NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller is a POS

[goose90proof]

I bought this fan controller from newegg because it was shiny and I wanted to add some bling to my new rig. Oh and it would allow me to control my fans too... that is, if it wasn't such a big piece of garbage. Shiny garbage, but garbage none the less. It even had some attractive temperature sensors, but they could not make up for this sorry excuse of a fan controller. It even has a nice digital clock which works great so long as I don't inadvertently press the reset button which I believe was tactically placed to cause maximum inconvenience and grief.

So I took it out of the box and set about installing it. It looked very nice, and shiny, and promising, but my optimism would soon be defeated by this incompetent electronic abomination. It was easy enough to install, encouraging me of its worth and function. The shiny display came to life when I powered on the computer, and I was pleased with its great aesthetic appeal. But it was all just camouflage for the inferior design of the Sentry LX. Not long after I had booted into Windows, an infernal howl began emanating from the Sentry LX in short, persistent beeps. They were weak, pathetic cries for attention, which I found to be unwarranted as the temperatures were all normal, and the fans were running.

Further research into this malady revealed that the 230mm top fan of the case probably required too much power of the fan controller. Preposterous! It seems that when I switch the mode from automatic to manual that the beeping stops, but I don't think the controller even sets the fans as high as they will spin! Also, I can't connect my cpu fan to it because it only supports 3 pin connectors.

Perhaps this is all my fault for not researching it further before purchasing, but this fan controller has been a great disappointment and I will be returning it immediately. 0/10 would not buy again.

If anyone can recommend a better (and shiny) fan controller, please be my guest. This one looks nice (and shiny).

TL;DR: NZXT Sentry LX is shiny, but it sucks huge [redacted]. Don't buy it!!!

 

[KurtBlanken]

http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/fan_control/sentry_lx

You can click on "specifications" if you want. Looks like you didn't do your research, it only supports 6W per channel.

Fan controllers are usually designed for 3 pin fans, you can usually control 4 pins via software using your motherboard headers. You can also plug a 4 pin into a 3 pin header.

The one you linked only supports 8W per channel. Many fans use 12W max, some will go higher.

Fan controllers aren't all they are cracked up to be, you can't just buy any old controller and expect it to be able to handle your fannage.

 

[DaaG]

You need to research your fans, find out how much power they use while running AND the startup power as well if you can. Then determine your total power use of your fans and find a controller that can handle said power.

For bling

Here is another good one

Hope it helps.

 

[MattNo5ss]

There are two causes for the Sentry LX alarm to go off:

• The temps exceed the max set temp
• A fan becomes disconnected or stops spinning

You need to figure out why the alarm is going off exactly.

You can connect your 4-pin PWM CPU connector to the Sentry LX. The Sentry LX will just just voltage to control the fan instead of PWM.

I highly doubt the 230mm fan uses much power, especially 6W. You can check the label on the fan for its amperage then multiply that by 12V to get the wattage. For example, the Bitfenix 230mm fans use 0.20A so that's 2.4W.

 

[EarthDog]

There are not many, normal fans that use 12W...most are notably less than that...

That said, research may have been a part of it, but without knowing exactly which fans you are using, that may be a premature speculation...

 

[goose90proof]

Thanks guys. The rage prose was mostly for teh lols. Thanks DaaG for your recommendations. The front case fan of my HAF 932 is the one which is throwing the alarm. The panel indicates that the fan is not spinning, but it clearly is. It only seems to do this when in "Auto" mode. It won't complain in manual mode, but then I get this problem where I can't select any other fan than #2. I'm just gonna return it and go with something else. It's a shame because it really is a snazzy lookin gadget.