NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller

The fan leads themselves are very thin, colored black, and 18-inches long (no adult jokes, please).  The cables do not come with any braided sleeving, but are labeled 1 through 5 so you can visually assign fans to the appropriate slider.

I’m not enthusiastic about classic Molex power connectors for fans, but fan controllers are an entirely different matter.  You only have to use one plug, and it drives up to 5 devices with up to 30 watts each.

Once plugged in, a small white LED turns on to the right of the sliders, just underneath the NZXT logo.  This light is very bright, and actually bleeds through the nearest slider, which can be distracting if your case is at eye level.

The NZXT Sentry Mesh fan controller may not have a lot of bells and whistles, but sometimes you just want a direct way to quickly silence your case fans.  The aethetics of the Mesh fit in with just about any modern PC case, especially if it is colored black and already uses black mesh in its design.  If your case doesn’t have any mesh, you can easily add it, just read how to add mesh to your case here.

The slider design is very good, the product is very sturdy, and more importantly it can handle five indepentant 30-watt channels.  With this much power you can control just about any variable-voltage device you could fit in your case, including Christmas light bulbs or strands.

There are no front labels or any other indicator that lets you know which slider controls what device, and the power LED is a bit bright.  Other than that the NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller is a great-looking fanbus, and can be yours for around $25.

REPORT CARD : NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller
category rating comments Quality 4 Just like other NZXT products, very well built Innovation 4 Minimalist design gets the job done.  Less is more. Performance 5 Can easily handle any device you throw at it, and keeps the voltage from dropping too low. Installation 3 Cables are not grouped or braided, and no cable-management accessories are included. Value 4 One of the cheapest fan controllers you can get, and it doesn’t suck!
FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars