BitFenix Hydra Pro Fan Controller Review

So overall then a fairly simple design that was well executed, the looks of the Hydra Pro couldn’t be any more self explanatory, the sliders give you a good indication of what level each fan is set to and each of these are easy to adjust in just a few seconds thanks to the individual sliders, it also means that if for a moment you need your system to be super quiet, you can drop every fan at once and turn out all the lights in your chassis, given you a real stealth PC, obviously dependant on the fans connected and the system your running, this will have an effect on your temperatures, so its best you combine this hardware with something like HWmonitor or Core Temp to make sure your system isn’t going to overheat.

Finding that balance between temperature and noise has never been easier though, so with a good piece of thermal monitoring software and the easy to use sliders you should also be able to find the right level for you at any given time, of course there are no pre-sets built in here though, so its down to you to remember where each slider wants to be for each situation, but that seems a fair trade off for the Hydra Pros highly functional design and approach.

The Hydra Pro gets a big plus point from me for its price too, given that it can be picked up for £24.98 here in the UK, its a small price to pay to have this level of control over lighting, cooling and noise within you system and the reliability it could add to your system is worth more than the small price tag.

Cooling is a big deal in computers, it always has been too, especially with modern processors and graphics cards all requiring through cooling solutions to deal with the higher clock rates and temperatures they are capable of generating, so a cool system with an even airflow is vital to keeping your system in good health. Having any level of control over the input and output of air in your system is a big win over the stock speeds of your fans, which is why I am award the Hydra our Innovation Award. The technology here may not be that innovative and fan controllers them selves aren’t exactly a new type of product either, but the Hydra Pros simple design and its ease of use, combined with its effective performance and low price are what make this a winner for me.