Dear friends,
Unfortunately the 5.25" DVD/BluRay drives are less popular nowadays and many companies stopped making the PC cases with 5.25" slots - to make room for some stupid RGB lighting? - not realizing that a lot of people have been using these 5.25" slots for alternative purposes! In example, to host 1) a hot swap dual HDD bay with a built-in RAID controller; or 2) a fan controller - with either a sensor LCD screen or the rotary knobs to control the fan speeds of each channel and even monitor the temperatures of its own thermal sensors.
As a result of reduced "with-5.25"" PC cases availability, many 5.25" fan controllers have been discontinued already - in favor of those "soulless" black boxes without any physical controls, that usually can be controlled only with some Windows crapware. Yes, for some of them (i.e. "Corsair Commander Pro") Linux support has been reverse-engineered - however it's not always as refined & feature-complete, obviously still doesn't work in the alternative OSes like Kolibri, occupies an extra USB port for control data exchange, and anyways - having to use a console to adjust the fans is a huge extra hassle compared to an instant physical access.
So, especially considering that a coreboot+SeaBIOS do not provide a built-in GUI for the fan speeds setup (+ even if existed, you'd need to reboot your PC to access it) - a 5.25" fan controller is really a must have! And, considering that the Chinese ALSEYE/STW controllers from AliExpress seem to have a higher failure rate (IMHO based on reviews) - it may be a good idea to get the more reliable branded ones while their supplies last. One thing to consider: if it has to be a VFD display, the VFDs have a longer lifespan if they are green - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_fluorescent_display
Please share your opinion about the fan controllers. Maybe you are already using one?
Myself, I'm happy with 'GELID SpeedTouch 6 FC-LC-01' (6 channels & sensor display) in HAF XB EVO case - which simultaneously hosts two AMD no-PSP coreboot motherboards - A88XM-E and AM1I-A - thanks to some modding. Old photos here - https://www.reddit.com/r/coreboot/comments/jn8is5/corebooted_2in1_amd_pc_asu... - since that the construction has been improved thanks to a Silverstone Nitrogon NT06-PRO, an unique horizontal cooler which allows to place a fan beneath the heatsink, making it much easier to use its heatsink as a support structure for a "second floor" with AM1I-A.
Also, I was lucky enough to get 'Akasa FC.Trio' (3 channels & LCD & rotary knobs) for my new Chieftec Pro Cube CI-02B-OP mATX case - which I got to build the A88XM-E coreboot test stand with an instant access to a BIOS chip. Btw this CI-02B-OP case is still widely available, has a horizontal motherboard placement (so less stress from a heavy RX590 - the last AMD GPU without a built-in PSP), both 5.25" and 3.5" bays (I used a 3.5" bay for two 2.5" HDDs with a hot swap), and an unique fold-open construction for a super convenient access to the internals. The only downside which I've encountered - is a bit tight cable routing of a large PSU; but, if your PSU has the detachable cables (which could be connected one-by-one after the PSU installation), this is much easier to manage.
Please share your experiences ;-)
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Mike Banon