NZXT Sentry Mesh 30W Fan Controller Review

Final Thoughts

While I really wish I would have brought you an image of the unit installed, I don't currently have a chassis with this type of front bezel. Rather than taking a ribbing for giving you an image that just detracts from the mesh face of the Sentry, I figured I would pass it by and leave you to hunt Google for that image. I do know that if I had the Cooler Master 690II, BitFenix, or a few other manufacturers cases, this would make a great addition to those, and I didn't even cover the Vulcan, Phantom, Panzer Box, or M59 just to name a few from NZXT. Even if the hole sizes aren't a direct match from the other manufacturers, this leaves you a much better looking option over brushed aluminum or a solid steel face plate.

During testing I found the Sentry Mesh more than capable of powering five usual suspects in fans. I even went ahead and threw in a couple of high draw Delta and Scythe fans designed for servers. You know the ones, the fans that at full power can almost levitate and hover over a table. The Sentry Mesh took it all in stride. I will say that the low end of the spectrum for the sliders might not be enough power to use with a lot of fans, as most of the fans I get with coolers don't want to run with less than 7V, it leaves some fans stopped in their tracks. As long as you don't overlook making sure your fans are capable of dropping to just under 5V of power and still running, you will have little issues getting this unit installed and wired up. In fact, the only negative note I have about the NZXT Sentry Mesh I received is that the center channel is "sticky" in travel near the center of the sliders path. Even with this slight "issue", the controller still functions perfectly on that channel as well as the other four. With a new high in power rating, NZXT covers almost all fan control needs with this 30 Watt unit.

Like I mentioned before, I had to get some fan controllers for the TEC test box, as the one Chris installed finally gave up the ghost and died. To replace the controller I looked around for the best deal for what I could find and ended up with some used unit that cost me nearly the same price as the Sentry Mesh is suggested to retail for. While this controller may have a more specific use into which case you would want to use it with, it isn't going to rake you over the coals to get a matching piece of hardware. NZXT has set the MSRP of $24.99 in the US, and xoxide.com has the jump on pre-orders right now! As with anything from NZXT, I see them flooding the shelves soon, and you should be able to find them both online as well as in the larger "box stores".