NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum Dual-Bay Fan Controller
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When the heat is on, so is the Sentry LX

In today’s thriving gaming market, hardcore heads run some pretty hot systems…literally. With massive power supplies, ultra-high performance video and physics cards and multi-core processors, the heat in a gamer’s rig can get pretty high, pretty fast. That is why it is vital to monitor and regulate temperature levels in your case, and THAT is why NZXT has created the Sentry LX.

The LCD provides all of the information you'll need.


Appearance:

The overall appearance of the Sentry LX is pretty slick. Black brushed aluminum surrounds a large, backlit LCD screen. The LCD itself is a multi-color affair, with a bright white date/time display on the left, and 5 stacked blue and orange fan speed and temperature indicators on the right. Assuming that you have a black case (and what 1337 gamer doesn’t?), the Sentry LX will integrate nicely into your rig’s front panel array.

The Sentry LX blends nicely with your rig... assuming your rig is black.


Performance:

While it looks great installed, the performance of the Sentry LX is a bit of a mixed bag. First the good; Installation is a snap… assuming you have two 5.25” drive bays available. Due to its size, the unit can only be installed in two neighboring drive bays. Luckily I had the available space, and had no problem installing the Sentry LX with four standard HD screws. Once the main unit is installed, your fans need to be hooked up to any of the five numbered 3-pin connectors, and the temperature probes need to be attached near the fans with the included tape. After making these connections, plugging the Sentry LX into a standard 4-pin power supply and adjusting the date and time I was up and running.

The fan controller has two modes. The Automatic mode allows the unit full control of the fan speed, and it will make adjustments on the fly depending on heat levels in each area of your rig. I could see the unit adjust the fan speed accordingly on the fan speed and temperature indicator portion of the LCD. It seemed to do a good job so the temperature alarm feature (which you can set to the desired levels) remained silent. If you would like a bit more control of your fans (for noise or overclocking purposes) you can put the Sentry LX in Manual mode. This allows you to individually control each fan and save the settings for future use.



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