my review of the NZXT SENTRY LXE - External Touch-Screen Fan-Controller

Schizo

Schizo

Schizo

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got this fan controller this morning and jumped straight up to install this stunning fan controller.
managed to find 2 company's in the uk who sell this and the one i used was selling it for £51 including next day delivery.
so...here is the parcel in its wrapped state.
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packed very well and not one bit of damage to the box.
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box has been sealed with plastic to insure nothing goes missing...nice touch if you ask me.
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pretty well packed inside as well.
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contents of box.
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unit itself.
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fan controller card installed with lose wires.
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cabled routed to the 5 fans.
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the front of the case looks a lot better now compared to before
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all done in under a hour.

conclusion...

to me this a outstanding fan controller.

has a superb auto button to which the fan controller will turn the fan's down itself whilst browsing and turns them up whilst gaming.
i have 3x sharkoon 120mm 2000rpm fans
and 2 fractual 140mm 600rpm fans

when im browsing they all sit on 400 rpm which is very quite and whisly gaming they go up 1000 for the sharkoons and 600 for the fractual fans.

having the temp and fan speed in front of you is a nice thing to have if you ask me.

no leaning down to check/adjust speed of fans.

the controller has the date and time which is another nice function to have.

all in all in very happy with it and what it can do,i know there will be some people who dont see the point in it and thats fine but for me it was a worth while purchase.

excuse the rubbish photo's review as this was my first one and i kinda liked it so you might see some more from me when i upgrade in the future.

thanks for reading and now you can leave via the nearest exit please....
 
OCUK said they're stocking these, does anyone know when?
Also great review mate, I'll be picking one of these up for my self. Any chance you can message me where you got it from?
 
I had Sentry LX and I found Sentry LX battery life is pretty poor (changed new battery three times in 6 months) when the battery is dead, the fans not working and it really annoying to take the fan controller out to change new battery.
 
Thanks for your initial thoughts on this. I'll be getting 1 as soon as OCUK get some in stock. I was worried about how messy the cabling would be being PCI mounted but after seeing your pics I can see this isn't an issue with a little time spent on it.
Thanks.


bulldog147 said:
I had Sentry LX and I found Sentry LX battery life is pretty poor (changed new battery three times in 6 months) when the battery is dead, the fans not working and it really annoying to take the fan controller out to change new battery.
Click to expand...

That isnt this controller tho :confused:
 
Defunkt said:
Thanks for your initial thoughts on this. I'll be getting 1 as soon as OCUK get some in stock. I was worried about how messy the cabling would be being PCI mounted but after seeing your pics I can see this isn't an issue with a little time spent on it.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

i still have to do the temperature sensors but they will follow the same route as the fan leads.

im not sure when ocuk are getting this controller in as i have asked here.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18185263

there is 3 companys i have found in the uk and lowest price is £49 all in.

glad you like my review,as it was my first one i thought a few more people would respond but hey ho !.
 
I got some sharkoon SE 2000rpm attatched to this but when ever i turn the fan down past 800rpm it goes off completely. How did you get yours to 400rpm?:confused:
 
Sorry but Ment the fractual fans sit on 400 and your right about the sharkoon fans as they do turn off belie 800 rpm.

How do you like the fan controller ?
 
schizo220168 said:
Sorry but Ment the fractual fans sit on 400 and your right about the sharkoon fans as they do turn off belie 800 rpm.

How do you like the fan controller ?
Click to expand...

I wonder why they turn off :confused:
I like the fan controller, I think they could have made the fan connection leads a tad shorter as they require quite a bit of routing to hide them. Where did you connect the temp sensors?
 
ellingham said:
I wonder why they turn off :confused:
I like the fan controller, I think they could have made the fan connection leads a tad shorter as they require quite a bit of routing to hide them. Where did you connect the temp sensors?
Click to expand...

i havent done the temp sensors yet as im thinking of getting a new graphics card.

my cpu need's some new paste on it soon so ill route the temp sensors then.

i personally think the fan controller leads are a bit to short,i have a large case and had to use a lead to extend one of the fans.

ill put all 5 sensors in soon though.

got any pictures of your fan controller wiring ?
 
Hey

Just got this controller and it has some pros and cons (i think its fair to say) - love the info it provides and looks nice but the touch screen seems a bit unresponsive at times and i miss the ability of just being able to switch everything to low in an instant (as with control knob fan controllers).

As to that last note I am confused by the suggestion by some reviews (copied from some press release?) as to the following:

"Allows users to automatically adjust the fan speeds to correspond to a specific temperature, manually customize for extreme overclocking capabilities"

How do you do that? Afaik the temperature setting is just for a settable alarm. Is each fan's rpm dependent on the corresponding temp probe? So Fan1 to Temp1?

In answer to a previous question about the sharkoon fans switching off below 800rpm this will be because the fan controller only operates down to 40% speed.. any lower and it assumes you want the fan off
 
It is a lovely controller. I had a look at it last year - see here.

I'm not 100% certain on the temperature setting, but I think the alarm setting also sets the fan profile for the 'auto' mode. I.e. the fan will stay on low until it approaches this temperature, and will go all the way up to high to keep it there. I don't think the profile can be changed. I found the auto mode adequate, but manual better.

If you read my review (if you haven't already), you'll see I point out some of the same frustrations you discovered. Doesn't stop it from being a really flash and generally awesome bit of kit though :)

The manual says you can email [email protected] if you have further questions. Might be one for them. Of course, you could just try it out yourself first too and see if it makes any difference.
 
alexhull24 said:
I'm not 100% certain on the temperature setting, but I think the alarm setting also sets the fan profile for the 'auto' mode. I.e. the fan will stay on low until it approaches this temperature, and will go all the way up to high to keep it there. I don't think the profile can be changed. I found the auto mode adequate, but manual better.
Click to expand...
You are right.. played with the temps and it seems that if the temperature goes over the temp set in the controller than the rpm is increased - though it goes up to 100%

Not exactly ideal in my circumstances - i like to be able to leave my computer on overnight in my bedroom - fans kicking in at 100% doesnt fit with the silent pc idea :/

This thing could really have done with some profiles
 
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