Do you know what first carried the BeQuiet! logo? It wasn’t a cooler, it wasn’t a fan, it wasn’t a PSU, and it wasn’t a case. These components were added to the portfolio only later. BeQuiet! started on something completely different, relatively simpler. Over time, however, the range of components has grown considerably. Let’s take a look at what the company has been gradually getting up to. Read more “It’s been two decades since the creation of BeQuiet!”
Remember the series of picture puzzles from a few years ago? We’ll come back to them a little bit, or rather to their format. This time, however, it will not be anything regular, but a one-off event where one of the solvers will be rewarded with two Noctua NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fans. And why these? You’ll soon find out… but you may have already guessed, if you were able to identify which fan the detail in the photo at the head of the article belongs to. Read more “HWC puzzle (2022): Can you guess what’s in the photo?”
With the new generation of AMD processors (Ryzen 7000), the shape of the heatspreader (IHS) is changing after an extremely long time. It is also significantly different compared to Intel processors, and this again creates room for debate on what the most sensible technique for applying thermal paste should look like. One suggestion has already appeared, in the manual for the Noctua NT-H1 and NT-H2 pastes. Read more “How to apply thermal paste on Ryzen 7000? Noctua is clear on this”
In Arctic, critical errors are not covered up. At least recently. In the span of a few months, the company has already disclosed a second possible flaw in its product design.After the MX-5’s thermal paste drying up, it’s now about the crumbling seals of some Liquid Freezer II AIO coolers for a change. The pro-consumer behavior is commendable, with Arctic doing everything it can to make things right. Read more “Liquid Freezer II may have faulty sealing, Arctic admits”
These are truly unconventional fans. While the rotor shapes tend to vary across different models, in different materials, the XPG Hurricane design clearly stands out among the rest. They have sort of dual blades and prominent protrusions and, imagine, some sort of openings as well. Overall, the shape of the blades is more complex and it is not a typical quadrilateral geometry either. How can this possibly work? Read more “Adata is not afraid, they gave the XPG Hurricane holey blades”
AMD’s first processor with 3D V-cache is a rather controversial piece of hardware. Sure, it may be the ultimate in gaming performance, but the desired effect is more “on paper” than practical, and when it does come, it’s in very rare cases. So that you don’t end up disappointed with a virtually single-purpose processor that may not even excel at gaming, we’ve broken it all down in detailed tests. Read more “AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D: Best for gaming? In practice, rarely”
Fractal Design is not slowing down in recent days and is releasing one case after another. The line has finally made its way to the more affordable Focus cases. While you’ll pay more for the Focus 2 than the Focus G (Mini), the price increase should match the higher quality standard. And these are still cases that stay under a hundred euros. In the basic variant (without tempered glass, with two metal side panels and unlit fans) even way under. Read more “Focus 2 are Fractal Design’s new entry level cases”
It’s not a joke. It may sound silly, but know that we are not presenting you with anti-physics. On the contrary, the foundation in physics here is very good. Different colors of materials, as long as they are not just a surface finish but a homogeneous mass, can (and often do) affect their strength. Our sensitive measurements reveal well the differences that exist between the white and black variants. Read more “When color matters: Corsair AF120 Elite weaker in white”
To celebrate the launch of the Akasa Alucia H4 and Soho H4 coolers with Plus attributes (i.e. finally with LGA 1700 support), the chunky dual-tower cooler was also featured in one image. All its parameters are already known. After a very long time, the most powerful Akasa cooler to date – the Venom Medusa model – will see a successor. Akasa’s materials state that this cooler is optimized for the most powerful Intel Alder Lake processors. Read more “New dual-tower Akasa cooler, the Soho H7, comes after 10 years”
You know, the less you expect from something, the bigger the surprise can be in the end. Not that we approach Corsair’s elite fan with any preconceived notions, but for an absolutely top-notch fan, its design seems a bit simple. And that’s the magic of the AF120 Elite fan. Someone who knows what they’re doing was behind its design, because they did a hell of a job. Read more “Corsair AF120 Elite: Beware, this fan is a force to be reckoned with”
In addition to “gaming” and “silent” fans, Gelid has a category for fans for cryptocurrency mining rigs. With a bit of gloating, we can note that they came perhaps a bit late. Still, high-speed fans with tremendously high airflow and static pressure are relatively few and thus will find a use. Both of the new fans are from the Gale range and are 120 mm in size while maintaining the standard height of 25 mm. Read more “Gelid seeks holes in the market with fans for mining rigs”
In HWCooling tests, there will no longer be uninteresting fans that serve “only” to build benchmarks. We have passed this phase. From now on, database building will have a different character and each additional fan will enrich the knowledge significantly. We’ll get right into the thick of it, with Cooler Master’s most expensive fan already riding the wave of the framed rotors that are coming in strong. And do you know why? Read more “Cooler Master MasterFan SF120M: Blades must be framed”
After the June announcement, it seems that Antec has everything ready to ship the Storm 120 fans going on sale. We don’t usually write two news articles about one fan, but we’re going to make an exception now. Apart from the fact that the price is already known, this one should mainly be a mid-range dark horse according to the design details. Technically the Storm 120 look really good and efficient. Read more “Antec Storm 120 fans are out (and on their way to our testlab)”
Noctua has quietly, almost secretly, added a new package of NT-H1 thermal paste with the additional designation SW. These are the initials of the English words spatula and wipes. It is with this accessory that the NT-H1 SW pack is supplemented. And in particular, the addition of the spatula raises the question of whether Noctua has revised the recommended technique in applying thermal paste. Read more “Commentary: Is adding a spatula to the Noctua NT-H1 useful?”
Few fans can wow us at first glance the way the Alucia SC12 from Akasa has done. Its build looks quite compelling in this price range. However, on a second look after detailed testing comes some sobering. But even though the high (even exorbitantly high) expectations have not been met, in some aspects the Alucia SC12 beats attractive, similarly cheap competitors in some situations. Read more “Akasa Alucia SC12: Efficient shapes vs. soft material”
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