Fractal Design North Mesh: Case like a piece of furniture

Extra tests, PC cases | | Martin Bednár

North: a case that is designed to be closer to the modern home. In some places, Fractal Design has replaced plastic and metal with wood and faux leather. The tested variant of the North case, with the additional Mesh designation, not only has a perforated front, but also the side panel, which makes new cooling options available. In addition to the factory configuration, we will also test the case with fans in non-traditional positions. Read more “Fractal Design North Mesh: Case like a piece of furniture” »

BeQuiet! now has a very low-profile CPU cooler, the Pure Rock LP

CPU coolers, News | | Ľubomír Samák

A really low-profile CPU cooler. That’s the thing BeQuiet! didn’t have in its offer until now . With the 45 mm tall (or rather short) Pure Rock LP, the situation changes. Compared to many competing solutions, this cooler has the advantage of wider compatibility. Mainly, it supports the AMD AM5 platform which surprised some small top-flow coolers and took them off the compatibility list. Read more “BeQuiet! now has a very low-profile CPU cooler, the Pure Rock LP” »

Intel Core i5-13600K: Better value than Ryzen 5 7600X? Yes and no

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

The Intel Core i5-13600K processor gives the impression of being from a slightly different class than the Ryzen 5 7600X. AMD’s Raphael with only 6 cores against 14 cores (albeit eight of them only small, Gracemont) of Raptor Lake may look like an underdog that should be significantly cheaper. However, one must be careful when making judgments. Although the Ci5-13600K is a great processor, so is the still only Ryzen 5 7000 in the game so far. Read more “Intel Core i5-13600K: Better value than Ryzen 5 7600X? Yes and no” »

Evolveo M5: A PC case for the undemanding user (test)

Extra tests, PC cases | | Martin Bednár

Lower price usually goes hand in hand with lower quality materials or overall poorer build quality. This also applies to the tested Evolveo M5. With this case, you will come across a few places where the manufacturer has clearly skimped, but as long as you define yourself as a lower-end user, you’ll most likely be fine. The main advantage here may be the attractive price that probably won’t break the bank for you. Read more “Evolveo M5: A PC case for the undemanding user (test)” »

Perforated front and a display, the new DeepCool case

News, PC cases | | Ľubomír Samák

DeepCool has modified the original design of the CH510 to allow for more efficient cooling, which can also be better controlled with the Mesh Digital variant. It has an information panel with temperatures of key components. It is implemented using a simple display, so the price has not risen too much and is still attractive. There is higher airflow due to the more open shell and also the added positions for installing optional fans. Read more “Perforated front and a display, the new DeepCool case” »

Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black – The legend back in black

Cooling, CPU coolers, Extra tests | | Pavel Sekerka

The Noctua NH-U12A is a cooler that has previously proven that with a little effort, it is possible to offer the performance of high-end dual-tower coolers in a more compact design. However, the last time I tested it, I was still using the older methodology, so with the release of the chromax.black version, there’s an ideal opportunity to conduct new tests. The question also remains whether the NF-U12A chromax.black can justify its high price tag. Read more “Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black – The legend back in black” »

Alphacool introduces the “Core” series of high-speed fans

Fans, News | | Ľubomír Samák

Six new models, with the slowest capping at 2,000 rpm and the fastest up to 4,000 rpm. It’s a mix of 120 and 140-millimeter fans, where with the larger format Alphacool reached for differently modeled rotors. This is also with a view to ensuring that a fan this fast and relatively large can operate at all at reasonably low vibration. Among Alphacool’s new products is therefore a fan with more robust blades as well. Read more “Alphacool introduces the “Core” series of high-speed fans” »

DeepCool FC120: Big ARGB blades in a “small” cross-section

Cooling, Extra tests, Fans | | Ľubomír Samák

The biggest advantage, but at the same time the biggest disadvantage of the DeepCool FC120 fan are its long and overall large blades, whose area exceeds that of competing models. Among illuminated fans, this one represents one of the most efficient solutions with ARGB LEDs, in optimal conditions. However, it is important to notice its downsides, which are a side effect of the chosen rotor design. Read more “DeepCool FC120: Big ARGB blades in a “small” cross-section” »

Akasa Gecko Pro: An SSD cooler with a “different” orientation

Cooling, Extra tests, SSD coolers | | Ľubomír Samák

The successor to the SSD cooler, which didn’t have much competition in its price range. That’s one way to introduce the Gecko Pro, which is a bit more expensive, but also more refined (in terms of mounting as well). And it also has a distinctive feature that clearly distinguishes it from other coolers – the fins are not longitudinal (as is common), but in width. The price to cooling performance ratio is again excellent. Read more “Akasa Gecko Pro: An SSD cooler with a “different” orientation” »

Dark fans, showy block: the new DeepCool LT liquid coolers

Cooling, CPU coolers, News | | Ľubomír Samák

DeepCool has expanded the range of its liquid coolers with two models with 120mm fans. The larger one, LT720 (with three fans) and the LT520, which has one less fan. Compared to the LS series of liquid coolers, fans without LEDs are used, but the designers implemented ARGB LEDs into the cooler block housing with a mirror effect. Not only this is supposed to be attractive in this part of the cooler, but also the pump itself. Read more “Dark fans, showy block: the new DeepCool LT liquid coolers” »

DLSS 3 and frame generation minitest in MS Flight Simulator

Extra tests, Graphics | | Ľubomír Samák

Nvidia DLSS 3 support has been added to Microsoft Flight Simulator in the latest update. This bypasses CPU limits and allows running at triple-digit fps thanks to “frame generation” techniques. Flying is now more comfortable, smoother, although there is one rather significant limitation – you need to own one of the graphics cards with an Ada Lovelace GPU. Older GeForce RTX generations unfortunately don’t support DLSS 3. Read more “DLSS 3 and frame generation minitest in MS Flight Simulator” »

The lowered Alpine 17 (LP) CPU cooler is 43 mm tall

Cooling, CPU coolers, News | | Ľubomír Samák

Arctic now has a smaller version of the Alpine 17. The model of this top-flow cooler with the LP (low profile) end tag is one fan lower. This opens doors side panels to tighter cases where taller designs won’t fit, and Intel Laminar RM1 (from Core i3/5/7 packages) or RS1 (from Celerons and Pentiums) coolers tend to be too tall as well. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the Arctic Alpine 17 LP cooler is designed for very low-power processors. Read more “The lowered Alpine 17 (LP) CPU cooler is 43 mm tall” »

Nidec Servo Gentle Typhoon D1225C won’t lose to just any

Extra tests, Fans | | Ľubomír Samák

Wondering how the Gentle Typhoon D1225C, the originator of the efficiently shaped rotor, is stacking up against much newer fans today? Very well. Outside the band of the most intense vibrations with annoying resonant frequencies, even from today’s perspective this fan has a top performance-to-noise ratio. In some ways it is even still unsurpassed, and the designers of the time built on strong physical foundations. Read more “Nidec Servo Gentle Typhoon D1225C won’t lose to just any” »

MSI RTX 4080 16GB Suprim X: Ada Lovelace with GPU near 3 GHz

Extra tests, Graphics | | Ľubomír Samák

From Olympus back to ordinary mortals. Though the GeForce RTX 4080s are quite a bit weaker than the RTX 4090s, they’re also significantly more power-efficient and cheaper. And their performance still exceeds the top models of previous generations of Nvidia and AMD gaming GPUs. In addition, MSI’s most powerful model – the Suprim X – pushes the GPU clock speeds very high, while efficiency is still top-notch. Read more “MSI RTX 4080 16GB Suprim X: Ada Lovelace with GPU near 3 GHz” »

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” »

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