I bought the Sentry 3 and I have to say I like it rather a lot. In fact more than I thought I would. I came from a simple knob controller on my last build which I used all the time, I thought a touch screen might be annoying but I actually find myself liking it better because of the features. Let me explain a little about how it works because there don't seem to be any decent explanations, even on NZXTs website:
There are three modes you can operate in: Performance, Quiet, and Manual. The mode you are in is indicated by the icons that look like plugs to the left of the circle. The performance and quiet modes are both automatic control modes which control the fans based on temperature. Obviously performance is a more aggressive fan curve and ramps them up quicker (at lower temps) while quiet mode keeps them at minimum speed for longer. I use quiet mode for everything except gaming, when I am gaming I switch it to performance mode. I have my temp sensor shoved into the heat sink of my GPU, which gives me a pretty good temp reading during gaming (goes from around 25C at idle to about 70C gaming). In performance fan mode the fans are at 100% speed pretty quick, which I like. You cannot change the fan curves. Selecting the mode is done by the big round button with the fan number in it. It is a universal mode, meaning you cannot have some fans in manual and some in automatic, when you select a mode it applies to all fans and that cannot be changed either. Some might find that annoying but I actually like it. Maybe it would be nice to have the option of controlling some fans manually and others automatically but it doesn't bother me the way it is, plus it keeps it simpler to use.
With the fans in manual mode you can change their speed two ways: the arrow buttons on the lower left OR the slider bar on the upper right. Arrows change speed in 10% increments and with the slider you can take the fans all the way to 100% or off with one touch. Range is from 40% to 100% or off.
Fan selection is done by the small number buttons on the lower right, I think that's pretty obvious. You can link fans together in manual mode so that their speed changes together, its very easy to do: hold the link button for 3 seconds and then select the fans you want to link. The little orange link bars will light up telling you which are linked.
Other features: Speed feedback from each fan (upper left) in RPM, temperature display from probe in F or C (mine works well and seems to be pretty accurate), alarm if a fan dies, and an alarm if the temperature gets too high (you can set the alarm temperature by holding the temperature down). You can also shut off the display screen by holding the power button for 3 seconds, it turns back on if you touch it, and you can shut off all sounds (beeping and alarms). The one additional feature I wish it had is the ability to dim the display, it is rather bright, particularly at night, but its not that bad.
Again, I am really liking it so far but I just got it so I'm curious to see how it holds up. This review might change. Also, regarding the usability of this unit: if you are capable of building a PC then you will easily be able to learn how to use this thing in about 2 minutes. I did have to read the little booklet that came with it but it literally took me 2 minutes to figure the whole thing out and about 2 more minutes to get totally comfortable using it. Its functions and display are simple and well thought out. I recommend it, even for someone who likes using knob or slider style controllers.
| Standing screen display size | 5.4 Inches |
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