Intel Arrow Lake CPUs won’t reduce power draw, PL2 remains high

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Recently there were several leaks on upcoming Intel CPUs features and parameters courtesy of the leaker Jaykihn. They now brought information that was perhaps the most sought for – what the power consumption of the new CPUs will be. Notoriously high power draws under full load are one of the biggest complaints against Intel, and for a while it seemed that they might be addressed by Arrow Lake. But apparently those were false hopes. Read more “Intel Arrow Lake CPUs won’t reduce power draw, PL2 remains high” »

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X: At the very top, with both 1 and 32 threads

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side. Read more “AMD Ryzen 9 9950X: At the very top, with both 1 and 32 threads” »

The fix for dying Intel CPUs is out for first motherboards

Motherboards, News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

It looks like the most important thing to happen in the PC industry this year are the widespread issues of Intel Raptor Lake processors with instability and game crashes caused by gradual physical damage to the chips due to high voltages that leads to irreversible degradation. The microcode patches, which will hopefully stop the CPUs from dying – the CPUs for which it is not too late already that is – have finally started to appear. Read more “The fix for dying Intel CPUs is out for first motherboards” »

Asus ROG Strix Arion. One of the best equipped SSD enclosures

Extra tests, SSD enclosures | | Ľubomír Samák

The accessories of Asus’ top-of-the-line SSD enclosure are beyond those of any other smartphone. Various cables, a rubber protector, a strap loop and within the built-in features, for example, an RGB LED. Excessive and annoying? Perhaps, but likely to appeal to the target audience of ROG products. The Strix Arion, among other things, leads the speed tests, and it does so at an exceptionally low power consumption. Read more “Asus ROG Strix Arion. One of the best equipped SSD enclosures” »

Cooler Master Oracle Air: Based on design elegance

Extra tests, SSD enclosures | | Ľubomír Samák

In the context of external SSD enclosures, Cooler Master has come up with a remarkable concept that combines “tool-less” assembly with high mechanical durability. And yet, an efficient cooler is also used, and looking at the Oracle Air case, one can probably conclude that it has a presentable appearance as well. But let everyone evaluate this individually. Let’s move on to the details, which also include measurable results. Read more “Cooler Master Oracle Air: Based on design elegance” »

AFMF 2: Universal frame generation has better quality, performance

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

It’s been almost a year since the release of AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) for Radeon GPU users, which is an alternative solution to generating interpolated frames as provided by DLSS 3 or FSR 3, but for games that don’t offer those features. In fact, AFMF works at the driver level and generates frames without any game integration. A second improved version of AFMF 2 is now out with higher quality and better compatibility. Read more “AFMF 2: Universal frame generation has better quality, performance” »

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X: Slightly improved hexa-core once again

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

In the first wave of new AMD processors with Zen 5 architecture, we took a closer look at a Ryzen 5. The results show many improvements (in speed, in efficiency, in cooling, …) led by unprecedented single-threaded performance. But in terms of the multi-threaded one, it’s still well behind the rival Intel Core i5-14600K CPU, albeit with much better power consumption. Gaming performance? Sometimes strange. Read more “AMD Ryzen 5 9600X: Slightly improved hexa-core once again” »

DeepCool FT: Robust impeller and three-phase torque

Cooling, Fans, News | | Ľubomír Samák

Regarding the new FT series fans, DeepCool talks about increased development efforts and more extensive changes in the approach to the build. Not only has there been a densification of the impeller, but also that everything is now built around a three-phase torque motor. The latter has up to 12 stator slots, which are illuminated by white LEDs. In this respect, the overall design is really quite original. Read more “DeepCool FT: Robust impeller and three-phase torque” »

Axagon Riddle (8/2024). Can you guess what’s in the photo?

Giveaway, News | | Editors

In cooperation with Axagon, we have prepared a cyclical activity for this year, which may be of interest to HWCooling readers. We’ll post a detail of some piece of hardware and you can guess what it is. You can compete (and eventually win something) on a regular basis, with a new challenge every month. But for now, you need to get “to the next round” through the next one, in August. Read more “Axagon Riddle (8/2024). Can you guess what’s in the photo?” »

Netac WH61: Flash drive size, speed over 1 GB/s

Extra tests, SSD enclosures | | Ľubomír Samák

If there’s anything remarkable about the Netac W61 besides its lower price, it’s its super-small size. It’s similar in size to more powerful flash drives, which are usually significantly slower. But even with this external SSD enclosure, there’s no absolute certainty of reaching the maximum speed potential. After all, the cooling capabilities are weaker here, but sometimes they can be enough for those 1100 MB/s. Read more “Netac WH61: Flash drive size, speed over 1 GB/s” »

Through user’s eyes: Enermax Revolution D.F. 12 122mm (ATX) PSU

Giveaway, News, PSUs | | Editors

We are now reaching the culmination of the contest for the Enermax Revolution D.F. 12 ATX short PSUs. It is a user review, where the winner describes how he integrated this 122-millimeter PSU into his build. And he managed to do it quite nicely, what do you say? The case chosen is the Jonsbo D31 Mesh SFF case, in which every millimeter saved is a good one. Especially if it doesn’t affect anything and one could note that it is redundant. Read more “Through user’s eyes: Enermax Revolution D.F. 12 122mm (ATX) PSU” »

125W Intel Arrow Lake CPUs for LGA 1851: Models and parameters

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

As the October release of Arrow Lake CPUs with Intel’s first all-new CPU architecture since 2021 slowly approaches, the stream of information is starting to grow stronger. It seems that the preliminary specs of the 125W K-series models have been leaked, which will be the first to come out for the new LGA 1851 desktop platform, and also the fastest Arrow Lake CPU models. The first test of the cheaper Core Ultra 7 model has also surfaced. Read more “125W Intel Arrow Lake CPUs for LGA 1851: Models and parameters” »

Especially durable. Asus TUF Gaming A1 SSD enclosure test

Extra tests, SSD enclosures | | Ľubomír Samák

With its external SSD (M.2) enclosures, Asus relies on extra robustness, IP68 rating and strapping options. This is also more rare than with flash drives. The mounting of the SSD itself is along the lines of modern Asus motherboards. The subject of the analysis will first be the TUF Gaming A1, the cheaper of the pair of available enclosures. However, it too already supports USB 3.2 gen. 2 with Type-C connectivity. Read more “Especially durable. Asus TUF Gaming A1 SSD enclosure test” »

Mobile Zen 5 is here: Ryzen AI 300 “Strix Point” SoC detailed

News, Notebooks, Processors | | Jan Olšan

The Ryzen AI 300 mobile CPUs with Zen 5 architecture officially launched on Sunday. There’s a lot of news to go along with it: a third model has been added to form the top of the range, and we have learned various other architectural details of the laptop version of Zen 5 (and Zen 5c). Including information about the implementation of AVX-512, which as leaked before and will have lower performance than the fully 512-bit desktop Ryzen 9000. Read more “Mobile Zen 5 is here: Ryzen AI 300 “Strix Point” SoC detailed” »

“Rattlegate” is unfair. Noctua NH-D15 G2 expertise begins

Blogs, Cooling, CPU coolers | | Ľubomír Samák

Practically right after its release, the long-awaited Noctua NH-D15 G2 cooler received a rattling sticker that is a bit far-fetched. We’ve also seen some escalated opinions that perhaps it’s “garbage” and here’s where we have to step in. Noctua 100% does not deserve such adjectives for its work. We have to stand up for a company that has really sacrificed a lot for development. We cannot ignore such distortions of public opinion. Read more ““Rattlegate” is unfair. Noctua NH-D15 G2 expertise begins” »

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