Author: Ľubomír Samák

Interview: Why Endorfy had to kill SilentiumPC

Interview | | Ľubomír Samák

The rebranding of SilentiumPC to Endorfy has only taken place relatively recently. We also reported on it in our test of the Endorfy Navis 240 liquid cooler, albeit we only hinted at it. However, we will now discuss the circumstances of this decision in more detail. With a set of questions that shed more light on the whole situation, we approached the representatives of Cooling, i.e. the owners of the SilentiumPC and now Endorfy trademarks. Read more “Interview: Why Endorfy had to kill SilentiumPC” »

Tested: 12VHPWR adapter on the RTX 4080 Suprim X won’t melt

Extra tests, Graphics | | Ľubomír Samák

The topic of “undersized” 12VHPWR power connectors for GeForce RTX 4090 is very popular lately. However, it will not apply to the more low-power RTX 4080 graphics cards. Before a complete analysis of MSI’s model – Suprim X – we first focused on the temperature of its 16-pin, and it must be said that everything is alright, with a large temperature headroom. Here, in short, the state of the matter will not change. Read more “Tested: 12VHPWR adapter on the RTX 4080 Suprim X won’t melt” »

Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX: “Optimized for gaming”

Extra tests, Motherboards | | Ľubomír Samák

With motherboards, we don’t like to write about “gaming” hardware. They usually have virtually no effect on gaming performance. In this case, however, there is something to the marketing slogan, although not for free, and in some cases the higher performance is paid for by higher power draw in games. However, there are naturally more reasons to care about or, on the contrary, to avoid the Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX. Read more “Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX: “Optimized for gaming”” »

Axagon CLR-M2: Large surface area (fins) with low height

Cooling, Extra tests, SSD coolers | | Ľubomír Samák

The Czech company Axagon has a lot of SSD coolers with attractive designs. You can see this at a glance – a monolithic, well-articulated heatsink always works. You can’t “go wrong” there. We’ll go through all available variants of Axagon coolers in our tests, but we’ll start with the one this company started with. The CLR-M2 has been enjoying user favor for a long time and in the tests we will find out if rightfully so. Read more “Axagon CLR-M2: Large surface area (fins) with low height” »

Arctic MX-6 thermal paste is out, a quick replacement for the MX-5

Cooling, News, TIMs | | Ľubomír Samák

Arctic is renumbering the MX thermal pastes (from 5 to 6) faster than ever before. The MX-5 arrived just last year, but earlier this year there was a report that some batches were drying up prematurely. As a result of such a shortcoming, customer confidence in these thermal pastes may have been so lowered that a new model is the best route to take from a business perspective. And here it is, unfortunately again without the basic parameters. Read more “Arctic MX-6 thermal paste is out, a quick replacement for the MX-5” »

Even more features. Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi test

Extra tests, Motherboards | | Ľubomír Samák

New motherboards for Intel Raptor Lake processors are again a bit more expensive in the same class than the previous generation Z690, but they are also better equipped. This also applies to the ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi, which now has more M.2 slots than SATA ports. What’s also neater is the mechanism for removing graphics cards from underneath the big tower coolers and overclocking the CPU using machine learning. That’s also an option. Read more “Even more features. Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi test” »

Noctua has frames (NA-IS1) to reduce microturbulence

Cooling, Fans, News | | Ľubomír Samák

Simple but clever. The Noctua NA-IS1-1x supplementary frames are an extension to the existing fan frames, which provide greater clearance from an obstacle, thus mitigating microturbulence, which naturally reduces the noise level of the entire cooling system. To what extent, you’ll find out later from our tests, for now let’s take a look at what it’s actually all about and how it all works. Read more “Noctua has frames (NA-IS1) to reduce microturbulence” »

Gentle Typhoon’s high vibrations resemble SilverStone’s sins

Cooling, Extra tests, Fans | | Ľubomír Samák

We come to the analysis of a fan that even if it dates back to cooling prehistory, many manufacturers are only now discovering the aerodynamic qualities of its design. Although the Gentle Typhoon is a great inspiration to many manufacturers (including Noctua), it does have one weakness. And a rather fundamental one. It is very high, excessive vibrations, which we will unusually devote a separate test to. Read more “Gentle Typhoon’s high vibrations resemble SilverStone’s sins” »

HWCooling tips to optimize the Noctua NF-A12x25 fan

Analysis, Cooling, Fans | | Ľubomír Samák

The Noctua NF-A12x25 fan may be the closest to perfection of the 120mm fans, but even the best things have their weaknesses. This will be no exception and there are elements of the NF-A12x25 that make sense to get into. And that this is true, Noctua will prove sooner or later in the next generation of 120 mm fans. But we’ll discuss the topic of what exactly to tweak, to do neater, right now.. Read more “HWCooling tips to optimize the Noctua NF-A12x25 fan” »

Raijintek isn’t done with GPU coolers, readying the Morpheus 8069

Cooling, GPU coolers, News | | Ľubomír Samák

Standalone graphics card coolers have not been increasing in numbers lately. This is probably also due to non-reference graphics cards that include a decent cooler. But Raijintek still sees some room in them and is preparing a new revision of Morpheus – 8069. Big heatsink, big fans, high TDP (360 W) and silent operation even with performance that is otherwise (with built-in coolers) “audible”. Read more “Raijintek isn’t done with GPU coolers, readying the Morpheus 8069” »

BeQuiet! Shadow Wings 2 (BL085): A cheaper option

Cooling, Extra tests, Fans | | Ľubomír Samák

With the addition of the Shadow Wings 2 tests, you now have a full overview of the features of all unlit BeQuiet! fans in 120 mm format. Shadow Wings 2 is between Silent Wings 3 and Pure Wings 2 in terms of both price and design. In terms of efficiency, they are closer to the more expensive Silent Wings 3 and in certain situations they give top-notch results. Given the lower price, this can be a very attractive option, but there are some things to look out for. Read more “BeQuiet! Shadow Wings 2 (BL085): A cheaper option” »

Older Windows 10 versions than 22H2 slow down Raptor Lake CPUs

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

The release of Intel Raptor Lake processors also coincided somewhat with the release of the latest update for Windows 10, the 22H2. We write this in this context because it (22H2) quietly removes the most significant performance shortcomings, and the difference to the detriment of the older builds can be as much as 57 %. Most of the time this update doesn’t change performance too much, but when it does, it changes it greatly. Read more “Older Windows 10 versions than 22H2 slow down Raptor Lake CPUs” »

Intel Core i9-13900K review: Biggest predator in the lake

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

A fully active Intel Raptor Lake CPU chip, that’s tremendous performance for all situations, but also a lot of worries. These revolve around how to use this great potential and not hold anything back. There are more obstacles than usual. When it’s not on a software basis, it’s a struggle with cooling for a change. And you already know that the 13th-generation Intel Core CPU is sometimes more efficient than the Ryzen 7000. Read more “Intel Core i9-13900K review: Biggest predator in the lake” »

The very first LCP fans with LEDs are from Thermaltake

Cooling, Fans, News | | Ľubomír Samák

Until now, no fans with ARGB LEDs have been made from liquid crystal polymers. Now, the Toughfan 12 RGB and Toughfan 14 RGB are changing that. And since the aerodynamic performance is heavily dependent on the rigidity of the blades, especially in restrictive environments, Thermaltake’s rendition will be some of the most efficient flashy fans overall. If not the most efficient, the Toughfans have the geometry for it. Read more “The very first LCP fans with LEDs are from Thermaltake” »

First results of Raptor Lake: A fairy tale in a single thread and…

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

We’ll be releasing our full tests of the Intel Core i9-13900K (Raptor Lake) tomorrow. The sample arrived at the editorial office after the gallows deadline and it was not possible to make the full tests, but for now we have at least something that may get you in the right mood. One of the pleasant surprises is the higher single-threaded performance at lower power draw than AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs. And that’s even at a record 5.8 GHz. Read more “First results of Raptor Lake: A fairy tale in a single thread and…” »

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