Packaging:
|
|
|
| Items are well packed and no damages was seen. | The contents did appear to be pretty simple, with not too many parts. |
Install:
The install of the Sentry LXE was pretty easy in of itself, with the Sentry LXE card being installed at the back of the case in a peripheral slot, (NOTE: even though the Sentry LXE takes up a peripheral slot on a case, the card does not plug into the motherboard). Mounting the five temperature sensors did make a mess of cable management since the sensor cables and the five fan controller cables all come from the same card and are at the middle of the case. This was the same issue with the five power cables from the case fans. The display which ends up sitting on your desk was the simplest to connect and had a very clean look as it consists of one cable from the display to the external side of the Sentry LXE card. Thinking through how else this could be done would require the card to be a box which could be hidden somewhere else within the case and the cables being long enough to route around the back of the motherboard and wrap around the edges to the CPU, South Bridge, RAM and same for the case fans. If you are not concerned about the cable management of inside of your case, the cables of the Sentry LXE are small/thin enough to not contribute to air flow restriction or obstruction.
|
|
|
| Sentry LXE card to show off the number of wire leads to fans and temp sensors | From this angle you can see the Sentry LXE card does not plug into the motherboard. |
Display:
The display of the Sentry LXE is something of a piece of art. The black aluminum finish is a very clean look which leads one to think it is a digital picture frame when powered off. The display consists of the five temperature readouts, complimented by present temperature of the each prob. The display is touch screen, but is a static style display with only select areas that are touch-sensitive. The display has an auto and manual setting where the user can set the probe temperature limits which when set at auto, the Sentry LXE will auto throttle the corresponding fan to bring the temperature down to the setting you specified. The manual setting allows the user to set the fan RPM. The display also has an audible alarm which will sound if a predetermined temperature is exceeded. The Automatic features and alarm settings does require a battery to be installed into the Sentry LXE card (CR2032) which was not included in our review sample.
 |
|
| Front of the Sentry LXE display | Back of the Sentry LXE display single plug connection. |
|
|
|
| Display powered up and three fans and probes connected the display is a real eye catcher | Touch display is touchscreen, and very easy to use. |
NZXT video:
| Video as posted on NZXT’s Website showing the Sentry LXE in action. |
Its actually very very nicely done,the LCD is quality, the colors are good, and it is very handy to overclockers to know what is going on inside your system. You probably don’t like it because you are not an enthusiast, modder, or power user.
As for software doing the same thing, this is not exactly true. Software takes up resources, runs extra stuff in the background, and will not physically control aspects of the system like this will. Plus this looks about 100X better.
If you want your comments to be taken seriously, try not prefacing them with words like “crap”. It just makes you look uneducated or like you are working for a competitor.
this product looks like cheap crap. who wants to sacrifice cable management for another power drawing peripheral, software does the same thing, works great and doesn’t pose a fire risk.
The display frame is made of metal with a brushed black finish. The single cable which runs from the display to the card is covered with a rugged braided mesh which is pretty rugged. The individual cables that to the fans and temperture sensors are very tiny and though cable management may be an inital headache, they will not cause a fire at any level. Also the power consumption is very little for the LED display and the rest of the power consumed is to power the fans which were being powered by your power supply prior to the Sentry LXE being installed. Since you appear to be very negative against it, I’d suggest seeing it in person at a local computer store before you label it crap.