Introduction and Features
The latest addition to Thermaltake's Soprano Series of enclosures is the New Soprano VO900. It’s a full-featured mid-tower case that is specifically designed for quiet operation. The New Soprano uses sound-dampening foam on both side panels, a brushed aluminum door to close off all the exposed front drive bays, and comes with two quiet fans to keep the noise down and still provide good case cooling.
The New Soprano VO900is finished in classic black inside and out and comes with a front I/O panel that incorporates USB 3.0 ports and a top mounted HDD hot-swap Docking Station that supports both 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs.
Thermaltake Soprano VO900 Mid-Tower Case Key Features:
• Elegant streamlined design with black finish inside and out
• Brushed aluminum front door panel
• Sound-dampening foam on both side panels for quiet operation
• (1) 200mm Blue LED fan on front intake (600~800 rpm)
• (1) 120mm rear exhaust fan (1000 rpm)
• Removable front and bottom mounted dust filters
• Supports both ATX and Micro-ATX motherboards
• Two USB 3.0 ports on front I/O panel
• (4) 5.25" and (1) 3.5" exposed drive bays (behind front door)
• (5) 3.5"/2.5" internal HDD bays (with four removable trays)
• Top-mounted HDD hot-swap Docking Station (2.5" & 3.5")
• Innovative tool-free 5.25" and 3.5" drive bay mounting
• Cable-Clear cable management
• Support for liquid cooling systems
• Audiophile-style foot pads
Continue reading our review of the Thermaltake New Soprano VO9000 Case!!
Fractal Design Launches Define XL R2 Chassis
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 19, 2012 - 10:58 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: pc case, fractal design, chassis, atx case
Fractal Design recently introduced a new model to its Define XL series with the Define XL R2 that comes in either Black Pearl or Titanium Grey. The new case supports motherboards as large as XL-ATX and is packed with features for a relatively cheap $130 price.
See more photos and specifications after the break.
Introduction and Features
As promised, Corsair recently added four new power supplies to their AX Series including two new digital models, the AX860i and AX760i. The AX860i and AX760i PSUs bring most of the great features of Corsair's flagship AX1200i Digital ATX PSU (DSP control, Platinum efficiency, all-modular cables, and 7-year warranty) to PC gamers and enthusiasts who don't need a 1200W PSU and are looking in the range of 760 and 860 watts. Both the AX860i and AX760i incorporate Digital Signal Processing to deliver extremely tight voltage regulation, clean and efficient power with the ability to make real-time adjustments to various internal parameters. The included Corsair Link software can be used to monitor and adjust performance, noise (fan speed), and Over Current Protection (OCP) settings. The Corsair AX860i and AX760i Digital ATX power supplies have been certified 80Plus Platinum for efficiency and come with all modular cables.
In addition to the two new digital power supplies, Corsair is also revamping the traditional analog AX Series line with the addition of the AX860 and AX760 models, which include 80 PLUS Platinum certification, all-modular cables, and significantly lower noise levels than previous models.
Corsair AX860i Digital ATX PSU Key Features:
• Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for extremely clean and efficient power
• Corsair Link Integration for monitoring and adjusting performance
• 860 watts continuous power output (50°C)
• Dedicated single +12V rail with user-configurable virtual rails
• 80Plus Platinum certified, delivering up to 92% efficiency
• ZVS / ZCS technology for high efficiency
• Independent DC-to-DC converters
• Ultra quiet 120mm double ball bearing fan
• Silent, Fanless mode up to ~30% load
• Self-test switch to verify power supply functionality before installation
• High quality capacitors for uncompromised performance and reliability
• Fully modular cable system
• Conforms to ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 standards
• Universal AC input (90-264V) with Active PFC
• Over-current, over-voltage, under-voltage and short circuit protection
• Dimensions: 150mm (W) x 86mm (H) x 160mm (L)
• 7-Year warranty and legendary Corsair customer service
Please continue reading our Corsair AX860i Digital PSU review!
EVGA's 1500W PSU comes with a few strings attached
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 14, 2012 - 04:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: modular psu, kilowatt, superNOVA NEX1500 Classified, evga
It is never a good sign when a company does not want to send their hardware to review sites for testing and the ECGA superNOVA NEX1500 Classified PSU is no exception. [H] purchased one out of pocket to test and they what they saw did not impress them very much. One of the less than useful features they found was on the 12V rail, or rather on the eight 12V rails, each of which is rated at 20A. The connectors are certainly impressive, with 16 PCIe connectors, 12 SATA and a very thick power cord, which of course leads to a lot of cable clutter. Add to that the mislabelled PCIe lines and the need to register a user to be able to download the software to try to fix that problem and you can see why [H] failed this drive. At least it didn't burst into flames in the torture test, although it may have caused some hearing loss.
"EVGA did not want to send us one of its 1500W PSU beasts to review, so we went out and bought the $450 behemoth so we could put it through the HardOCP PSU grinder. EVGA clearly states that NEX1500 PSU is all about "no compromises," but we suggest that compromises are exactly what you will be making; more than a few too."
Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
- Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 650W PSU Review @ Legit Reviews
- Corsair AX860 Power Supply Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Corsair AX760 Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Enermax Triathlor FC 700w @ Kitguru
- Rosewill Fortress 750W Power Supply Review @ Pro-Clockers
- Corsair AX760 Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520W PSU @ SPCR
- Fractal Design Integra R2 750 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Rosewill Tachyon 750 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Fractal Design Integra R2 750 W @ techPowerUp
- Seasonic X-Series KM3 650 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- 28 750 t/m 950 watt PSU review: efficient and silent @ Hardware.info
- EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750G 750 W @ techPowerUp
- XFX ProSeries 850W XXX Edition Power Supply Video Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Cougar CMX V2 700 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Enermax Revolution87+ 850W Power Supply Unit Review @ NikKTech
- BeQuiet! Straight Power E9 700W @ Kitguru
- FSP Aurum 92+ 650 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Seasonic G-550 Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Rosewill Tachyon 1000 W @ techPowerUp
- Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 750W PSU Review @ Legit Reviews
- Kingwin Power Force 850 W @ techPowerUp
- AeroCool Strike-X 800W @ Kitguru
- Power Lost - A Better Way to Compare PSU Efficiency @ SPCR
Introduction and Features
Seasonic’s G Series includes four new power supplies ranging in output capacity from 360W up to 650W. The G Series was designed for customers who are building small to mid-size systems and they offer high quality but without all the bells and whistles of Seasonic’s popular Platinum and X Series. The new G Series is available in 360W, 450W, 550W, and 650W models. In comparison to the Seasonic Platinum and X Series, the G Series uses a high quality 120mm Adda fan paired with the S2FC fan control, rather than the super Sanyo Denki SanAce fan and S3FC fan control. The 360W model we are reviewing comes with standard fixed cables while the 450W, 550W and 650W models come with a hybrid combination of fixed and modular cables. All power supplies in the G Series are 80 Plus Gold certified and backed by Seasonic’s 5-year warranty.
Seasonic G Series 360W Power Supply Key Features:
• 80Plus Gold certified and eco-friendly
• DC-to-DC converter design provides superior dynamic response
• Tight voltage regulation (±3%)
• Smart and Silent Fan Control (S2FC)
• High reliability 105°C electrolytic capacitors
• Conductive polymer aluminum solid capacitors
• High current gold plated terminals
• 12cm Ball bearing cooling fan
• Ultra ventilation (Honeycomb structure)
• Video card support (one or more PCI-E connectors)
• Universal AC input (Full Range) and Active PFC
• 5-Year Warranty
Please continue reading our Seasonic G Series 360W power supply review!
Sapphire takes their Vapor-X knowhow to CPU cooling
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 7, 2012 - 04:56 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: sapphire, vapor-x
Vapor-X graphics cards are certainly recognizable as Sapphire has been creating them for a while now, but a CPU cooler is a completely new thing for them. With the two fans installed this beast can weigh up to 1.5kg and is 135 x 110.4 x 163.5mm (5.3 x 4.3 x 6.4 in), so make sure that your case is big enough to contain a cooler of this size. It also sits very close to the board which can be a problem for motherboards who have DIMM slots very close to the CPU socket. If you can install this cooler you will be impressed by the performance as it beat out the other coolers that Overclockers Club compared it to. The MSRP is $65, quite affordable for overclockers that need a heatsink of this magnitude.
"I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how the Vapor-X Universal CPU Cooler handled the thermal load of the Core i7 2600K and especially how it outperformed what has been my go to heat sink for family builds: the Noctua NH-U12P. Sapphire's Vapor-X Universal CPU cooler performed two degrees Celsius better than the Noctua at both stock and overclocked speeds. The Phantek's cooler shows more cooling is available with a massive air cooling solution that provides an 8 °C improvement over the Vapor-X when the CPU is overclocked. The Vapor-X is not meant to compete at that level yet still delivers acceptable temperatures when overclocked."
Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
- SilverStone Heligon SST-HE02 Passive CPU Cooler @ Tweaktown
- Silverstone Heligon HE01 CPU Cooler Review @ Hi Tech Legion
- Sapphire Vapor-X CPU Cooler Review @ Hi Tech Legion
- Reeven Arcziel 12 (RC-1203) CPU Cooler @ eTeknix
- Silverstone Heligon HE02 Fanless Passive Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
- Corsair H60 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Sapphire Vapor-X CPU Cooler @ Kitguru
- Zalman CNPS9900DF Heatsink Review @ Frostytech
- Arctic F12 Pro PWM 120mm Fan @ Kitguru
- Corsair Hydro Series H80i and H100i Liquid CPU Coolers Review @ Madshrimps
- The NEW Corsair H60 and H55 CPU Liquid Coolers @ [H]ard|OCP
- Corsair Hydro Series H60 & H55 Review @ Hardware Canucks
- Corsair H60 LCS 2013 edition @ Guru of 3D
- Corsair H100i Liquid CPU Cooler @ eTeknix
- Case Smithing: The Stealth Optical Bay Drive @ Tweaktown
- BitFenix Hydra Pro Fan/LED Controller @ Neoseeker
- Corsair H60 Compact Watercooler Review @ Ninjalane
- hermaltake Armor Revo Gene Review @ Neoseeker
- Enermax Hoplite ST Mid-Tower PC Chassis @ eTeknix
- Antec P280 Case @ Rbmods
- NZXT Phantom 820 @ Guru of 3D
- Thermaltake Level 10 GT Battle Edition Case Review @ TechwareLabs
- Thermaltake New Soprano Case Review @ Legit Reviews
- In Win GRone Full Tower Chassis @ eTeknix
- BitFenix Ghost Mid-Tower @ Tweaktown
- SilverStone Sugo SG09 Case Review @ Hardware Secrets
- BitFenix Ghost Chassis @ Kitguru
- Four Versions of Compact: Mini-ITX System Cases Roundup @ X-bit Labs
- SilverStone SUGO SST-SG09 MicroATX Chassis @ Benchmark Reviews
Stealth Introduces WPC-525F Waterproof PC
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 6, 2012 - 12:57 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: waterproof, stealth, PC, nettop, Intel, desktop, atom d525
Stealth has debuted a new rugged and waterproof computer called the WPC-525F. The nettop-like system is a ruggedized small form factor PC powered by Intel’s Atom D525 processor and ICH8M chipset. IP67/NEMA 6 rated, the company states that the WPC-525F is dust, rain, and splash resistant as well as, allegedly, being capable of being run over by a pickup truck and continuing to function.
If only the tire tread came as a standard silkscreen option...
On the outside, the WPC-525F is a black box with covered ports on the rear, a VESA mount on the bottom, and a power button on the front. Simple enough. Dimensions are 10.15” (W) x 6.22” (D) x 2.04” (H) (258x158x52mm), and it weighs 5.1 pounds without cables. Interestingly, instead of typical ports, it has water resistant “Bayonet” connections with cables that lead away from the back of the PC to the devices. With all the cables connected, you get the following IO options:
4 x USB 2.0
2 x RJ45 LAN (Gigabit Ethernet)
1 x RS232 serial
1 x VGA
1 x Power
It can accept 6 to 36V DC input for power. According to Stealth, the entire system will consume 16W when idle and 19W under full load.
The outside of the Stealth WPC-525F is impressive, but the internals are certainly not as flashy. It features an Intel Atom D525 dual core processor clocked at 1.8GHz (1MB cache), 4GB DDR3 RAM, and a 120GB MLC SSD. The board also includes two internal Mini-PCIe expansion slots. For video, the computer uses the onboard Intel GMA 3150. As implied by the ports listed above, there is no audio support on the WPC-525F, though you could add a USB sound card if it was really needed.
The WPC-525F is fanless and uses the aluminum chassis to facilitate cooling. The ruggedized PC is available now with a starting price of $1595 USD. (Keep in mind that that is without an OS or AC power adapter.) You can find more photos and specifications on the product page.
Prolimatech PT14015 Fan With 17 Blades Pictured
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 5, 2012 - 11:30 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: pt14015, prolimatech, fan, case fan, APL
Prolimatech reportedly has a new fan on the way that is based on the PT12025 fan developed by Prolimatech and Air Propulsion Labratory if photos uncovered by EXPreview hold true. The new PT14015 is a thin 140mm fan that is designed to balance airflow and noise as well as to be compatible with many tower-style heatsinks without blocking the memory slots.
The Prolimatech PT14015 is 15mm thick and has 17 14cm-long blades. Interestingly, it has mounting holes that line up with 120mm fans that should increase the compatibility with existing radiators and processor heatsinks. The curved fins have a sharp leading edge, and the 17 moving blades and increased 140mm form factor should make the PT14015 a fairly quiet fan.
There is no word yet on pricing or availability, but EXPreview has several photos of the new fan. As far as fans go, it looks pretty cool (pun intended).
Rosewill Announces 1600W Hercules PSU
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 3, 2012 - 08:56 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: rosewill, PSU, power supply, 80 PLUS Silver, 1600w
Rosewill recently took the wraps off of a monster of a power supply that is rated to deliver 1600W of power. The Hercules 1600W PSU is an 80+ Silver design that will provide efficient power for quad CrossFire X or Nvidia SLI multi-GPU setups. It measures 5.9” x 3.4” x 9.5” and should fit within most full ATX cases without issue.
Other features include sleeved cabling and a 135mm “silent” fan that has an automatically adjusting RPM setting as well as a Turbo button that will spin the fan up to its maximum speed.
Where the PSU really stands out though is in the sheer wattage and number of PCI-E power cables. It features two 12 volt rails at 110A and 50A each. Rosewill has divided the rails such that 12V1 handles all of the PCI-E power connectors (up to 1320W) and the 12V2 rail rated at a maximum of 600W and is used for all the other 12V connections.
The included power cables are as follows:
- 16 x 6+2 pin PCI-E
- 16 x SATA power
- 6 x 4 pin molex
- 2 x 4 pin floppy power
- 1 x 8 pin EPS
- 1 x 4+4 pin EPS
- 1 x 24 pin ATX
Needless to say, it has an impressive number of power cables. You might have a hard time finding enough graphics cards to use even half of the PCI-E power cables, for example. Fortunately, it has a semi-modular design (the ATX and CPU power cables are non-removable) so that you will not have to find enough room to hide all of the excess cables in the 5.25” bays (heh).
The 1600W Hercules power supply is available now with a price of $399 USD. While it will be overkill for most computers, it is impressive nonetheless and would be well suited to powering a rig with dual Powercolor Devil 13 7990 GPUs.
Sapphire Releases Vapor-X CPU Cooler
Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 1, 2012 - 10:18 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: vapor-x, sapphire, hsf, cpu cooler, cooling
Sapphire, a popular graphics card add-in-board partner in the US recently announced a new product that strays from the norm. Called the Vapor-X, it is a new tower-style CPU cooler aimed at enthusiasts.
The new cooler has the Vapor-X designation because it uses the company’s vapor chamber heatsink technology to take heat away from the processor into an aluminum fin array. The vapor chamber makes contact with the CPU, and from there four 7mm heatpipes transfer heat to the aluminum fins where two 120mm fans and a black plastic shroud channel cool air through. The fans are rated at 77 CFM and a maximum of 40 dBA. Both fans have variable (PWM) speeds from 495 to 2200 RPM.
The Vapor-X heatsink has a gross weight of 1524.8 grams (approximately 3.4 pounds) including the fans. Dimensions are 135 x 110.4 x 163.5mm, and it is designed to work within the constraints of the LGA 2011 socket without limiting you to low profile memory modules.
Unfortunately, Sapphire does not list a TDP rating for this heatsink, but it is aimed at high end processors with support for the following processor sockets:
- AMD: FM1, FM2, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+
- Intel: LGA 1366, LGA 1155, LGA 1156, LGA 775
While it has yet to show up at Newegg, it is reportedly on its way with a MSRP of $69.99. You can find more photos and specifications on Sapphire's product page.
My first major gaming graphics card was from Sapphire, so it is neat to see the company taking its graphics card cooling expertise and applying it to CPUs. The reviews should be interesting – particularly whether the shroud really helps to lower temps.
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