For computers with a low consumption, and even more for passive configurations, it is good to have a processor with reduced TDP, ideally 35 W or lower. Intel have such models on the market (T models), but they are still missing in AMD’s offer, at least among their new Zen CPUs. This is about to change with the arrival of new Ryzen (4 cores + iGPU) based on APU Raven Ridge. Read more “Ryzen processors with iGPU and 35W TDP”
Minicomputers and NUC barebones from Intel is nothing new. But this year, there will be an interesting innovation: a model with dedicated graphics card. Not in the style of high-end Hades Canyon (Kaby Lake-G with Vega GPU) of course. It’s going to be NUC with a cheaper Radeon in some classic chassis, and the price will be lower. This model will probably be one of the first computers with 10nm Intel processors – which may be related. Read more “NUC with 10nm Cannon Lake processors and Radeon GPU”
There’s a new speciality for fans of liquid cooling and Intel processors: a water block created for delided CPUs. You may have already thought about a liquid cooler that would be installed directly on-die. Arek Tobiszewski has designed a block for this purpose, its very base serve as a heatspreader for LGA 1151 processors. Read more “Ncore V1: water block for processors without a heatspreader”
The long awaited motherboards with the Intel B360 chipset for Coffee Lake processors are finally here! We managed to acquire one attractive piece from MSI for our spring competition. You can participate by sending a photo of your rig with a brief description of the cooling design in it. The most interesting configurations will be appropriately rewarded. The board is the main prize, but there are also many quality fans in the game. Read more “Spring competition: trade a photo of your rig for a new motherboard”
Engineers from Impactics might not be creating product every week, but when they come up with something, it’s usually an extraordinary construction. This also applies to their new chassis – DMono with a prosaic attribute. Its design is remarkable and with the emphasis on fully passive configurations. It can do more than just absorb the heat from CPU. Read more “Impactics DMono 1, already on the market”
We’re gathering 120mm fans to make a big comparative test for you. We will have all categories represented: cheap, expensive, slow, fast, with various bearings types, optimized for system cooling, optimized for heatsinks, and so on. We already have the idea about the test procedures, but we don’t want to omit your tips, feel free to leave some in comments. Read more “We are preparing a big test of fans. Do you have some tips?”
The Ninja cooler series is very unique. It has been twelve years since the introduction of the first model. Even after such a long time, the Japanese company constantly enhances its original design and increases its efficiency. After four successful generations, they are releasing the fifth Ninja. Modestly, without fanfare and any drama, the way they always do. All the more appealing surprise. Read more “The 5th generation of the legendary Ninja is here!”
We talked about ASRock Mini-STX boards recently, and here we have another interesting product. They’ve released a new version of DeskMini barebone with Mini-STX. However, this time it’s a real change. DeskMini GTX or RX is no longer dependant on integrated graphics but has its own GPU. Read more “New barebones from ASRock: Mini-STX with GPU”
We like small computers, so we are delighted with the Mini-STX format which represents boards that are even smaller than Mini-ITX but still with “full-fledged“ processors. Mini-STX does not allow the use of external graphics cards, making AMD processors with their relatively strong iGPU an interesting choice. Mini-STX boards have not been produced for them yet, but it looks like ASRock is about to change that. Read more “ASRock Mini-STX boards for AMD processors?”
HDPLEX cases have a pretty good reputation among supporters of completely silent passive PCs. For several years, this company has been producing various solid aluminum cases in which cooling is based on the heat transfer from CPU or GPU to the outer casing that disperses it around. Now HDPLEX has released an interesting piece: H3 V2 for Mini-ITX configurations. Read more “HDPLEX H3 V3: a small Mini-ITX case that can cool 80 W passively”
AMD has released the first Ryzen desktop processors with iGPU this week. APU Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G could be attractive for compact computers because it’s easier to cool a single heat source than to cool both CPU and GPU, and the integrated graphics cards of these processors should have performance equal to GeForce GT 1030. However, it also means that the old enemy has returned, thermal compounds. Read more “Ryzen iGPU and the return of thermal compounds”
Basically everything in your computer can be now cooled not only by air but also by a liquid – there are blocks for CPU, graphics cards, memory modules, and even SSD. Only power supplies stood out for a long time as components which must have a fan. Times are about to change. The company FSP is releasing a power supply that can be cooled trough a liquid cooling circuit. Read more “FSP power supply with a liquid cooling: fanless up to 700 W”
There is something appealing about the possibility of taking the fastest hardware that exists in the PC world and putting it in the smallest case possible rather than using conventional tower case. We have seen this with X299E-ITX/ac mini-ITX board for Skylake-X processors. We probably won’t witness a similar scenario for Ryzen Threadripper, because of the size of the socket, but there is a new MicroATX model at least. Read more “There is no Mini-ITX for Threadripper, but there is MicroATX already”
We have finally acquired samples of the current models of Scythe processor coolers which have ambitions to be crowned in the upper middle class. They proved their dominance several times in this segment. We always pay special attention to exceptional components and we gladly do some extra tests outside our classic procedures. In this “preview”, you can let us know what exactly it should be. Read more “We have new precious guests: Fuma rev. B and Mugen 5 rev. B”
Here are the results. And this time without any testing of hardware. We have analysed your effort and chosen the winner whose contribution was the best. Also, there are three lucky persons that were randomly selected. Others who participated will have another chance to win something very soon, we promise. A big thanks to everybody for the support (also to people that did not participate in the competition)! Read more “Competition – Winter 2017: The winners + thanks!”
Latest comments