NZXT Sentry Mesh Review

KitGuru has reviewed many items from NZXT since we opened a little over a year ago. Today we have one of their latest items to hit the market, the Sentry Mesh. The Sentry Mesh is a new fan controller that features 5 individual 30 watt channels and it fits into any available 5.25" drive bay. Specifications Product NZXT Sentry Mesh Installation 5.25" ODD Color Black Material Plastic & Mesh Panel Scroll Fan Channels 5 Connections 3 pin Wattage 30 watt Manual min 40% Control Voltage Features Mesh design to camouflage with mesh facade 5 - 30 watt controls Easy to use sliders Simplicity and functionality at its best, NZXT’s Sentry Mesh Fan Controller stealthily accommodates your case with a black steel mesh front and solid slider controls. Five 30W channels provide more than sufficient capacity for high speed fans to reach their full potential. The Sentry Mesh fan controller ships in a small brown cardboard box. The front side of the box displays the NZXT logo and the product name. The back of the box displays the features and specs of the Sentry Mesh controller. Included in the box are 4 mounting screws, the installation guide and the fan controller itself. The NZXT Mesh fan controller pictured above. The Sentry Mesh reminds me of the old 5 band equalizers used with home and car audio systems. The front panel is covered in a metal mesh that matches the look of many of the popular case designs available today. It is equipped with sliders to control the speed of every fan that is connected. Each of the 5 sliders are actually connected to individual 30 watt channels. That is ample power to control the majority of high performance fans available today. The images above give us a good look at the PCB and how all the fans connect into it. The Sentry Mesh can get the power it needs from a 4 pin Molex connection and has 5 cables with three pin headers that attach to the fans being used. Each fan is controlled by one of the sliders on the front panel . The sliders vary the fan speed between 40% and 100%, with 40% being the minimum speed available. Installing the Sentry Mesh is a very simple procedure. It just requires an available 5.25" drive bay to sit in and a couple screws to secure it in it's place. The NZXT Phantom chassis that we are using happens to be designed for a tool free installation so there was no need to use the 4 mounting screws. The only thing left to do is connect our fans to the corresponding cables on the fan controller, replace the front panel on the Phantom, and we are good to go. Above is the Sentry Mesh installed in our test machine. The mesh used on the front panel blends in quite nicely and looks right at home in our Phantom. When our system is powered on there is a single blue LED just below the NZXT lettering on the mesh front panel. Some users may find that the LED is a touch on the bright side, if so one solution would be to cover it with a small piece of tape or perhaps use a black marker. Fan controllers are very popular among the enthusiast audience and are available from many different manufacturers. Some models offer detailed real time reporting of the speed of each fan connected. NZXT had followed that flashy visual style with previous versions of the Sentry product line but decided to take a different approach with the Sentry Mesh. We believe the majority of people who purchase fan controllers also buy very specific aftermarket fans. They are either looking for silent fans for a media center or for fans with high CFM ratings to cool overclocked gaming rigs. If an educated enthusiast knows the RPM and CFM of the fans is there really any need for the LCD display to display a speed setting? If we compare the 2 images above it's hard to deny the visuals of the LCD display will appeal to many people. For that reason we think that NZXT are taking a chance by deviating from the wow factor the LCD display offers. While the Sentry Mesh can control the same number of fans it lacks features like an audible alarm if a fan fails and has no PWM feature to control the fans based on a pre defined temperature scale. At first glance many people might think that the Sentry Mesh is actually a 5 band equalizer based on the look of the 5 sliders. The NZXT Sentry Mesh takes a stealth approach by seamlessly blending in with the mesh front panels used on many of the popular cases on the market today. NZXT have several good images available on their website if you want to see what the Mesh looks like in various case models. The NZXT Sentry Mesh is a very affordable solution retailing for a mere $24.99 so it comes down to your specific needs. If you are looking for a LCD display and audible alarms then the Mesh is not for you. If you want a simple but powerful fan controller the NZXT Sentry Mesh is a very viable option. The $25 price point makes us feel that the Sentry Mesh is a product worth considering. Pro's: Simple to install 5 separate 30 watt channels Great price Looks good in a variety of cases Cons: No LCD display No fan failure alarm Kitguru says: A product for a very specific audience. It is useful.