Thursday, May 28th 2020
Cooler Master Intros MasterFan ARGB + PWM Hub: Control Both Speed and Lighting
Cooler Master earlier this week rolled out the MasterFan ARGB + PWM Hub (model: MFX-ZHHN-1NNN6-R1), a handy accessory to simplify both fan speed and lighting management. The device, which is slim enough to be tucked away in the crawlspace behind the motherboard tray, puts out six each of 4-pin PWM and 3-pin addressable-RGB connections. It draws power from a SATA power connector, and takes input from one each of 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB connections from your motherboard. Among the six downstream PWM headers is a high-powered header marked in red, meant for multi-fan units. The hub comes in a metal body with a transparent plastic top, it measures 103 mm x 65 mm x 16 mm (WxDxH). The company didn't reveal pricing.
Update May 29th: Cooler Master informed us that this product is only officially available in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and China regions, although you may find it from 3rd party sellers in other areas of the world.
Update May 29th: Cooler Master informed us that this product is only officially available in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and China regions, although you may find it from 3rd party sellers in other areas of the world.
19 Comments on Cooler Master Intros MasterFan ARGB + PWM Hub: Control Both Speed and Lighting
*Glares at my beautiful, yet brand limited corsair commander pro*
More like a hub, as the control of the fans and lighting come from the motherboard.
This is something I think they hinted at sometime last year. I remember a few people talking about it here, when they put out gaming displays. The quip in the article basically laid out their plan to be a one-stop brand. They really wanted to push this "CM" offshot, where they put all of the stuff they're not known for, or whatever specialized products they want to do runs of.
CM isn't even that bad compared to others. Right now, the strongest example of this strategy at work is probably Asus, who makes everything but RAM. I mean, they've got mobos, gpus, mice, keyboards, RGB stuff, liquid and air cooling, external HDD's, external blu-ray drives, PSUs, monitors, mousepads, modems, servers, laptops, phones, cases, webcams, projectors, headsets, backpacks, watches, ... I'm just waiting for them to come out with an ROG Strix printer. I'm sure that would fit right into their software suite (another way they tie you in.)
And I mean, they are the masters of marking stuff up that's not even that special. I say this as someone who'd generally liked the Asus products I've used. They play this game like nobody else. Others will want a piece of that whenever they see how it goes for thier competition. They're obliged to do the same, because if they don't have those products, they could lose more than just the money they aren't making not selling those products. There's definitely a game to play there. It's like "Oh yay, they make those coolers that are pretty good and cheap." versus "They make all sorts of cool stuff that I use." Some might pass up the former entirely, assuming the latter can compete in the former's main arena.
It's not the worst strategy. You or I are gonna see it for what it is... when you get further into this stuff, you realize you can't spend extra on YET MORE PARTS to have a badge when the equivalent OEM product is way less. I.E. "Why do I need a CM branded fan hub?" But to someone else, they may be saying to themselves that they already have some CM parts/accessories and happen to need a hub... maybe even to go with other products they're buying with it. If they have confidence in the CM brand they may buy the hub even knowing it's a little bit higher price, just because there is that solidarity from previous purchases playing on the perception of them doing everything. Chances are if their favorite vendor has the fans, it has the hub. It's an easy, quick decision. Perhaps seen as safer or simpler that way... especially for the more 'casual' builder who may not be or even want to be on the hobby side much, and who doesn't wanna dig around or figure out if it'll work. If it's a familiar brand and the reviews are good they go with what they know. And due to proliferation, the probability of "right place, right time" circumstances is high enough to bring it out of nowhere without anyone questioning it too much.
It certainly seems to be effective, if prevalence over time is any indication (and it has really gotten big with the bigger brands these days.) It basically allows them to move good volume of inexpensive products at a favorable markup, while also expanding brand visibility and if the products aren't total crap, bolstering confidence. They have the sway to do this - being major brands, they can put this stuff right in the pool and it's a guaranteed sell. Logistics are easy... it's all there to be used already. Doesn't even matter if it's truly competitive in performance or price. If it looks okay and it isn't bottom-shelf cheapcrap, it really only benefits them. I doubt it's expected that these particular products will be taken seriously. It's the core products' jobs to distinguish them. On one hand, it doesn't need to stand out for people to buy it, as they buy it because they know the name and associate good things with it, along with the "it's there" factor. On the other hand, it's not something strongly associated with the heart of what they do, so if it's kinda chintzy or flat out sucks, it doesn't affect the core of the company. It's just kinda keeping them out there between the big buys that people only make every so often. "Another reason to buy [brand.]"
Seems like a little thing, but big picture for them it potentially counts for a lot with little investment. More than anything, they're selling people on the idea that CM can cover all of their needs. They do it piece by piece. You start with a cooler and a case. But before you know it you have CM everything and to an extent, it sort of becomes embedded in your way of operating. When you think of "gaming" or "PC-building" they want your first thought to be "Cooler Master". And in that context, something like a CM fan hub becomes just one more way to amplify that perception.
All that aside, this isn't even that off-brand for them. I agree, it seems useless. But I'm hardly surprised that a company heavily involved in cooling solutions would have one, or even several.
Now that I've read this back it is bringing me down and making me cynical. :laugh: All of this marketing stuff tastes like cereal made with printer paper and Elmer's glue.
It's really just capitalism I guess - they're gonna do what furthers their growth and security in a market cluster that can sometimes flip around wildly and affect sales on key products. It'd almost be reckless for some of them not to. It's not always enough to have just the one or two things people know and come to you for, even if you're the best at what you do. Doing everything leaves wiggle for fluctuations in their main gigs. Good for them, meaningless for us. I don't really want to see a saturation of redundant products. It's not bringing consumers any real value. And then the fucked up thing is, somebody sees CM selling the same product successfully for more profit, they're gonna try to do the same. What people are willing to pay steadily goes up when people start buying the more expensive big-brand copy. And then they still can't replicate the recognition component, so it could conceivably eat your more reasonable options.
But I understand why they do it. It COULD benefit you, in a more abstract way... like, people buying those helps compensate for risks where they count and may allow them to invest more in the products they're known for, of which may be valuable to you. So maybe they're not for you, but depending on the company, they could make the products that ARE for you a little better. Or they could stretch themselves thin and everything is just bad. *shrugs* :laugh:
I had the same impression when they really commited to this strategy and entered the display arena. And I still feel like people wont be totally on board. It would take a long time.
They pretty much all do it. They see one brand do it successfully and just copy it, expecting the same result.
I think the younger market will go for it... and I think they think that too. Eventually that younger market will become the main one, and people who remember them for coolers and cases will dwindle.
Im not the biggest fan of everyone competing for everything. Ironically I dont think it makes for the best products. It instead results in everyone doing the bear minimum to stay in the game.
But maybe thats just the state of the industry now. With the continued expansion and the dissolution of marketing segmentation (as in, no matter the demo/product, the selling points are the same for nearly everything,) it's almost totally homogenous. Perhaps it really is just that its not enough to just be really good at YOUR thing... that may not be enough to survive anymore, just because of how saturated everything is compared to how brutally slowly the technology itself grows, compared to the nonstop giant leaps of yesteryear. Nothing to climb atop a plateau. So you expand laterally. Or you get stranded. Or just fall off. Moving upwards just isnt sustainable. If thats all ya got thats a lot of time waiting and trying to repackage what you have.
anything else must be proprietary with one of those wires coming from somewhere else
Thanks for the quick help, I'm really new to argb
If you're new to it, dont mess with re-wiring
But thanks for your help though!