A few weeks back we take our first look at Vantec's flagship controller, the NXP-301. The NXP-301 was a step forward in the fanbus/rheobus arena in the sense that it combines a Sound Activated CCFL Control Unit with a standard rheobus unit. If you've always wanted to get a rheobus and a CCFL Kit for your mod project, the NXP-301 was a clear choice. Vantec also included two blue CCFL light tubes so it's the perfect kit for you to start with. However, the NXP-301 requires a free 5.25" drive bay for installation. If you have none left or are planning the bay for some other projects, then you're out of luck. Vantec realized the issue and promptly followed up with the NXP-305, a 3.5" version of the NXP-301 that we're gonna take a look today.

Package

The NXP-305 comes with the same sized package as it's bigger brother due to the included CCFL tubes. Apart from the physical size of the controllers itself, the other differences is that the NXP-305 comes in either Silver of Black, unlike the NXP-301 which is only available in the Metallic grey colour. In the NXP-305, the Blue halo rings around the knobs also make a comeback, so good news for you Bloo! lovers out there! :O) Before we go any further, let's see what you'll get with the package;

• The NXP-305 Controller (Black or Silver)
• 1 x Power adapter
• 3 x 3-pin/4-pin universal cable
• Instruction Manual
• 2 x 12" Blue Cold Cathode Light Tubes
• Screws and mounting tape

Everything is neatly packed inside within a clear plastic tray. The instruction manual explains the installation procedure for the controller and the CCFL tubes. You also get a couple of double sided tape for securing the CCFL tubes to the innards of your case. The Power and fan extension cables helps in making sure you'll have enough cablings for the fans to reach the controller. Vantec bundled two Blue CCFL tubes with the controller, like the NXP-301. If you need other colours, you can purchase them separately from Vantec, but it would be nice for the user to have an option during purchase.

Specifications

Even though the NXP-305 is basically a shrunk down version of the 301, there's nothing "shrunk" about the specs. In fact, it shares the exact same specs as it's bigger brother. Each fan channel is able to handle 18 watts of power and can control your fans from 0 - 12V, so you can turn the fans off if you dun need the cooling power and blast it all the way up when you need it. The CCFL inverter can either be set to "sound activated" or have it constantly at the "ON" position. Here's the full specs for both the controller and the CCFL tubes.

• Fan Controller
  • Aluminium Housing
  • Input Voltage : 12V
  • Output at 0V to 12V
  • Up to 1.5A Output current
  • Optimal wattage per channel at 18Watts
• Cold Cathode Tubes
  • Output voltage at 0V - 580V
  • 5 ± 0.03mA
  • up to 2.9 Watts
  • Luminance : 5800 nit
  • MTBF : 15,000 hours
  • Colour : Blue

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