NZXT Sentry 2 LXE Fan Controller Review
Conclusion
Published: 3rd August 2010 | Source: NZXT | Price: £55 |
Conclusion
So far this has been quite a love-fest, and sure enough it continues. Initially I thought that an external fan controller would be yet more clutter on the desk and wondered why it couldn't be put in a drive bay like all the rest. However the moment you use it it all becomes clear.
My tower sits on the floor and so to view the temperatures on my current fan controller is always an exercise in flexibility. Unless you're hitting the thermal alarm point you never really are sure. Also because fan controllers are an absolute spaghetti of wires, taking them from the very top of your case to where you have the fans positioned is a cable management nightmare.
The Sentry 2 LXE dispenses with all of that. The display is on your desk, or wherever you feel you want to put it, and so the controls as well as the current temperature are always within a glance. The cable that connects the PCI Bracket controller to the display is lengthy enough to allow positioning almost anywhere sensible, flat so it can easily be tucked away if need be and the connectors are very sturdy indeed.
By having the fan controlling part at the back of your case it's right on top of the elements you're likely to monitor such as GPU/CPU temperatures, RAM temperatures etc, so there is far less spidery cables draped over the insides of your case with probes here and there. Also most fans are either at the bottom front, or back top of a case and so it's exceptionally easy to route the fan power cables to wherever they are needed and still keep the insides of your case tidy.
Finally the display itself is crystal clear from all angles, and the touch element is responsive without any "oops I actually meant 2" problems that can occur.
After all that you can imagine that the conclusion is simple. It certainly is. With an expected retail price around £55 this is unquestionably the best fan controller on the market. It's built like a tank, crystal clear, looks the part, solves the wiring issues and can handle five fans at once. It's rare we consider a product flawless, but there really isn't a single thing we can find wrong with the NZXT Sentry 2 LXE.
Many thanks to NZXT for supplying the Sentry 2 LXE for review. Discuss in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
It screams Star Trek and completely solves the problem of not being able to see the fan controller now my PC is on the floor. Perfect |
Originally Posted by silenthill
I’ll buy the NZXT Sentry 2 LXE Fan Controller with it but my only concern is will it fit |
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Originally Posted by silenthill
worried about the installation is it easy or will I be straggling with the Molex cables because the Coolermaster HAF X case has a lot of fans to be honest what I really mean will it do my head in. |
Really, you can't go wrong.
I've no idea why it's showing as orange to people. It's black here
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Originally Posted by VonBlade
As I said, it's all really obvious and as user-friendly as jelly
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Nice review but I've really gone off of fan controllers. It's bad enough with modern PCs having so much to tinker with and adjust, but this thing would kick my OCD off terribly. I did use an NZXT controller a while back and it was terrible. This one does look more solid though.
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