Cases, Cooling & PSU - Page 15

Announced at this year's Computex, Enermax's PlentiMax series has been a solid foundation for any high-end gaming computer, but this year Enermax decided to combine the two latest ATX standards into one powerful, future-proof design. This allows the end-user to be able to move from one standard to the other without having to purchase a new PSU to accommodate the new standard.

At Computex 2023, Enermax showed off their new Plentimax Gemini 1200w Platinum ATX 3.0 and ATX12VO, which is impressive in its own right to have both ATX standards built into one platform, thus saving cost to the consumer if one ATX standard is more applicable to the situation or build.

Having a full list of features that include a native 600w PCIe 12VHPWR cable, the ability to reach 74% efficiency at only a 2% load, ECO intelligent overload and overhead protections, the fan also remains inoperative with system loads under 60%, a 50C product reliability certification testing, and having a very small form factor of 150 x 150 x 86mm.

Yesterday we were invited out to the ASUS HQ here in Taipei where we were fortunate enough to be shown some new products ahead of Computex, which is starting today.

One of the new products that were available at the ProArt booth area; ASUS, will display the complete ProArt component ecosystem, featuring the new ProArt LC 420 all-in-one CPU cooler, as well as a range of ProArt motherboards and graphics cards renowned for their minimalist design, all-in-one CPU cooler, as well as a range of ProArt motherboards and graphics cards renowned for their minimalist design.

"ProArt is designed to empower creators, artists, and case modders alike, and this ethos will be exemplified through a stunning ProArt case mod artwork entitled Island, which will also be at the show. Inspired by the ProArt spirit, it beautifully exemplifies the seamless integration of technology and creativity."

Complete off-the-shelf PC builds for gaming and content creation have been a thing since the earliest days of home computing - although we didn't call it content creation back then. In 2023, all-in-one desktop PCs come in a range of flavors, and with Cooler Master being a mainstay for cases and cooling, it's now ready to unleash some pretty exciting all-in-one desktop PCs of its own.

The Cooling X and the Sneaker X both feature bold and striking designs. The Sneaker X stands out because it's "a stylish desktop PC inspired by iconic sneakers" explicitly designed for sneaker enthusiasts and collectors. The Cooling X is impressive because it's a compact, fully liquid-cooled desktop PC with a Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card.

The Cooling X features a custom in-house pump designed for silent and effective liquid cooling, with the solution including specific liquid cooling side panels (one for the CPU and one for the GPU) - which is how the PC keeps its overall size in check.

The idea of a fanless PC is usually associated with a rig used for non-gaming tasks, productivity, and some multimedia. Perhaps playing games from the 16-bit generation if you're looking for an interactive fix, but nothing from RTX On era.

Streacom's new stylish-looking SG10 case is looking to change that and has been designed for a fanless gaming system that can dissipate up to 600W of thermal energy. This means you could easily equip this with a decently high-end CPU and a GPU like the new GeForce RTX 4070 or RTX 4070 Ti. Think of it as a massive heatsink and PC case in one.

Streacom plans to showcase this passively-cooled no-fan chassis at Computex 2023 in a few weeks, and as the TweakTown crew will be on the ground reporting from the event, we'll be there to see it in person.

Not that it's practical to take the axial fans from NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 and GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards and use them in a DIY CPU cooling setup, but you can get your hands-on the same fans, which is exactly what someone has done with the results shared on the Chiphell forums.

The axial fans from the Founders Edition GPUs were used to cool an Intel Core i5-13600KF processor, where the operating temperature dropped considerably when stacked up against traditional cooling. Compared to the Thermalright TL-C12 cooler, the temperature dropped by up to nine degrees Celsius when using NVIDIA's Founders Edition fans during the Cinebench R23 benchmark.

Compared to the Cooler Master Mobius 120P ARGB, a more well-known cooler, temperatures dropped by up to five degrees Celsius.

The days of displays with plenty of junk in the trunk - CRTs from the 1990s and earlier - are well and truly over. The new thing is flat screens built on LCD technology with thin profiles weighing less than 100 pounds. Still, several people swear by the image quality you get with a classic CRT, especially when playing retro games from the MS-DOS era.

And with that, János Kerekes has taken the classic Sony Trinitron beige CRT monitor and turned it into an all-in-one water-cooled gaming PC called the Oazis ROG. As featured on Custom PC, this Mini-ITX Intel Core i7 and AMD Radeon R9 Nano rig is impressive and would make for an excellent retro gaming PC.

The glass panel and innards have been removed, which János describes as a "huge headache" due to the precision and Sony using all of the available space inside the Sony Trinitron CRT. It turns out they were massive for a reason. And because CRT monitors are front-loaded in terms of weight, the PC parts had to be arranged in a specific way to maintain an even weight distribution via custom aluminum sheets.

The Cougar Cratus is a new and visually stunning min-tower PC case, with the company describing the angled interior layout as an "industry-first revolutionary innovation."

And it's a pretty straightforward design principle to wrap your head around on account of hot air rising, with the Cougar Cratus creating a cyclical current to ensure the hot air rises and cool air falls for maximum airflow. The image showcases cool air entering the case from the front and underneath, pushing hot air through the top and rear.

The visual look of the Cougar Cratus is quite something, with the case made up of a precision-tooled steel tube frame and four tempered glass panels that are also contoured to match the case's shape. Curved glass is definitely premium stuff for a PC case.

LIAN LI has launched a pair of new RGB products, the most notable being the new STRIMER PLUS V2 12VHPWR cables designed for ATX 3.0 power supplies and GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards.

It features a custom 12VHPWR male connector on the GPU, following the ATX 3.0 standard with improvements to the original design to ensure a stronger connection to the GPU. This is excellent news, as 12VHPWR connectors made so many headlines last year due to potential issues with the connection on the GPU side.

LIAN LI notes that the cables can deliver up to 600W, sustain high temperatures, and even sharper bends. Part of the housing can also be removed to allow for an even greater bend closer to the connector to add additional support for narrow PC cases. The wide array of LEDs (with 8 or 12 light guides) grabbed our attention.

That little note about fans in the headline is in reference to be quiet!'s fun little April Fools announcement from the other day, all about a new range of PC fans powered by AI without fan blades.

The acclaimed German manufacturer of PC components has brought things back to reality and listened to community feedback with the announcement that the impressive be quiet! Light Wings ARGB fans are now available in white.

White PC components are becoming increasingly popular, making the Light Wings White range a great option for white PC Cases. These are basically the same Light Wings that we know, but now in white - so they feature the same high-performance, low-noise operation with funky ARGB lighting thanks to the stylish LED ring on the fan's inlet.

The new 80 PLUS Gold certified ENERMAX REVOLUTION ATX 3.0 Series of power supplies, available in 1000W and 1200W models, are tailor-made for the next generation of GPUs and high-performance CPUs.

With the GeForce RTX 40 Series from NVIDIA shifting to the new 12VHPWR connector for power, most owners have had to use the adapters for power supplies. With the new REVOLUTION ATX 3.0 Series from ENERMAX, a single native PCIe Gen 5 12+4pin (12VHPWR) cable can supply up to 600W to a graphics card.

These power supplies are ready for GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 graphics cards. And for good measure, ENERMAX also includes an extra dual 8-pin to 12+4-pin (12VHPWR) cable for high-performance users to connect an additional graphics card.