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X-pider TM2000 Thermal Monitor
Review Date: April 6, 2003
Reviewed by: Dwayne Sessom
Sponsored by: HighspeedPC.com
Lately, there has been an emergence of multi-function control panels which aim to make accessing your ports that are normally on the back of the PC easier by bringing them to the front. The X-pider TM2000 does just that, and adds three digital thermal monitors as well. This is the first device of this type that I have reviewed so comparisons to other multi-function panels is not possible, but I did enjoy testing this unit in spite of the problems. It does have its design flaws but overall I found the X-pider TM2000 to be useful as well as visually appealing. For someone that wants front USB 2.0, audio, and Firewire in combination with thermal monitoring, this is a good solution for you - as long as you don't use it in a full tower case.
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Retail Package. Click for larger view.
Features:
- High Tech Aluminum Alloy casting w/ Acrylic Front Panel.
- All-in-One Thermal Monitor/Multifunction Transfer Panel.
- Back-Lighting Digital Display for Temperatures of CPU, HDD and System.
- Auto Warning Buzzer for Overheating.
- Easy Installation. Fits in all Standard 5.25" Drive Bay.
- Transfer 2*USB 2.0 Ports, 1*Firewire IEEE1394 Port, 3*Audio Ports (Line-in, Line-Out, Microphone) to Front Panel for Easy Plug-In. Instruction manual included.
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Click for larger view.
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Click for larger view.
On the back of the TM2000 you will find a huge mess of cables to contend with. It looks a little overwhelming at first if you have never dealt with a multi-function device before, but it really isn't as bad as it looks initially. The cables seem pretty long, especially the audio and firewire, but in my Chieftec Dragon case, they were just barely long enough to reach the jacks in the back of the case. The firewire cable is very bulky and was hard to route through the case without it looking messy, and the same went for the audio cables. If you have a case with a window as many people do these days, you may have a problem routing the cables and making them look good.
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Click for larger view.
The temperature probles are long enough for any case, and are clearly marked "CPU", "HDD", and "SYS". Since the wires on the temp probes are thin, you can route them just about anywhere and they will look fine. The TM2000 has a built-in temperature limit alarm, so that if any of your components with a probe goes beyond the set limit, an alarm will sound. The pre-set limits are as follows:
- CPU: 65*C / 149*F
- HDD: 55*C / 131*F
- SYS: 50*C /122*F
The kit also includes a rear slot cover plate that is labeled with USB and Audio cutouts, so you don't have to have wires coming through a bare slot.
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Click for larger view.
Installation and Performance:
Installing the TM2000 into the drive bay is almost as easy as installing a CD rom, but routing the cables was somewhat of a chore. As I mentioned earlier, the temp sensors are the easiest part. The cables are thin and flexible and are easily manipulated to just about any position you want them. The audio and especially the firewire cables are a different story. The only way I could route these cables was directly through the center of the case passing over the motherboard and CPU which caused a buzzing sound in the headphones due to the proximity of the CPU cooler motor, and there was no way around it - at least in my PC case which is a Chieftec Dragon. Very few people that I know actually use firewire, with the exception of one or two guys that do digital video editing and use firewire for their DV cams. So in my opinion, running the big, bulky firewire cable through the center of my case just wasn't worth it because I am big on aesthetics and it looked messy.
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On top of the cables running through the center of the case on top of the motherboard, they also look rather messy in the rear of the case. The audio and firewire cables exit the PCI cover plate, and connect to your audio and firewire jacks on the rear of the PC. This is probably not a big deal for most people because who looks at the back of the PC anyway right? But, my thought on it was that there should be a better way of hooking this stuff up without all the cables coming out the back, but I digress. When I went to hook up the USB, the cables were not near long enough to plug into my motherboard. They were about 4 inches too short, so the USB was competely useless in my case.
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Click for larger view.
Conclusion:
In the end I was a bit disappointed in the X-Pider TM2000. Since the firewire port was of little use to me, that was out. Due to the audio cables having to be routed so close to the CPU fan, the audio had a constant buzzing sound which was irritating so that was out. Finally, the USB cables didn't even reach the headers on my IT7 motherboard so USB was out as well. So what I was left with is an LCD temperature display basically, and it only displays Celsius and not Fahrenheit. Some people are fine with celsius, but I was raised using the Fahrenheit system and I to this day have problems converting one to the other in my head.
Am I being too critical here? Perhaps, but I believe that my system is pretty typical of what is out there these days among the performance enthusiast / gaming crowd that this product is targeted toward. If you have a mid-ATX sized case or smaller, the TM2000 would probably work exactly as it was intended. But if you have anything larger, forget it.
Click for larger view.
I think the TM2000 could be a nice addition to your system in the right sized case, but since most functions are useless in anything larger than mid-ATX I have to give the X-Pider TM2000 an overall rating of 2 X's.
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