So I just got my hands on the Sentry Lx and its time to run it through its paces.

The first thing you notice about this fan controller is that is damn sexy. Sporting a black 5.25” LCD screen with blue lighting, the Sentry LX is sleek and fits seamlessly fit into any chassis. The controls feel sturdy and the overall design of the unit is top notch.

Installing the product was a breeze, just pop out two empty drive bay covers and slide in the unit. Then hook up your fans to the unit. Note that only 3 pin fans work, those with four pins or molex don’t. Luckily for me I had a few spare 3 pin fans knocking around the place which I installed to test out the Sentry Lx in full. Connecting the temperature probes was a breeze as you’d expect and soon I was ready to go.

The Sentry Lx has two modes, manual and auto and being an arrogant guy I decided that manual was the one for me. Having so much control over each fan is something I’d never really appreciate before as normally I’m a low-medium or high guy but using the Lx is was able to create a perfect solution. Whilst maintaining a very quiet machine I was able to tweak the fans to give myself 36.4 at the base of my CPU heat sink, a very cool 35.3 on my Samsung HDD and then a fairly decent 40.2 on the top side of my GPU whilst running my system at more or less full load.

Whilst thinking secretly that no machine could possibly do any better than me, I thought I’d better flip the Lx over to automatic mode to see what it could do. And to be perfectly honest I didn’t really notice a difference. Some of the fan speeds were adjusted a touch and a couple of a tenths of a degree cooling was gained but nothing like the difference I’d expected. However, for a novice I expect this automatic setting would probably be the default and the fact it offers such a good solution speaks volume about the intelligence with which this product was designed. Every thing from the memory that keeps track of your favourite settings, even when the system is shut down; to the huge display that provides detailed information you can see from a good distance away, nearly everything about this product is tip top.

“Nearly?” you say. Well, there are obviously a couple of flaws. First, the fact that only 3 pin fans are supported is a serious let down for those who have developed their perfect ‘God’ machine and who will not change it for anything, let alone one little fan controller! Second, the alarm that sounds when the temperature goes above your set limit is fairly short and with gunfire blaring in the middle of a game you’d easily miss it. Thirdly, for the ultra-enthusiasts, the lack of PWM fan support will be a huge failing of the unit.

Conclusion:

For all of the flaws outlined above, I’ve got to say that this is still a great fan controller. Perfect presentation with absolute customisation and also super-easy installation makes it a great buy for newbies and experts a like.