Cases, Cooling & PSU News - Page 18

NZXT has issued a warning to owners of its H1 mini-tower case that they should stop using their computers and contact support. There's a flaw in the case that could cause a fire.

NZXT's H1 case got great reviews when it launched earlier this year. We gave the chassis a 96% overall rating when we looked at it in February. However, there seems to be a fatal flaw in the GPU riser card system design that could cause a severe hazard.

NZXT has identified that the screws that hold the riser PCB to the case can, in some cases, cause a short, which could cause sparks and potentially a fire. The company is taking the situation quite seriously and has paused all sales of H1 cases, including its own pre-built systems. NZXT has also communicated with its reseller network that sales of the case should be put on hold until the problem is rectified.

EKWB today revealed a fresh take on the monoblock concept. The company's new Magnitude multiblock system cools your CPU and VRM and makes contact with other heat-generating components.

The basic concept behind a monoblock is simple: use one block to cool your CPU and voltage regulation hardware (VRMs) to enable boundary-pushing overclocks. EK's new multiblock takes that idea and puts a little bit of a twist on it. Instead of a single block to contact both parts, the multiblock includes individual blocks for the CPU and VRMs that mate with special barb fittings to create an overly fancy monoblock cooler.

The EK-Quantum Momentum AORUS Z490 Xtreme is EK's first attempt at a multiblock cooler, and it addresses more than just the CPU and VRMs. The new block also makes direct contact with the power stages, chokes, and the 10G LAN controller on GIGABYTE's AORUS Z490 Extreme motherboard.

Lian Li is about to release the smaller version of its highly popular PC-011D series cases. But don't let the compact size fool you. This case won't limit your build to compact parts.

Lian Li first announced the PC-110D Mini at CES 2020, and we've been waiting all year for it. The company isn't quite ready to ship the new case, but it's prepared to take your money, so the release must be close.

Lian Li's PC-011D is one of the most popular case series on the market today for a good reason. If you want to show off your build, especially if you have a fancy custom water cooling system, there are not many other options that give you such a clear view of your hardware because of its tempered glass front and side panel that give you a full open view into the case.

Last week, we reported that it looked like EK was building a thermoelectric cooling solution for extreme overclocking fans. It turns out that cooler isn't EK's technology, although the company will sell it. EK just announced the QuantumX Delta TEC water block with Intel Cryo Cooling technology.

The EK QuantumX Delta TEC water cooler features a new "large surface flow-through cooling engine," which allows fluid to rapidly pass through the block to extract heat from the hot side of the TEC plate. EK had to redesign its cooling engine for this purpose because of the extreme heat load that the TEC plate produces. Unlike regular EK water blocks, the QuantumX Delta TEC block can withstand sub-ambient temperatures.

Thermal-electric cooling works by sending an electrical current through a plate with dramatically different temperatures on either side. In this case, the heat from a CPU and the cooling from a water block. When you run a current between the two conductive surfaces, the cold surface absorbs heat, and the hot surface dissipates heat much faster.

EK water blocks have not announced that it's building a thermoelectric Peltier cooler (TEC), but Linus Sebastien used one in his latest LTT video, so the company must be at least experimenting with the idea.

The Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel released a video called "The Fastest Gaming PC in the World!...For Now!," which features a cherry-picked Core-i9 10900K with a hefty 5.4GHz overlock on it. To achieve that level of performance, Linus used a cooler from EK Water Blocks that he said he isn't allowed to talk about, but he did show it off.

The cooler in question is a huge CPU block with an EK logo in the center. Linus said it's one of the heaviest coolers he's held in a while. He also pointed out a few leads that come out of the block, hinting at what is unique about it.

EK introduced a pair of monoblock coolers for the ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero: One with a clear top and RGB lighting and one without.

The EK-Quantum Momentum ROG Maximus XII Hero monoblock offers a large nickel-plated electrolytic copper base that makes contact with both the CPU and the motherboard VRMs, allowing for maximum cooling of your critical components under load.

EK is offering two variants of the new monoblock. As is typical with EK blocks, the EK-Quantum Momentum ROG Maximus XII Hero monoblock is available with a clear acrylic top and a nickel-plated base. The clear version includes digital addressable RGB LEDs, which are fully compatible with ASUS Aura Sync lighting control.

EK announced that it would no longer sell its entry-level EK Fluid Gaming aluminum water cooling systems to consumers. To avoid the risk of mixing metals, all EK custom cooling components will now be copper.

EK introduced the Fluid Gaming lineup a few years ago as an entry-level line of water-cooling parts for mainstream consumers. The Fluid Gaming series featured aluminum components, which were cheaper to manufacture and allowed EK to sell kits at an attractive price point. The Fluid Gaming line worked well, but the aluminum parts meant that Fluid Gaming parts weren't compatible with the rest of EK's water cooling components.

EK said that the Fluid Gaming brand is not going away, and neither are aluminum parts. EK will continue to sell pre-built gaming PCs under the Fluid Gaming PC brand, and those systems will include aluminum Fluid Gaming components. System builders will also have the option of selling Fluid Gaming hardware in their pre-built gaming machines.

Razer has just introduced two new Tomahawk gaming cases, with the new Tomahawk A1 (ATX) for $199 and the new Tomahawk M1 (Mini-ITX) for $179. Check them both out in the video below:

Both of the new Razer Tomahawk cases have huge tempered glass doors that open from a swiveling mount at the rear, which looks great -- and speaking of looking great you have some gorgeous RGB lighting as usual.

I should note that this isn't the first Razer case, as the company teased its Tomahawk Elite at CES 2019 with gull-wing tempered glass doors -- except, the Tomahawk Elite was only a proof of concept. Fast-forward to CES 2020 and the company showed off its Tomahawk Gaming Desktop pre-built PC, but it didn't reach the market.

Today Antec announced the DP502 FLUX PC case, a mid-tower chassis that brings substantial cooling and space for just $69.99.

Antec's new DP502 FLUX PC case is the latest in the company's F-LUX line, which emphasizes temperature control. The DP502 makes good on Antec's promise with 5x 120mm built-in fans, including 3x ARGB fans in the front, 1x fan in the rear for exhaust, and one reverse fan above the PSU shroud to help cool the installed GPU. The case can also fit up to 9x 120mm fans.

The DP502 can fit full-sized GPUs including tri-fan cards, and has GPU clearance of up to 402mm in length, and up to 360mm radiators in the front ant top, with enough space for a 120mm radiator in the rear. The tempered glass panel ensures your build can shine from afar, and a built-in LED controller makes RGB fan installation a breeze. There's room for up to 7 drives; 3x 3.5-inch drives, 2x 2.5-inch drives, and room for a 5.25-inch optical disc drive.

Alphacool today launched a new product that is sure to help avid water-cooling enthusiasts. The Alphacool Leak Testing Tool enables you to pressure test your loop before filling it up to give you extra reassurance that you won't soak your expensive components when you boot up for the first time.

Alphacool designed the Leak Testing Tool to help you weed out potential problems with your water-cooling setup, such as loose end caps or a bad seal on a hard tube fitting. The last thing you want is cooling fluid all over your expensive parts.

The new Leak Testing Tool works somewhat like a bike bump. It features a hose attached to a hand pump and a pressure gauge that hooks up to a free G1/4 thread in your loop. With a few hand pumps, you can pressurize your loop to the desired level (components from different vendors will have different maximums, so check your instructions). If the pressure holds for 15 to 20 minutes, you can be reasonably confident that your system won't spring a leak when you fill it.