The NZXT Sentry Mix 2 is a 6 channel, 30 watt per channel single bay manual fan controller. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of NZXT’s much fancier touchscreen controllers. On the other hand, 180 watts of total power is nothing to sneeze at, and at a relatively moderate price ($29.95 on Amazon as of this writing, and eligible for Prime), it’s definitely worth consideration.
The NZXT Sentry Mix 2 comes in a small and simple box, the top of which shows the controller. The box contains the fan controller as well as cables, the manual, and four screws. On opening the box, you will see that NZXT has pre-fitted all the cables, which are also tied and tucked into two clips in the base of the enclosure. You can, however, remove the cables you will not be using. This makes for a neat installation, and in addition, all the cables are labeled. Installation is as simple as finding an empty drive bay, sliding the controller into place, securing the unit with the four screws, connecting the fans to the controller, and connecting the controller to the power supply.
The unit is powered by two 4-pin Molex connectors at the end of a proprietary cable. You will not need to connect both of the connectors unless the total power of the fans you are controlling is too much for a single power output. All the connectors support 4-pin or 3-pin fans, so you can install pulse width modulation (PWM) fans and non-PWM fans. The Sentry Mix 2 is not compatible with fans that use a standard Molex connector unless you use an adapter. All the fan cables have only two wires, so the controller does not receive the RPM signal.
Once installed, the NZXT Sentry Mix 2 looks good, albeit almost entirely plastic. The body has a matte finish, while the sliders are glossy. The sliders control the voltage of the fans from 5V up to 12V (40% to 100%). This isn’t enough to turn most fans off, which may be a shortcoming, depending on how much control you want to have, although it is at least enough to make sure they won’t fail to start by accident. The front panel does not indicate whether a fan is spinning, or even whether a fan is plugged in to a particular channel.
The channel number below each potentiometer is illuminated (although the light intensity does not change along with the speed of the fan), and by pressing a button on the left side of the controller, you can change the color. You can set it to red, blue, green, orange, or white. Pressing the button for five seconds will turn off the light (not the controller, just the light).
Overall, the NZXT Sentry Mix 2 is a reliable and easy to use fan controller. If you have fans that use Molex controllers, need to turn off the fans completely, or need some indicator of the fan’s state, then this may not be the controller for you. On the other hand, if all you need a simple and powerful fan controller (at 30 watts per channel, you should have no problem, even if you decide to put several fans on a single channel), this is definitely a controller to consider.
NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Specifications:
- Model Number: AC-SEN-MIX2-M1
- Material: Acrylic, Plastic
- Fan Connector: 4-Pin
- Finish: Matte black bezel with glossy black sliders
- Included Accessories: 4x M3 Screws
- Form Factor: Single 5.25″
- Connections: 2x Molex
- Cable Finish: Black Rubber
- Cable Finish: RGB Color Changing
- Maximum Combined Wattage: 180 Watts
- Control Method: Sliders
- Fan Channel Quantity: 6
- Fan Channel Wattage: 30 Watts
- Minimum Power To Fans: Minimum Power To Fans
- Minimum Power To Fans: 40%
- Minimum Power To Fans: Voltage
- Warranty: 2 Years
External Links:
Sentry Mix 2 product page on nzxt.com
NZXT Technologies Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller AC SEN-MIX2-M1 – Matte Black on Amazon
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