Customer Reviews

NZXT SENTRY 2 Accessories 5.25-Inch Touch Screen Fan Controller (Black)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is probably one of the better fan controllers on the market, considering 90% of the fan controllers on the market are terrible. For 28 bucks, this is a pretty good deal. Ill break down the good and bad below:
Pro's:
-good price
-works fine
-lcd is cool to look at
-controls all my fans perfectly
-temp is more or less accurate
-Easy to install/use
Con's:
-Creates a huge mess of wires
-Wires are superglued to controller, so when taking it out, u have to take out all the temp sensors as well.
-Bad instruction manual, luckily it was fairly straightfoward anyways.
-BEWARE! THE COOLERMASTER FAN AMAZON SAYS IS FREQUENTLY BOUGHT WITH THIS PRODUCT IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THIS FAN CONTROLLER!
It didn't work for me, or anyone else I have talked to. im pretty disappointed that amazon did not recognize that.
-Hasn't happened to me, but ive read lots of reports of screen breaking, and cust. serv. is a huge run around.

Like I said, for 28 bucks, this is a great deal. If it were $40, I would get something else, probably not w/ lcd. This controller is pretty much hit or miss, so good luck if you choose to buy it. If you get one that functions, then it ends up being a very useful and quality product. If not, then you're screwed.
-Nick

Pros: The display truly is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, despite the complete lack of operating instructions. Installation is relatively straight forward, but can be a difficult depending on the case it is going in to. Manual control and temperature read is nice. Auto control seems fairly useless as it does not seem to be on/off programable - just factory settings. The display lighting and audio feedback can be turned on or off.

Cons: Unfortunately, aesthetics and user friendliness mean squat when the over-all reliability is below poor. I am about to RMA the second unit in a month, and this time they can keep it. The first unit worked well for a week, then two of the five channels stopped working. The display was non-responsive for fans 4 and 5. The second unit worked well for just over a week, then one day I power on the PC and the display is dead and fans not running. I checked connections, etc. etc., but it is just dead. For ~$30, I suppose I should not have expected much.

Another point to be aware of; despite other user comments and manufacturer claims of temperature accuracy, I would not rely on these probes for true temperatures, but rather for referrence. I compared the probes from both units against readings from K-type thermocouples attached to a calibrated Fluke 52 and they were all consistantly 5-7degF higher than the temps reported by the Fluke.

Other Thoughts: The differences in the temperature readings vs. the Fluke 52 are not really a big deal. If the unit worked for longer than a week, I would not be upset about the temps displayed being inaccurate. As I mentioned earlier, they are best used as a referrence. In the end, it's all a moot point since the darn thing just doesn't have any reliability. It is a big deal to pull my case apart, string all these temp probes throughout, rout all the fan cables, and the whole time try to keep it neat looking only to have to undo it all for an RMA - TWICE! There won't be a third time. It's just not worth the effort.

Folks at NZXT: The product looks nice and is easy to use. If you were to put some extra money in to upgraded internals and make it more robust, I am sure customers would pay up for this thing. I know I would. But cheap price for cheap quality just leaves me avoiding NZXT products in the future, not to mention the negative comments I have for you everywhere I go.

I installed this in my antec 300 to slow down 2 case fans that I added to the front of the case. It turns on the leds in the fans, but they do not move. The fans are 120mm cool master blue led fans. It does control the 2 antec tri cool case fans.
Also, the display does not turn off when you turn off the computer. You have to manually turn off the display.
Installation was easy, display looks great, the touch screen responds good. If it worked with all my fans, I would be happy with it. Since it doesn't, I have returned it.

An excellent product for the money, strongly recommended. Controls up to 5 fans, also including 5 temperature guages. The touch screen is really cool and has been running for about 2 weeks with 0 problems. Nothing but happy about it!!!

The NZXT SENTRY 2 Accessories 5.25-Inch Touch Screen Fan Controller was the simplest of solutions to my fan problems. I have the Cooler Master Centurion Case which has 6 fans and my motherboard only allows me to control the speed of two of these fans. The rest of the fans were just going at 100% rpm. You could literally hear my pc from downstairs. I now have 4 Thermaltake "Tt" 120mm fans from RadioShack wired to this fan controller and it works great. Dropping the fans to the lowest setting limit of 40% has virtually eliminated fan noise(as much as you can with 6 fans).The fan at the rear of my case and the fan at the front of my case are both controlled via my motherboard so I did not have any need to hook them up to the controller. You might also want to not that in this situation I had no need for the thermal probes. I left them wrapped in tape in the bay. My EVGA GTX 460 came with software to monitor its temp and so did my motherboard for the processor. I was no worried about fans kicking on or off at certain temps. I simply wanted a way to turn the fans off when not gaming or in the very least lower the rpm's significantly, I would say 60% is significant. This fan controller was the perfect solution. You might also note that the controller does not have a setting between 0% and 40% which could be a problem in certain situations. Fortunately for me, my fans at 40% are still relatively quiet. Once gaming I can't hear my system over my speakers anyways. When I'm not gaming the fans are obviously set to 0% because the extra air movement is not required. With that being said, this product met my expectations quite nicely. As far as those of you who have not yet purchased it, you might notice these points of interest:
PROS
-Packaged Nicely for safe transport.
-Package Contained all necessary contents (cables + zip tie + mounting hardware + instruction set)
*** All though I read before purchasing that the instructions were not great, I found at no point the need to even look at them ***
-The Navigation of the fan controller is very straight forward.
-Adds a sharp look to any case
-Worked out of the box with no need to return. Always a plus!
-Shipped via Amazon Prime and it was here in 2 days! Thank You again Amazon!

CONS
-I did notice just for fun I hooked up all my fans, that some fans are not supported.(could be a problem for some, I found that for these fans, using my motherboard and bios settings I can keep those fans nicely monitored)

I would not hesitate to buy such a nice looking, functional and affordable fan controller. I am convinced you would find a better deal for a controller of up to 5 fans.

It works very well. You just need to mount the temperature sensors right.
It is more of a personal preference, I guess. I don't care to know the
temperature of each individual fan, I care about the whole internal
temperature of the computer. So you just put it closest to the middle of the
computer. Overall my comp is 24 C. It has an auto setting which will turn the
fans to a higher RPM with the internal temperature starts to get to hot.
Or it has manual settings to which you can set the speed to whatever you would
like.

First off, this is not for a 2 fan system, there are a lot of wires, but if you are building an air cooled gaming rig, you need a lot of wires. 5 temp sensors long enough to be hidden and still reach anywhere you need them in a full tower case. Plugs for 3 and 4 pin fans, and auto adjustment. The biggest negative for me is that you can't turn a fan completely off.

I've installed this 5 times with no issues in cases made by NZXT, AZZA, and ANTEC, including with the aftermarket fans. Some other reviewers have had problems, but aside from the time spent on routing the cables this item has been FLAWLESS.

I have read many reviews on the Sentry 2 and it seems that people are either getting a dud or they dont know how to hook it up properly. I have my Sentry 2 controlling 6 FANS, yes 6 FANS. I have a Thermaltake SpinQ CPU Cooler on Fan 1. A Cooler Master MegaFlow 200mm Blue LED Case Fan on Fan 2. Another Cooler Master MegaFlow 200mm Blue LED Case Fan on Fan 3. There is 2 Thermaltake Thunderblade 120 mm Blue Led Case Fans piggybacked together to Fan 4. And there is a 230mm Cooler Master stock HAF 932 case fan on Fan 5. This controller works flawelessly and I have had no problems for some time. The only drawback is that in AUTO mode, my case is so cool that it practically shuts the fans off. I always run the Sentry 2 in Manual to keep my SpinQ at 100%. (My processor is overclocked to 5.5GHz) This is definatly a good buy, if you are actually using it for a CPU fan controller and not a controller for anything else, as I have seen in other reviews.

This thing is awesome. Definitely lowered noise in my system. Also it gives me more control for more fine tuning of fans and such. this product is great

At first I was skeptical about buying this product due to others commenting on the odd noises that come from the fans after this product is installed. However, I've had no problems with any peculiar noises, or buzzing and am very pleased with the performance.

I have it hooked up to 3 SilverStone 120mm Shining Blue LED Case Fan with Rifle Bearing Noise Level 26.6 Db FN121-BL and 2 NZXT 120mm Performance Case Fan FN 120RB (Black/White) (the NZXT's came with my case).
These fans run near silent at 40% power and still move a considerable amount of air. In addition, at 100% power, the fans are still almost silent while moving alot of air. However, my fans are not really high performance, so if your looking for fans that can move more air.. then your average noise level will go up.
When i opened the box, I was greeted by a mess of wires. At first, it was an eye sore but after careful organization of the temperature probes and the fan connectors, it was looking good in no time. Also, if you have cable management in your case it it much easier to hide and organize the cables.
The LCD screen is nice and bright without being obnoxious. The touch screen is nice, but sometimes has a little trouble responding to a touch or two... but that only happens once and a while.
The Auto function is amazing at keeping you case cool and the manual is good for keeping the fans at a desired noise level. And you can set an alarm to notify you when the temperature rises above a specified level
The tape that comes with the temperature probes are not high quality, they have trouble applying and wont stay in place. But, that is easily fixed.
All in all, this product is great and for only 28$ its a steal.