Along with a cooler release, Noctua has updated their roadmap, leaving no stone unturned. A lot of products are being pushed to a later date, including the upcoming 140 mm fans. But the good news is that at least fan grilles, which will surely appear in our tests sooner or later, have appeared out of the blue in the window for the coming months or maybe just weeks. Read more “Noctua plans changes: surprise fan grilles, delays of key products”
Are the SSD heatsinks that come with motherboards not enough? For such situations, Thermalight now has alternative solutions that don’t seem to lack cooling performance even for SSDs supporting PCI Express 5.0. The HR-09 2280 and HR-09 2280 Pro coolers are characterized by a more segmented design even compared to designs used for cooling CPUs in laptops or minicomputers. Read more “PCIe 5.0 SSDs are coming and Thermalright has big coolers for them”
At first glance, it’s the same board as the last tested Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 with one difference, that it supports the newer DDR5 memory standard. That’s how the Z690 Tomahawk WiFi is profiled, but looks are deceiving. A detailed analysis shows that there are some differences, including ones in design. Whether it’s for better or for worse is something you’ll learn exclusively from our measurements. Read more “MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi: DDR5 support, OC and decent VRM”
Alpine coolers are always cheap and are sold at prices below ten euros. Active models with fans can be seen as simple replacements for box coolers. However, while Intel has vastly improved the coolers supplied with Alder Lake CPUs between generations, the biggest change with the new Alpine 17 is the added LGA 1700 support. The difference in cooling performance over the Laminar RM1 has thus narrowed considerably. Read more “Arctic Alpine 17 CO: A classic that’s going to have a hard time”
From the B660 motherboard tests, we now move on to Z690. These are always better equipped at least at the chipset level. One of the main advantages is the ability to manually overclock processors with an open multiplier. The Tomahawk DDR4 seems to be an option that has a well prepared VRM for such performance boosts while still keeping to an affordable price. The important thing though is what kind of board it is from an overall perspective. Read more “MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4: Top chipset for mid price”
One fan after another is changed on the Mugen 5’s heatsink. It wasn’t that long ago that we wrote a report on the “S” variant (with the Wonder Snail 120 fan), which supports the Intel LGA 1700 platform. And there really are a lot of variants that differ mainly by the fan. But this latest one, also referred to as revision C, might be the most efficient. At least among those options that are designated for Europe. Read more “Kaze Flex II fan is now also on the Scythe Mugen 5 rev. C”
Last time, we looked at a motherboard that is suitable for use with cheaper processors thanks to its lower price. Now we have the roughly 50 EUR more expensive Gigabyte B660 Aorus Master DDR4. The premium here has a clear justification and reflects on the better features. The power delivery is significantly more efficient, the heatsinks are more effective, and the features are richer overall, including illumination. Read more “Gigabyte B660 Aorus Master DDR4: A board both efficient and flashy”
SilentiumPC timed the new generation of Spartan coolers well, just before the release of the entire line of AMD Ryzen processors with TDP up to 65 W, and you can also use them now to cool similarly low-power Alder Lakes from Intel. And that’s probably with some headroom for lower speeds. The 120-millimeter fan is already used by the base model Spartan 5, which starts at a price of less than 16 EUR, which is less than 400 CZK. Read more “Cheap Spartan 5 (Max) coolers are coming to the market”
As you know, the airflow of fans depends on the area of their blades. The larger the area, the better the fan is able to achieve higher efficiency. However, you can’t push it indefinitely, and maximum dimensions are limited by both heatsinks and PC cases. However, SilverStone has now come up with a fan that has the same hole spacing as the standard 140mm models, only with a larger cross-section compared to them. Read more ““Bigger, better”, SilverStone releases 160 mm sharkskin fan”
After Akasa, Arctic also updates a small, simple and inexpensive cooler for Intel LGA 1700. With the Alpine 17, it builds on the Alpine 12 design. The new Alpine (17) looks like a good option for 65-watt Alder Lake processors that ship without a cooler. The Intel The Alpine 17 will probably not outperform the Intel Laminar RM1, but it does have a few features that some may prefer it for. Read more “Arctic has an alternative to Intel box coolers, the Alpine 17 (CO)”
It could have been a very good, affordable fan with lighting. Moreover, the SickleFlow 120 ARB rotor design is efficient, at an excellent level, but all the good features are killed by one thing – an extremely noisy motor. It’s so noisy that a return trip from the factory output control would be appropriate. And it’s not just your everyday whir that you hear only from centimeters away. No one will ever miss this sound. Read more “Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 ARGB: If not for the horrible rattling…”
Why did we ignore the Ryzen 7 5800X for a long time and only add it to our tests now? Because it had a higher price, which made other models more attractive. However, thanks to AMD’s recent CPU price cuts, the R7 5800X will have its place in the market even after the release of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D with 3D V-Cache. That excellent price/raw (multi-threaded) performance ratio won’t be taken away from the 5800X. Read more “Test of the AMD CPU with the biggest price drop, the Ryzen 7 5800X”
As is Scythe’s habit, the Fuma 2 cooler comes with support for a new platform (Intel LGA 1700) with a new revision (B). However, in addition to compatibility, the fan speed range has also been expanded. Instead of Kaze Flex 120 PWM, Kaze Flex II 120 PWM are used. The combination of a narrower fan in the front and a wider fan in the middle remains. The inverted fan blades are also retained, which rotate in an unconventional opposite direction. Read more “Scythe Fuma 2 in rev. B: LGA 1700 support and higher performance”
Coolers supplied with processors are treated with prejudice. Often they don’t even get a chance and are immediately replaced by something “better”. The new Intel Laminar RM1 cooler is improved in many ways and to give you the best image of it, we have compared it both with its predecessor and with the popular SilentiumPC Fera 5 cooler. Tests on a CPU with limited power draw or at full power? Both! Read more “Intel Laminar RM1 box cooler test. Why (not) throw it away?”
Minicomputers with UCFF motherboards are usually quite noisy and not suitable for places with higher pollution levels. However, there is a large selection of fanless solutions in the Akasa range, including waterproof designs or server rack-formatted cases. For a convenient overview across the current models, we have a comprehensive overview of alternative Akasa cases for both AMD and Intel platforms. Read more “Small PCs should be cooled passively. An overview of Akasa cases”
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