Same model, different pieces. Differences in vibrations can be dramatic. Especially if they are cheap fans with high manufacturing tolerances. While most Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM fans have some vibration, you can also come across “golden” samples that don’t vibrate at all. This is admittedly a very rare but existing situation. The variance of vibration is much greater than you might think. Read more “15× Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM fan in vibration tests”
If you don’t want to skimp on a motherboard for an AMD CPU, but also don’t want to pay more than you need to, the MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi appears to be an attractive option. The price is well under two hundred euros and yet it can handle even the Ryzen 9 7950X without any power limits. Although there are also things calling for improvement, the cheapest MSI B650 board in ATX format defends its position in a lower-budget gaming build. Read more “MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi: Axe for “expensive” and “weak” boards”
Does it or does it not clearly beat the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM? The Phanteks T30 doesn’t like second places, and in the vast majority of cases it doesn’t get to them, outperforming competing fans in its format (120mm) by a good chunk when optimally setup. But that was a bit of a must to justify the extra thickness, which is associated with poorer compatibility after all. Read more “Phanteks PH-F120T30: The fan that pushes boundaries”
We’ve had cases with a display in our tests before, but MSI has taken its usability to a new level. The touchpad can still be used for control, but it also serves as an indicator for various useful things. Sure, the case sits pretty high at three hundred euros, but it’s not just about the extra cost of the display. The MEG Prospect 700R also justifies the price in other aspects. For example, the really precise build quality. Read more “MEG Prospect 700R. New definition of high-end by MSI”
It took longer than I planned, but we finally got our hands on an Aorus gaming laptop. Specifically, the 15-inch model set for 2023 with a Raptor Lake Core i7 processor and an Ada Lovelace RTX 4070 graphics card. This configuration may impress with a rather attractive price. But then again, in the fierce competition from ROG, MSI and Legion models, the Aorus 15 BSF won’t have it so easy. Read more “Aorus 15 BSF (2023): The less expensive of the powerful laptops”
When something is “worth it” and it’s bigger than enough for some, making a smaller version is definitely a good idea. Something similar happened with the Arx 700 Air, from which the scaled-down Arx 500 Air was derived. It has taken all the good qualities and also the wider range of features of the original case. This includes, for example, five pre-installed 140mm fans. So there is no shortage of proper air circulation, and the only question is the noise level. Read more “Endorfy Arx 500 Air: Extra airflow at volume below 50 litres”
There are only a few white fans with ARGB. Still, BeQuiet’s Light Wings models have some rather unique features as this rare commodity. That’s true visually as well. But they also have high performance or airflow to noise ratio. For our tests this time, out of the two options, we chose the high-speed design, which has its “own” blade geometry. But it also handles very low speeds to boot. Read more “Escape from darkness – BeQuiet! Light Wings White (BL101)”
Today’s article serves as an introduction of a new player on our market, besides the usual review. This is Valkyrie, a company that offers mainly liquid AIO coolers, although you can also find one air cooler in their offer. The focus of today’s article, however, is the Dragonfang 360, which is a liquid AIO cooler that promises solid efficiency at a reasonable price, which of course I intend to rigorously test on my test rig. Read more “Valkyrie Dragonfang 360 – New player has entered the chat”
Clockwise rotation fans are quite a rarity, you don’t normally come across them. However, Scythe, for example, makes such models and for good reason. Why not take it the other way around? In terms of standalone operation, of course, it doesn’t matter. In series, in the position of the second fan, it is possible to achieve higher cooling performance on CPU coolers compared to using fans with the same direction of rotation. Read more “Scythe Kaze Flex II 120: Wild ride in reverse”
Although the choice of components for SFF cases is often limited to a certain size, this is not the case with the Corsair 2000D Airflow. Not when it comes to a graphics card or CPU cooler. Aside from the fact that this case only takes up a very small area on the desk/ground, it can also impress with huge perforations on each side. We’ll break down the sum of all the positives and negatives in this review, which traditionally includes cooling tests as well. Read more “Corsair 2000D Airflow: Tall case with a small footprint”
You might be saying that you know the rotor of this fan and that Valkyrie was inspired by the Gentle Typhoon D1225C a little too much. But that’s okay. Mainly the positives were taken from said template and the biggest negative – high vibrations – was avoided. And although some things could still be worked on, in the context of ARGB LED models the X12 fan fares quite well. Read more “Valkyrie X12: Impressive rotor, a bit undermined by the motor”
“Modifying” a cooler by replacing the fan with a relatively more efficient model may not always lead to the desired result. Sometimes you will get significantly less improvement than you would expect, other times you may even be worse off. This means that at equal noise levels, you will achieve lower cooling performance, and it doesn’t really matter what fan you use. Sometimes the design of the heatsink has the final say. Read more “Psychoacoustic optimization of coolers… A gag? Physics”
An older, even old, but still relevant fan. The selection among cheaper, 140mm models is quite small and when you look at the design of the Silent R3, it looks quite good at first glance, even technically. Moreover, it is a slower-speed fan, which doesn’t automatically mean that it avoids resonant frequencies, but it does promise to run rather quietly. And at those lower noise levels, also an attractive price/cooling performance ratio. Read more “Fractal Design Silent R3 140 mm: Low speed, “no” vibration”
The biggest shortcoming of Arctic’s original P-series fans is the rumbling sound profile. The manufacturer realized this and decided to do something about it. Sensibly, by implementing a hoop to eliminate the critical vibrations that are the source of the annoying acoustic profile. The implementation turned out well, and already the P12 A-RGB shows how much quieter it is compared to the older P12 model. And the list of improvements doesn’t end there. Read more “Arctic P12 PWM PST A-RGB: Hoop? Anti-rumble rescue”
Cheaper, yet decent cases are not completely gone from the market yet. One such case is the Prime AP201 from Asus’ lower-end. Considering the price well under 100 EUR, you get a case with a above-standard build quality, which is characterized by the “infinite” perforation. Cool air is thus available to components theoretically from all sides. But this also means that it doesn’t damp noise too much. The question is what weighs more in the bigger picture. Read more “Asus Prime AP201: The emmental among computer cases”
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