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NZXT's Newest mATX Case Fits Two Graphics Cards
Posted 05/11/10 at 07:07:33 AM by Paul Lilly
Power users rarely consider a micro ATX case because of the space constraints for high end hardware, but with the introduction of NZXT's Vulcan chassis, perhaps it's time to rethink that philosophy. This thing was built with the LAN gamer in mind, and as such, it comes ready to house not only one, but two full-sized ATI Radeon HD 5970 videocards.
"Most Micro ATX cases currently on the market make a lot of sacrifices to save space" said Johnny Hou, Chief Designer at NZXT. "With Vulcan, we’re making a huge statement by empowering gamers with a portable solution that is 40% more compact than ATX full towers that still offers superior cooling and space for larger heatsinks and the most demanding graphics cards like the Radeon 5970 in CrossFire."
The Vulcan retains NZXT's flair for gaming oriented designs and shares similar traits with full-sized ATX enclosures. Features include an all-black interior, two 5.25-inch and four 3.5-inch slots, non-slip finish, dual 8W fan control, watercooling cutouts, two top mounted 120mm fans with support for a 200mm side fan, routing holes for easier cable management, removable hard drive cage, and thumbscrews for all drives.
NZXT tells us the Vulcan will be available by the end of the month for $70.
News
Lian Li Goes Nuts, Designs Crazy Looking Case
Posted 03/10/10 at 10:00:58 AM by Paul Lilly
Not everything being shown off at CeBIT will actually make it to retail, so we may never actually see Lian Li's PC-T1R chassis. Judging by the pictures, that might not be a bad thing.
Lian Li certainly found itself thinking outside the box on this one, perhaps a bit too far. At first glance, the PC-T1R looks like a gigantic metal spider, but that's not even the quirkiest part. What we can't wrap our heads around is why the oversized contraption only accommodates micro-ATX motherboards. The whole point of building a mATX system is to save space, but good luck stuffing the PC-T1R into your home theater cabinet or any other tight squeezes.
Misgivings aside, the PC-T1R also makes room for a hard drive, optical drive, and power supply. There's an on/off switch, and according to news and rumor site Fudzilla, should this make it past CeBIT, you'll be able to buy it in red or black for about $225.
More pictures here.
News
MSI Introduces AMD mATX Board Crammed with Next-Gen Tech
Posted 03/01/10 at 09:42:21 AM by Paul Lilly
Who says you have to sacrifice functionality when putting together a micro-ATX build? Not MSI, who just unveiled its 890GXM-G65 motherboard.
MSI's latest board includes a bevy of higher-end and forward-thinking features, including SATA 3.0 support. Perhaps more usable in the short-term, the 890GXM-G65 also boasts native support for USB 3.0.
You'll also find a few goodies of interest to overclockers that aren't often found on mATX boards. MSI touts "military-grade" electronics components, all solid caps, solid state choke to reduce noise, a heatpipe design MSI claims can result in average operating temps of 52C, and the company's latest OC Genie Lite overclocking technology.
Other features include HDMI and DVI outputs, integrated ATI Radeon HD 4290 graphics, and lossless 24-bit/192kHz HD audio.
No word yet on price or availability.
News
Biostar Launches TH55B HD Motherboard
Posted 01/18/10 at 12:00:00 PM by Paul Lilly
Biostar today announced the release of its mainstream TH55B HD motherboard, which the company claims balances competitive pricing with "outstanding" overclocking performance.
The TH55B HD is a mATX board decked out with a black PCB, 5-phase X.D.C. solid state power design, high-end Japanese capacitors, and other manufacturing tidbits that have become buzzwords among enthusiasts.
Probably more meaningful to most is the inclusion of 4 DDR3 memory slots with support for 16GB of memory at up to 2000MHz (OC), a full-speed PCI-E x16 port, PCI-E x1 port, two standard PCI ports, 6 SATA 2.0 ports, and "Power" and "Restart" hotkeys. It also boasts HDMI, DVI, and VGA ports.
News
EVGA Launches X58 SLI Micro Motherboard
Posted 07/02/09 at 09:35:33 AM by Paul Lilly
EVGA set out to prove it's not the size of the motherboard that matters, but how you use it. And with the release of the X58 SLI Micro, you can use any speed grade Core i7 processor you want along with a pair of Nvidia graphics cards all in a micro-ATX package.
In addition to 2-way SLI support, the new mobo also crams 6 DDR3 memory slots (supporting up to 12GB of triple channel DDR3-1600MHz+) and 6 SATA II 3GB/s ports onto the mATX board. Other features include 100-percent solid state capacitors, VDroop control, an onboard temperature monitor, support for up 12 USB ports, a single LAN port, a passive heatsink for cooling the chipset, RAID 0/1/0+1/5 and JBOD support, and 8-channel onboard audio, all decked out in a red and black color theme.
The board is available now for $200.
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