. 1.5 amps per channel, 4 amp total. Much more than the AQ FC can handle Go to their site/forum and read up, interesting stuff.

andyc

and much much cheaper than an aquaero. whoot! thanks mcoffey, i really think i'll get one.

[mcoffey]

TBH,

I think a lot of FC like the AC unit and Matrix Orbital or just OEM'd from CrystalFontz. They do all kinds of stuff for industrial and commercial units. Check out some of their other stuff not converted to PC use. They have some pretty slick displays. Any of them can be used with a PC with the right drivers and SW. But you'd have to do your own firmware/software for the ones not converted yet like the 633 and 635 units are.

andyc

[CrazyJoe]

If you don't mind having to make your own connectors, I purchased my temp probes on E-bay. Wait for a reputable US dealer and buy some extras. Shouldn't cost more than $3.00 - $4.00 per sensor that way.

[Nickel020]

COM to USB drivers are a monster pain in the ass. Even the USB drivers for the USB type CF units can give you a fit on 64bit OS. My MB doesn't have COM ports either, so I got a cheap COM port PCI card. Works great and the drivers are native to VISTA 64.

Cool thing is, you can pull the board to external port connector off on the PCI card, and connect the ribbon cable direct to the card for internal use.

Here's the one I got.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166003

And yes, I got the Dallas probes direct from CF.

andyc


Thanks, I'll do that then :) Or use my old Dell PIII 700 MHz laptop :D

It a fan controller and display unit. 1.5 amps per channel, 4 amp total. Much more than the AQ FC can handle Go to their site/forum and read up, interesting stuff.

andyc

You don't really need that much power though. 4A at 12V is 48W, I want to see the guy whose fans draw 48W...
I also like the software from the Aquaero though. I obviously haven't used Crystalfontz yet but I think Aquaero is easier to work with as a straight fan controller. It also works with a flow meter.

and much much cheaper than an aquaero. whoot! thanks mcoffey, i really think i'll get one.

That depends on where you live. here in Germany, the Aquaero is cheaper or basically the same price pre-shipping.

If you don't mind having to make your own connectors, I purchased my temp probes on E-bay. Wait for a reputable US dealer and buy some extras. Shouldn't cost more than $3.00 - $4.00 per sensor that way.

Thanks, but I think I'll get the Dallas ones, I'm buying 10 or 12 so they'll only be $5 anyway :) Some fo those will be modded to measure water temp, and I'm buying a few more in case I kill some ;)

[Nickel020]

Hm, shipping to Germany costs $35 for the one off Ebay :(

If the shipping charge for just 12 sensors is the same as the charge for 12 sensors + a 633 USB then I might as well buy everything from Crystalfontz...

Now if Crystalfontz ahd replied to my email I mighta ctually know what to do :rolleyes:

[mcoffey]

Thanks, I'll do that then :) Or use my old Dell PIII 700 MHz laptop :D



You don't really need that much power though. 4A at 12V is 48W, I want to see the guy whose fans draw 48W...
I also like the software from the Aquaero though. I obviously haven't used Crystalfontz yet but I think Aquaero is easier to work with as a straight fan controller. It also works with a flow meter.



That depends on where you live. here in Germany, the Aquaero is cheaper or basically the same price pre-shipping.



Thanks, but I think I'll get the Dallas ones, I'm buying 10 or 12 so they'll only be $5 anyway :) Some fo those will be modded to measure water temp, and I'm buying a few more in case I kill some ;)

My Zalmans pull .3 amps each, I run 12 on my main rig. I'd smoke an Aquaero. SA'a or Ultra Kaze 3K's .6 amps each but I don't care for those fans. Doesn't take long on a large rig:D

andyc

[Nickel020]

Hm, I think the Aquaero can do more than what it's rated for, many people in Germany use 9 or more 0.30A Yate loons on the Aquaero and 9 already come to 32.4W whie 30W is the official maximum.
Or fans actually do draw less power than they're rated.

It is a good point though, I'm about to install 9 0.4A Enermax Magma fans (best fan I've ever heard, beats Papst, Scythe Slipstream & S-Flex, both Noctuas and good Yate Loons when all fans are used at 500 RPM).
I never thought that I might be having problems, but I guess I'll know soon enough :D

[rubidium]

Sorry to chime in on this thread so late, but I've been very busy at work.

I have the CFA-635 with SCAB on each of my builds, and I also own the Crystalfontz 10006 graphical LCD demo board for experimentation. In my opinion, all of the hardware coming out of Crystalfontz is first-rate and very well made, despite what appears to be aloof responses to emails. I would not hesitate buying the display of your choice.

As mentioned earlier, the WRDOWY17 temp sensors are the Dallas/Maxim DS18B20, and are factory calibrated to have accuracy better than or equal to ±0.5°C, which is sufficient for most watercooling applications. However, if you want to push performance another order of magnitude, there is a simple procedure that compensates for the offset and curvature of the device error characteristic (read the white paper here (http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/an_pk/208)). Also, I've posted a detailed procedure that I developed recently for using the sensors in an immersed manner in a typical cooling loop here (http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=169). I am currently using 6 of these immersed sensors in my current build and they are performing flawlessly. The SCAB will support up to 32 sensors. You simply connect them in parallel, and they are each assigned a permanent 64-bit ID code at the factory, which is how they are distinguished by software.

The SCAB also has 4 fan control channels that can support 1.5 amps each (i.e. 18 watts per channel). With the CrystalControl2 (CC2) software, you can easily create independent control profiles on each channel, using one or more temperature sensors whose readouts can be mathematically combined by a user-specified formula for controlling the fan power. The CC2 software can also attach to just about any performance or information parameter available in Windows, such as the perfmon and WMI indicators. There are literally hundreds of these available, so that you can create custom displays to present just about any information that exists within your PC. I've successfully installed the software on XP (32 and 64-bit), Vista-64, and Server 2008 -64 without a hitch.

Finally, if you are a C programmer and have time on your hands, you can mod CC2 to do just about anything you want. What I'd really like to do should I ever get the time is to leverage the Dallas 1-wire A/D converters to measure and display assorted voltages in my rig. The A/D's will work in parallel with the temp sensors, but the CC2 application does not presently accomodate them.

rubidium

[Nickel020]

Sorry to chime in on this thread so late, but I've been very busy at work.

Don't worry, your reply was more than fast enough. Much faster than Crystalfontz themselves ;)
And thanks for the input ofc, I really appreciate it :)

So far I have only tested with the Aquaero and while it's great as a fan controller the analog sensors just don't cut it when you're trying to make accurate measurements for a review.

Another noob question though: Will the Dallas/Maxims work with a T-Balancer BigNG? There are also digital sensors for the bigNG available, that's why I ask, so maybe the bigNg is compatible. I would probably save me about 50€ if I went with a BigNG + those sensors compared to ordering the whole display (shipping + tax..., no tax when I order just sensors).

[mcoffey]

Don't worry, your reply was more than fast enough. Much faster than Crystalfontz themselves ;)
And thanks for the input ofc, I really appreciate it :)

So far I have only tested with the Aquaero and while it's great as a fan controller the analog sensors just don't cut it when you're trying to make accurate measurements for a review.

Another noob question though: Will the Dallas/Maxims work with a T-Balancer BigNG? There are also digital sensors for the bigNG available, that's why I ask, so maybe the bigNg is compatible. I would probably save me about 50€ if I went with a BigNG + those sensors compared to ordering the whole display (shipping + tax..., no tax when I order just sensors).

Nope, different types on sensors alltogether I'm afraid. By the way, nothing wrong with the big NG either. Very nice FC with good accessories. Just no display.

andyc

[Odin Eidolon]

That depends on where you live. here in Germany, the Aquaero is cheaper or basically the same price pre-shipping.


really? that crystalfontz from ebay is 70$ shipped to Italy, i cant find an aquaero for less then 100€ shipped anywhere!

PS so the 633 is only a 635 with a smaller display and with integrated SCAB? can it accept another SCAB to have more fan channels?

[Nickel020]

It is $70 to Germany as well, but a USB version is also only $75 from Crystalfontz directly, and I ahve to order from them anyway because of the sensors and pay the shipping. Os if the shipping doesn't dramatically increase when I order display + sensors then it's easier to order it all form CF I think.

@mcoffey

The bigNG sensors look like they're a pain to mod for measuring the water temps, that's why I want to buy a Crystalfontz.

[Snyxxx]

Is it possible to purchase a 633 or 635 without a display, but all the goodies of measuring temperature with the Dallas probes?

I would basically like a SCAB unit alone, but it does not look like that would work.

Maybe I can hide the whole display inside the case some where.

[mcoffey]

Is it possible to purchase a 633 or 635 without a display, but all the goodies of measuring temperature with the Dallas probes?

I would basically like a SCAB unit alone, but it does not look like that would work.

Maybe I can hide the whole display inside the case some where.

Nah...as far as I know, everything has a display from CF. SCAB only acts as a daughter cards to a 635, not stand alone. Get a used 633 serial off Ebay. That's the easiest cheapest CF route along with a few probes ordered from CF. With a 633 serial, you won't even need a SCAB. I have two serial 633's and love them. A 633 serial only has a two line display, 635 4 line.

andyc

[Tox]

I bought a 634 many years ago, and I was unsure what to get so I mailed a lot with them about that and what to do about the review I did. Just had to link to the review and they would refund 25%. Did that and all just went smooth. My contact there always replied super fast and was very kind. So Im surprised that you havent got an answer yet.

And I can only confirm what others have said before, CF is quality stuff man.

I ended spending about 200$ on that single 634, mounting plate and cable. And Im not even sorry about it :D

[rubidium]

Is it possible to purchase a 633 or 635 without a display, but all the goodies of measuring temperature with the Dallas probes?

I would basically like a SCAB unit alone, but it does not look like that would work.

Maybe I can hide the whole display inside the case some where.

No, I don't think that's possible. Your only alternative would be to build your own microcontroller to read out the Dallas probes. I know people have done this with the PIC series of microcontrollers. Try Googling for that.