Scythe Intros Next-Gen Kama Panel 3.1
Here's a good way to extend connectivity and add fan control to the front of your desktop.
Need to add more ports to the front of your desktop? Scythe has the solution for you in the form of the Kama Panel 3.1 which slips right into a single 5.25-inch drive bay. Building on prior models, this latest version even includes a slot for mounting a 2.5-inch HDD or SSD like a huge 9.5-mm (max) SD card right through the front.
In addition to the drive slot, Skythe's new I/O panel features two USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5-mm microphone jack, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a card reader spanning three separate slots for (1) Memory Stick Micro aka M2, (2) microSD / microSDHC and (3) SD / SDHC / MMC flash media cards. There's also an HDD activity LED, a power button and a reset button.
On the right side of all this is a dedicated space for controlling and monitoring fan speeds and temperatures. This area contains retractable knobs for Fan1 and Fan2, and a 1.22 x 0.49-inch LCD display showing the speed of each, and the temperature at each fan. There's a button that turns the screen's backlighting on and off, another button that changes the readout from Celsius to Fahrenheit, and a third "mode" button.
"Users are able to connect up to two case fans on the rear side and control them by turning the retractable knobs," the company said. "Supplied connector cables support both 3-pin and 4-pin fan connectors, where the fan speed is only adjusted using voltage regulation. Kama Panel 3.1 is adjusting the voltage in the range between 3.7 and 12 volts. In accordance with the measured temperatures, users are able to set individual alarm temperatures between 40 and 90°C in 1 degree steps."
Overall the I/O panel measures 5.85 x 1.67 x 4.88-inches and weighs 6.98 ounces. The DC input is 5V and 12V, and the DC output is 3.7V (±10%) to 12V (±10%). The fan measurement range is 0 to 9.990 RPM and the temperature range is 32° to 199.9° Fahrenheit (0° to 100° Celsius). Included in the package are two sensor cables, two fan cables, a power cable, audio cable, a USB 3.0 cable and more.
Expect to see the device show up on Amazon and other retailers soon for around $43 USD before tax.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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It's very practical but it also looks very cluttered, I guess it's good for people who don't have USB 3.0 cases.Reply
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ShadyHamster If they made something like this with out the fan controller part i would probably buy one.Reply -
Matsushima This would be useful for people with boring beige cases from 1998 without USB connectivity or USB 1.1 wishing to upgrade their motherboard.Reply -
nss000 Busier than Front-X, but do the two ( sadly audio **IN** =0**) audio ports connect to the back-case ports or to the in-case port! In-case connection MUCH cleaner. Too bad the Front-X folks have established no American distributor.Reply -
JOSHSKORN I really don't see the need for audio ports and power/reset buttons. Wish there was an eSATA connector.Reply -
falchard The Delta Electronics 5200RPM 120mm case fan at 62.9 dB pushing 240cfm of air says yes to fan controller.Reply -
laststop311 If this could control 5 fans it would of been perfect even 4 would of been acceptable. 2 case fans is not enough controlReply