Front Mounted Ports: Take a Joy Ride On The Fan Bus

Nexus Fan Controller - NXP-201-BK/NXP-201-SL - Vantec, Continued

The four fan controls are on the front of the unit, and had a smooth action, which allowed a very good range of adjustments. The included cable connections allow for four fans to be connected to the NXP-201-BK. The cable length is more than adequate, but the cabling did not allow for pass through connections to the motherboard for motherboard fan monitoring.

A close-up of the front of the NXP-201-BK.

The quality of construction of the NXP-201-BK is good, but not as impressive as some of the units (in particular, the ZM-MFC 1 from Zalman) that we review later in this article. The knobs in the front of the NXP-201-BK are back lit with a blue LED glow, which is attractive and pleasant to look at. The NXP-201-BK does not offer any additional features beyond fan control, which is expected from a traditional style fan bus controller.

While the cables included with the NXP-201-BK are well labeled, neither one of our test units included any documentation. Since this product and install are fairly simple to use and install this isn't that much of a problem; however, it could give trouble to those less experienced.

A look at the back of the NXP-201-BK. There is not much to see other than four fan connectors and a power connector.

If you are looking for a traditional four-channel fan bus controller, the NXP-201-BK is for you. Available in both black and sliver finishes, this unit does well what it is designed to do. Both the NXP-201 series and the NXP-205 series are priced the same, which gives the user the flexibility to choose the mounting solution that they prefer. We encountered no problems during our testing, which speaks for the quality that Vantec is known for. However, this unit offers no temperature warning or sensor devices so you must monitor your case temperature closely.