Memorex
Modz CCFL, Case Fan, and Round Cable Review
Provided
by: Memorex Modz
Introduction
Memorex has entered the computer modification market with their new Memorex Modz line. Their professional looking website, that promotes this Modz line, http://www.memorexmodz.com/, shows the vast variety of products they are offering. Memorex has sent us a blue CCFL, a blue LED 80mm fan, and a silver dual device round cable. The main plus when buying from Memorex is the nice professional packaging you get. Let’s see how their each of their products performs.
Specific Products
Memorex CCFL Kit ($18.99)
The blue CCFL (Cold Cathode Florescent Light) comes in a nice retail package and was extremely easy to set up. It consists of three parts, the switch, the dual power inverter (allows you to connect two CCFT bulbs), and CCFL bulb (300mm x 4mm) itself. You connect the switch to power inverter where the CCFT bulb connects to also. The switch has a 4 pin Molex connector on it, so you just need to connect that to your power supply. I recommend you do this while your computer is off because the sudden drawing of power might cause your system to crash. And yes, that is what happened to me. The package also comes with some double sided take so you can place your CCFL in a selected place securely.
This blue CCFL kit is great! It’s bright! It might be hard to tell in the pictures, but I was very satisfied with its performance. Memorex also has the double CCFL kit which would be super bright. For $18.99 at Memorex’s online store, http://www.ememorex.com, it is a little bit pricier than Sunbeam’s CCFL kits.
8/10!
+Brightness
+Packaging
-Price
Memorex 80mm Blue LED Auto RPM Adjusting Fan
This blue LED 80mm auto rpm adjusting fan comes at a price tag of $10.99. It comes with a pretty nice package. Since it’s an auto adjusting fan, you are getting the effective cooling without extra noise. For instance, when you are not at your computer and your CPU is idle, the fan would most likely be quieter since the temperature of the case and CPU isn’t as hot. Conversely, if you were at the computer playing a game, the rpm of the fan would kick up and get that CPU cooled down. It’s a good idea for all those non-overclockers. In the package, you get:
- 80mm Fan
- 3pin to 4-pin Power Adapter
- Chrome Grill
- 4 Screws
That’s a pretty nice deal considering all those extras. The specifications of this fan pulled from Memorex’s Modz website are:
- Max Fan Speed*: 2850 RPM
- Noise Level*: 21 dBa
- Max airflow*: 41 CFM
- *Those numbers fluctuate on the temperate since it is an auto rpm adjusting fan.
For our testing of this fan, we will test it again a 92mm Enermax Adjustable Fan (running at full speed) which puts out 52.25 CFM at 32.8 dBa. This fan costs around the same price as the Memorex one and should make a good comparison. The heatsink that will be used is a Thermalright SLK-947U on an Athlon XP 1600+ processor.
Memorex
Modz 80mm RPM Adjustable Blue LED Fan
Enermax Adjustable 92mm Fan
Wow, that was surprising. It actually beat that 92mm fan which produces over 20 more CFM and was quieter. The Memorex fan provided an 8C difference between case and CPU temp while the Enermax fan gave a 9C difference. There has been some dispute than 80mm fans work better on the Thermalright heatsink, but the numbers definitely show this fan does deserve some praise. For the price, this fan performs great and isn’t too loud.
9/10!
+Performance
+Packaging
-Good Performance Possibly Due to 80mm
Memorex Silver Dual Device Round Cable ($10.99)
This round cable looks like any generic round cable you can buy from many retailers around the world. I just think that it might be a simple item repackaged by Memorex. There isn’t much to say about it besides it has convenient pull tabs so you can take it out of the sockets easily. Let’s get down to how it performs. I compared this cable with a generic ATA/100 flat cable.
Generic Cable Benchmark and Memorex Cable Benchmark...scroll over image
As we can see from the results, it is basically equivalent in performance compared to the standard flat ATA/100 IDE cable. So if you are looking for a round cable to improve your case airflow this one will fine as well as many other cheaper alternatives. This one costs 10.99.
7/10!
+Packaging
+Tags may helpful to novice computer builders
-Cheaper Alternatives Available
Conclusion on Memorex Modz Line
The Memorex Modz line proves to have some good products like its fan, but other products like the CCFL and Round Cable are just standard products that can be bought cheaper from other places. Memorex has a good idea of getting into the PC Modification Market, but they might need to start a strong R&D development if they expect to hit the market hard.
