Intro

Ever since the advent of the original Pentium processor, computer users have been looking for methods to cool their system down. As processors continue to become more powerful and hard drives faster, the heat produced inside of computer cases has become much more intense. To combat this, more fans have been added to our rigs by manufacturers and by the modding community.CFM, airflow, and DB level are now terms as important to modders as Dremel and hole saw are. Vantec recognized this and developed a product aimed squarely at the modding community. Here are the features straight from Vantec's web site:

• 4 Channel Fan Controller
• Adjustable Fan Speed Knob
• Aluminum "U" Type Housing
• Blue LED Light
• Each Channel Will Support 15 to 18 Watts
• Fits In A Standard 5'24" Drive Bay
• No Need To Cut Wires Like Other Fan Controllers. Just Plug The Cable In.
• Great For Vantec Tornado Or Other High CFM Fans

The Vantec Nexus Fan Controller is not a run of the mill rheobus like you see on other mod supply websites, as a matter of fact, it isn’t a rheobus at all. But more about that later, let’s see what came in the mail.

The Unit

As you can see, the NXP-201 is unlike any other fan controller currently being sold. It comes in two flavors, Black and Silver, and both units have a bright blue light around the control knobs. The lights show up clearly in light or dark conditions and is well diffused around the ring. The blue light is sweet but maintains a constant brightness regardless of the knob setting. If they could have made it where the light reflected the power setting it would have been more than sweet, it would have been savory. The silver fan controller would look at home in any aluminum case and the black one; well it's just cool. The front has the atomic Nexus logo, the Vantec logo, and labels to let you know which fan is which in case you get confused. For those of you who prefer the clean look, the writing on the face of the silver one comes off easily with just a fingernail. I used fingernail polish remover on the black one to get a small bit of the white graphic to come off. The biggest advantage to the Nexus unit is that you don't need to cut up a bay cover in order to install it, as a matter of fact, installation involves slapping it in and plugging it up, that's it.

For contrast, I set another "popular" rheobus unit that I had side by side with the Vantec unit. As you can see, the footprint of the NXP-201 is a lot smaller and won't totally waste a drive bay, you will still be able to fit a hard drive behind it. Also note the lower profile of the controller knobs on the NXP-201. It will fit without a problem in cases that have doors on front. You can also see the lack of huge heatsinks on the NXP-201, that's because it uses a completely different type of circuitry, although not a new technology, it is new to fan controllers. Vantec decided to use PWM digital circuitry instead of the usual analog circuitry found in other units.

PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation, or digitally controlled power. In a nutshell, what PWM does is keep the voltage at full power, but "pulses" the power, or only allows a certain amount through in timed sequences. If you run full power, the PWM circuitry opens up and allows all the juice to flow. If you select half power, the PWM circuitry will only allow the circuit to be open 50% of the time so that the fan will receive full power only 50% of the time, which will cause it to run at half of it's capability. There is a lot more technical garbage involving how PWM circuits work, but nothing that you or I need to know. Bottom line, the advantage of PWM is that circuits run cooler and the large heatsinks aren't needed like in the normal analog resisted architecture. Less heat is always good.

Here is what the circuit board looks like. Above the power connector on the left is the PWM controller chip, at the bottom you have the 4 3-pin fan connectors, and in between is a lot of other stuff we shouldn't mess with. I applaud Vantec with their innovative idea of using 3-pin fan connectors in order to make it easier to install and change fans. You won't have to yank the entire unit, try to remember where you put your jeweler's screwdriver, and twist your wires into tiny pinpoints in order to swap out fans. The 3-pin connector will appeal to most folks because it eases the trouble that they have to go through to install case fans. But you know what I would like to see? A fan controller that has push connectors like on speakers or receivers. The only reason I have any connectors on any of my fans is because I hadn't got around to cutting them off yet. A spring loaded push connector would allow hardcore modders to mix and match fans on the same channel. The NXP-201 has enough overhead to support this, but for now soldering my fan wires to a 3 pin connector is still easier than using the tiny screw connectors we are used to.

There was an issue in pre-production units involving screws getting in the way of some drive rails, but that has been fixed on all retail models. Below, you can see the original placement of the PCB support screws on the top unit, and the recessed PCB screws on the bottom retail unit. Kudos' to Vantec for quickly recognizing a problem and adjusting their manufacturing process to fix it. They realized the problem and changed the design almost immediately.