Customer Reviews

Antec SpotCool System Cooler

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Cooling has always been an issue and I could just never put a fan in the right place. Besides, no one can easily put an 80mm fan or have it hover above your memory modules. Many have tried starting of with the Zalman Fan Bracket series. Believe me, that was a great solution and being able to adjust your fan here and there is a key selling point, unfortunately, you just couldn't bend it or have it reach in those hard to reach areas. Fortunately for us someone came up with a novel solution to get cooling into those places and more. The company is Antec and today they present Antec Spot Cool. No need for explanations really as the function is self-explanatory; it's quite easy to imagine what it actually does but what it actually looks like is anybody's guess.

Packaging:

It weighs around 0.7lbs (310grams) encased in a solid plastic shell. A thin cardboard with the product name and model some sandwiched in between and a small manual. Nothing really fancy but what is inside is what matters most.

The Merchandise:

Well, the best way I can tell you what it looks like is a mechanical lollipop with a fan attached on the end instead of hardened candy, if you guys still don't get it, think of Sherlock Holmes and his magnifying glasses. The fan at the end can rotate like a gyroscope; on the other end is a strong base where you can attach a screw (included) to your motherboard mount holes or even the PCI slot mount hole. But it doesn't end there, the beauty of it is in the stick mount, it bends so it can be locked at the base and bent to reach your memory, motherboard and even chipset heat sinks.
The product itself is made of durable plastic, the fan and casing it is in with the stick mount made of some metal alloy that can bend and lock into place. On the fan shell is a switch for 3 settings, Low (1800RPM), Medium (2500RPM) and High (3000RPM). The last thing about this product is the blue LED emanating when powered on. There are a total of four LEDs shining in a cross configuration. 3-Pin power cable is attached to the fan where fan speed can be detected by your motherboard.
There really isn't much to explain how it is used. Operation is quite simple. Screw it your desired mount, bend the stick mount and point it to those hot spots, or vice versa. (I suggest you do the later to avoid damaging you motherboard as some force is required) Rotate the gyroscopic fan a bit and fine tune your cooling (I call it spotting) and set your desired speed. Power on and enjoy. I had my motherboard heating up to 45C on normal operations; it cooled it down to 36C and decreased my processor temp by 2C. You just need to point it at the right spot, I had mine installed where the fan was cooling my memory modules, motherboard and some part of the base of the heatsink. You can apply this even on your video card and Northbridge / Southbridge heatsinks. Finally someone listened up and designed something a little bit more flexible (pun intended).

Recommendations:

It is really hard to find something faulty about the Spot Cool. It does the job well. Unfortunately, since it is a new product, it does cost a bit. I got mine for 16USD including shipping but now the unit itself costs 11USD to 16USD alone. It definitely will be a popular item for enthusiasts and people looking for great aftermarket cooling solutions. It won't outperform a NB/SB heatsink with a fan (Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II) but the fact that it can do so much more is something you can consider. The stick mount unfortunately is not as "bendy" as one would expect and sometimes may recoil back to its original posture, so you may need to fix it in place. The fan is also generally quiet, low produces an inaudible hum, but moving it to medium or high produces a humming noise. It isn't irritating but those who are intolerable of loud fans would notice it at these settings. Another issue is for people with really big aftermarket coolers, it may take a little bit of placing and bending to get things right, I really can't say it would be a motherboard issue but with so many mounting holes all over, I doubt that your creativity will get the better of you. Finally, "spotting" is important so that it can cool as many PC parts as possible.

Uppers:
* Flexible and bending stick mount
* Can be attached anywhere inside your PC, cool those hard to reach places, can cool your video cards, chipsets, motherboards and memory modules
* Gyroscope-like fan
* Three speed controller
* Circulates air and really does cool them spots

Downers:
* Stick mount is not as flexible as it seems
* Fan power cable can ruin aesthetic design of a very clean case
* Humming noise on medium and high settings
* May cause some problems with big HSF and long video cards

Wishlist:
* Making stick mount more flexible
* Make the fan power cable "invisible"

Alternatives:
* Zalman FB123
* Tweakmonster Dual 80mm Fan Bracket

I did not find the arm to be of sufficient strength to allow the fan to be placed where I wanted it to be placed. When a motherboard is placed vertically (as probably 99% of 'enthusiast' PCs are built) it'd seem natural to either secure this type of fan to a motherboard standoff or to one of your slots. Unfortunately, this means the fan's arm is fighting gravity when you're trying to place it...and the arm is just plain not strong enough to do this.

Also, maybe this was just my fan, but even though the fan itself can pivot in the circular structure, mine kept popping loose constantly.

Now, if you secure your fan to the bottom of your case as shown in some pictures here this might be the product for you. But...don't count too much on the arm being strong enough to allow the fan to be optimally placed if you use a motherboard standoff or a slot screw.

Before buying this I read all types of reviews for it. Positive and the negative and basically I just wanted to try it out on my own anyways. So far this thing is GREAT for components inside the computer. It has 3 speeds [Low, Medium, High]. It is NOT noisy at all. It has LEDs and it really blows a lot of air. It's decently flexible and sturdy. the gyroscope like fan is brillant since it makes it easier to blow air in a specific area. You can also screw this product in ANYWHERE on the motherboard or the comptuer case. It was defintely worth the price and keeps my RAM cool or my northbridge cool. I have to give this 5 stars since I can't think of anything negative about it. Every experience is different for the next custoer. I can easily tell you that I'm satisfied with this product.

If you need an extra fan for your internal desktop components, you might want to consider the Antec SpotCool as it is very flexible. You can install it in any motherboard screw hole and the flex it to coll any component you need to cool. It has 3 settings (Low, Medium and High), but you can't not adjust it with the BIOS or anything, you have to adjust the speed manually. It has blue led lights which I don't care too much about, they do look nice. I bought this to use with my memory since my kit did not bring its own fan. So fas so good, I would recommended. Good for normal cooling, not extreme cooling.

A simple idea for a simple need. But poor design or manufacturing results in a fan assembly that doesn't stay in it's pivot mount or it's position. And the adjustable arm is so weak it bends out of position with it's own weight when using in a tower where the arm is horizontal. I won't even get into the fan itself as I can't use this fan with it bending out of place any time the PC is moved or even the fact it's never in the place I want to begin with since it won't hold it's shape under it's own weight. Now I have to see if I can return it and if it's worth my time. I should have listened to the other guy that said the same thing.

This innovative product has brought my VREG temps down ~10c. I was leary of this fan at first as I was concerned with the quality prior to the purchase. It's attachment method to one of the mainboard screws works very well and I am able to contort the fan into just the right spot to cool my VREG. The one downside is the fan plastic seems a little frail but has not broken so I guess it is ok. Assemble this fan design with a better fan guard and sleeve the wires and you easily will get 5 stars for this product. I bought this product in July and I have not experienced the problems with the arm being weak that others are reporting here. Perhaps the arm has since been improved as I have not had any problems with it.

I bought this fan to be a NB cooler in my new Phenom II build. It works well and looks nice, but the bendy neck wears out really fast. The fan is really just too heavy to be held up at at a lateral angle. It can do up and down pretty well, but from side to side it yields to gravity. I'd like it to be positioned up at my RAM, but it won't stay up without a little help from a guide wire.

I like the idea of this, but in practice it is completely worthless. The fan is so heavy that it causes the screw to rotate, making it impossible to make the fan stay in place where you want it to. Also, the neck is not as bendable as it looks. It simply goes back to a straight position after a few seconds. Save your money and save yourself some frustration... do not buy this.

The product works, the concept is promising.
People have said that the adjustable stand doesn't stay in place, yes it doesn't specially if you are mounting this on your mobo. not because the stand isnt strong enough to stay in place, the fan itself is just too heavy for it. What I did to mine is wrap the stand or lets call it "trunk" of the fan w/ electrical tape a couple of times and that made the stand/trunk more stable when adjusting it on positions. altho if you wanna do that you gotta wrap it right or you wouldnt be able to adjust the trunk at all =P

The fan cools my VGA by 8degrees cooler which is alot (high settings) and there is virtually no noise from the fan once its inside your case.


Hopefully next product they release w/ this concept gets a sturdier stand or a ligher fan w/ the same performance so that the fan would stay in place when adjusting it into position.

I have this fan cooling my overclocked RAM, and I'm using a Coolermaster HAF 932 case. Has been running well for days, excellent. No problems expected, I'm sure it'll be fine. Easy to install.