cooling

NZXT Takes Another Stab at the Sentry Mix Fan Controller

Paul Lilly — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:38:55 +0000

Sometimes the sequel is better than the original.

Truth be told, NZXT's original Sentry Mix fan controller was kind of ugly. The general design wasn't bad, but the big grey sliders stuck out like a sore thumb on any black themed case. NZXT's new Sentry Mix 2 improves upon the original with a better aesthetic design and PWM-ready connectors, giving users of all types (mainstream, gamers, and overclockers) fine grain control over a variety of fans.

The Sentry Mix 2 offers six channels, each of which is fed 30 watts of continuous power. To change the fan speed speed, simply slide the dial up or down.

It's not particularly fancy nor does it seem complicated from what we can tell. It's basically an improved version of the original with a mesh-black faceplate, glossy black sliders, and integrated color LED lighting with five different colors to choose from.

The Sentry Mix 2 will be available soon for $30 MSRP.

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Thermaltake Introduces Water 3.0 Liquid Cooling Systems

Paul Lilly — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:45:56 +0000

Liquid cooling made easy.

Just as you can configure and build your PC from scratch, cooling enthusiasts can also piece together a custom liquid cooling solution, provided they have the requisite cash and experience. For everyone else, self-contained liquid cooling systems are the next best thing, offering similar benefits but for less money and far less risk. Enter Thermaltake, one of the more active players in the LCS market, which just announced a trio of new cooling products.

Sitting at the top of Thermaltake's LCS totem pole is its new Water 3.0 Extreme, The Extreme uses a specially designed 240mm large surface radiator with two (or more) 120mm double curve fans to dissipate heat and keep things cool. It has a full copper plate base and comes with fan control software to monitor and customize a range of parameters, including liquid temperature, CPU temperature, fan speed, and pump speed.

Sitting one notch below is the Water 3.0 Pro. It uses a double-thick radiator (49mm) cooled by up to two 120mm fans and is aimed at users who don't have enough space to install a Water 3.0 Extreme but still want high-end cooling performance.

Finally, the Water 3.0 Performer is the same as the Pro, only smaller (the radiator measures 27mm). Thermaltake says it's a good solution for first-timers new to liquid cooling.

No word yet on price or availability.

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NZXT Puts Cooling and Cable Management on the "Grid"

Paul Lilly — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:57:28 +0000

NZXT's Grid is an affordable 10-port fan hub with a twist.

Anyone can be a master at cable management, it just takes a little patience, planning, and careful execution. That doesn't mean it's easy. Some of today's cases come with more fan mounts than you have fingers to count, and if you take advantage of all that air cooling potential, cable management can quickly get out of hand. That's where NZXT's new Grid 10-port fan hub comes into play.

The Grid is a fully enclosed, low-profile box that lets you install up to 10 fans in virtually any location. It comes with a 200mm Molex to 3-pin power adapter, 200mm 3-pin female-to-female adapter, two 200mm 3-pin male-to-female extensions, and five black zip ties.

"When NZXT introduced the integrated fan hub to its Switch 810 and Phantom 630 cases, it raised the bar for the entire industry in terms of cable management capabilities. Now, NZXT brings its versatile fan hub to the mass market with a streamlined, sleek design," NZXT says. "Capable of powering up to ten fans, the NZXT Grid lets you saturate your case with fans while maintaining superb cable management. With white LED indicator lights and included fan extension cables, the Grid ensures the inside of your case looks just as good as the outside."

That's really all there is to it. There's something to be said for simplicity, and equally enticing is the price tag, which is just $12 MSRP.

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Corsair H80i Review

Jimmy Thang — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:34:38 +0000

Super cool in every respect

When Corsair released its closed-loop H80 water cooler in 2011, we found it to be one of the best-performing dual-fan kits available. It was also very loud at full blast and cumbersome to install, and the updated H80i model sets out to address these issues while also improving performance.

The H80i's water block features a logo that can change colors according to temperature.

At first glance the H80i doesn’t appear to differ much from its predecessor, but there are a number of key upgrades. First, at 1.4cm thick, the coolant tubes are nearly twice as fat to help increase coolant flow. Also, the two 12cm fans are now based on Corsair’s high static-pressure Air Series SP120 fans and run a bit quieter than the previous model's fans. Finally, Corsair now includes its Corsair Link software with the kit, rather than making it an expensive add-on, allowing you to control all the functions of the kit from within Windows. The software provides a range of controls for fan and pump speeds and overall performance, but the coolest feature is that the logo on the water block can be customized to change color according to CPU temperatures. For anything below 70 C, we had the light shine blue and anything above displayed red.

Corsair has gone to great lengths to simplify the installation process, as it includes one of the best manuals we’ve seen, with clear instructions and excellent diagrams, and the parts are all easy to combine, as well. First you attach a backplate (the H80i supports all modern CPU sockets except for Intel's LGA775), then tighten four standoffs around the CPU socket. Where Corsair has really simplified things is with its magnetic mounting bracket, which just slides onto the top of the water block until it snaps into place. Mounting the water block onto the CPU also requires just four screws, and then eight screws are needed to sandwich the radiator between the two fans and the chassis. The last step is to plug the fans into the water block and connect the system’s three cables (SATA for power, fans, and USB cable for the software) into their respective plugs.

Though that’s more cables than we’re used to seeing for a CPU cooler, the added functionality they offer is worth it. The Corsair Link software allows you to choose from more than a half-dozen preset fan speed profiles (Quiet, Performance, Balanced, and more) and also allows you to customize and save your own presets. You can set individual fans at specific RPMs or set specific temperature ceilings at which they spin up. The icing on the cake is that the highly tweakable software is easy to use.

When we set the kit to quiet mode using Corsair Link, the cooler was near silent and outperformed our zero-point Hyper 212 Evo air cooler by almost 4 C under load. When we switched to performance mode, the fans revved up appropriately and sounded like a small wind tunnel, but its cooling performance was unmatched in its class, beating its very cool predecessor by roughly 3 C, and Thermaltake’s Water2.0 Pro dual-fan kit by 4 C. It also decimated our zero-point air-cooler by over 11 C.

The H80i isn't without its issues, however. At $110 bucks it’s expensive, and it should have come with a software CD (you're supposed to download it), but those are our only complaints. We like that it has the flexibility to be either super cool under load or amazingly quiet at idle, and everything in between, thanks to its elegant software. When you factor in its simple installation process and nifty LED options, it’s clear Corsair has a winner on its hands with the H80i.

Price $110, www.corsair.com

Note: This review was taken from the March 2013 issue of the magazine.

Thermaltake Launches Bigwater 760 Pro Liquid Cooling System

Paul Lilly — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:11:32 +0000

The Bigwater 760 Pro takes up two 5.25-inch drive bays.

Thermaltake's Bigwater line of liquid CPU coolers are some the easiest to install, as almost all of the essential components are packed into a little box that slides into a pair of 5.25-inch drive bays. The newest version -- Bigwater 760 Pro -- features the same space-saving design, but with an all new aluminum fan radiator that's supposedly better at dissipating heat than earlier versions of the Bigwater Series.

It has a user-adjustable 120mm fan that spins at anywhere from 1600 RPM to 2400 RPM via a front control knob. Simply turn the dial when more cooling performance is needed, like when playing a game or encoding a movie, or dial things down to keep noise levels at a minimum during day-to-day computing chores.

A mirror coated copper block supports a variety of CPU sockets, including AMD FM2, FM1, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, and AM2, and Intel LGA 2011, 1366, 1155, 1156, 1150, and 775.

Thermaltake didn't say when the Bigwater Pro will be available for purchase or for how much.

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Post CES 2013: Silverstone Parades Case and Cooling Products

Paul Lilly — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:34:55 +0000

A $50 case from Silverstone is on tap for 2013.

The whirlwind of product announcements and general craziness that accompanies the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is now in our rear-view mirror, and unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to stop by Silverstone's booth. Fortunately, Silverstone essentially brought its booth to us, toting several products to San Francisco that were previously on display at the convention, including a small form facor case that only costs $50. When's the last time you could say that about a Silverstone chassis?

Still reeling from a hangover (minus the Mike Tyson tattoo) induced by all the parties, Deputy Editor Gordon Mah Ung spent some time filming Silverstone's various products, the first of which is a new fan design. Unlike traditional case fans, Silverstone's new model alternates different size fan blades (small, medium, and large). What Silverstone found is that this design allows for less vibration and fan noise when pushing a fan up against a grill. Check it out:

We then took a look at Silverstone's PT13 SFF case. It utilizes the new mini ITX form factor Intel's been pushing as of late. Despite its small size, it can fit a full desktop processor and standard solid state drive (SSD), allowing for a potent one-two punch. The case itself will run just $50, a pittance compared to previous Silverstone products that carry price tags to match their premium build quality.

For the living room, Silverstone showed us its new ML05 case. It's about the size of a VCR, for those of you old enough to know what that is, and houses an SFX power supply, mini ITX motherboard, and even a low profile GPU (provided you can find one). In keeping with the affordable theme, the ML05 will sell for $40 in Q1.

Switching gears to more traditional cases, Silverstone brought along its desktop enclosures. Silverstone's 2013 model Fortress ditches the vertical hardware mounting scheme, but is still a little different than most cases due to its inverted design. What really caught our eye, however, is a prototype case that Silverstone isn't sure will see the light of day. Called Mammoth, it has ain integrated HEPA filter, large case fans, and baffled grills to prevent water being spilled in the case.

Finally, Silverstone gave us a look at its closed-loop liquid cooler. It's hard to see on camera, but the dense fins are tightly packed and should provide additional cooling performance compared to radiators with less densely packed fins. Here's a closer look:

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Corsair Rebuilds a Pair of Classics, Launches H100i and H80i Liquid CPU Coolers

Paul Lilly — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:00:46 +0000

If you're not yet ready to dive into the deep end of water cooling by building your own setup from scratch (apparently not as popular as it used to be, hence the demise of Danger Den) but still want to get your feet wet, then a self contained liquid cooler might be what you're after. There are plenty of options to choose from, including two new models from Corsair, the Hydro Series H100i and H80i.

Corsair claims these new models represent a ground-up redesign of the existing H100 and H80. The new models have been enhanced to deliver better cooling performance, run quieter, install easier, and to work with the Corsair Link digital control.

"To improve cooling performance over previous generations, the Hydro Series H100i and H80i coolers use new, more efficient copper cold plates, improved manifolds, optimized fan designs, and larger diameter tubing for increased coolant flow," Corsair explains. "Corsair's new flagship liquid CPU cooler, the Hydro Series H100i, utilizes a 240 mm radiator for increased surface area and cooling capacity. The Hydro Series H80i uses a double-thick 120 mm radiator and two fans in a 'push-pull' arrangement and is compatible with most enthusiast cases with a 120 mm rear exhaust fan."

Both new coolers use Corsair's recently introduced SP120L High Performance fans, which are made with low-pitch fan blades designed for static pressure at a lower noise level. They also feature a motor that's been specially tuned for high torque.

The Hydro Series H100i ($120) and H80i ($100) are backed by 5-year warranties and will be available to purchase later this month.

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Danger Den Closing Shop After 12 Years

Paul Lilly — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:03:20 +0000

We have some sad news to report to the modding community. After being in business fore more than a decade, the water cooling aces at Danger Den are closing shop to "pursue other interests." What those interests are remains to be seen, but it presumably won't have anything to do with selling water cooling equipment, PC modding gear, or related items. In fact, Danger Den is clearing out its inventory with a 75 percent discount on all in-stock items, good from now until Monday.

Danger Den announced the news of the online store's closure on the company's website and Facebook page.

After 12 years our hobby has come to an end. It's time to pursue other interests and Danger Den will be closing its doors. Thank you for all your support over the years, we've enjoyed being part of your modding community.

~ Dan, Jeremy, Dennis, and Rokk

In a followup post on Facebook, Danger Den said its server is "getting slammed" and that it's reviewing every order. Understandable, given the site's popularity and deep discount. That also means many of the popular items are already gone, such as the Torture Rack, an open-air case with acrylic panels.

We'd like wish Dan and company all the best in their future endeavors.

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Intel Experiments with Oil Immersion Cooling Technology

Paul Lilly — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:04:43 +0000

Dipping PC parts into a vat of oil sounds scary at first, but it's actually a great way to cool components, and surprisingly safe to boot. You may recall that back in 2008, we played with an oil immersed system from Hardcore PC, and while the idea hasn't quite gone mainstream, it's making headway. Puget Systems sells a DIY oil kit (which we highlighted in 2010), and now Intel is experimenting with the idea, albeit on the server side.

According to Gigaom, Intel just completed a year-long test of Green Revolution Cooling's mineral oil server immersion technology and is tickled pink with the results. Mike Patterson, senior power and thermal architect at Intel, tells Gigaom that the technology appears safe for server parts and could become the norm one day.

"We’re doing our math to understand if we developed an oil optimized platform, what that would mean [for performance, efficiency, etc.]," Patterson said.

Where oil immersion cooling goes from here is anyone's guess, but the fact that Intel is impressed with the technology ensures that it will at least be further evaluated. Should Intel and others go down that road, it would require tweaking traditional server design, which is currently optimized for air flow.

Cool stuff, eh?

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Sony Shows Off Thermal Sheet with Thermal Paste-Like Heat Conductivity

Brad Chacos — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:22:10 +0000

Applying thermal paste to a CPU before dropping a heat sink on it isn't too much of a pain in the butt, but you have to do it carefully; as pretty much everybody reading this site probably knows, air bubbles and uneven application can affect cooling performance. What if you didn't have to worry about applying thermal paste? Crazy talk, I know, but during last week's Techno-Frontier convention in Tokyo, Sony Chemical & Information Device Corp was showing off a thermal sheet that it said has the same thermal conductivity of traditional paste.

Most system builders who even know about thermal sheets -- such as Sony's own EX50000 -- scoff at the idea of using them, as they simply don't work as well as pastes, even though thermal sheets are thin and flat, bubble-free, longer-lasting and easier to apply. Sony's prototype EX20000C sheet is only 0.011 to 0.078 inches thick and conducts heat as well as paste thanks to its unique design, which Tech-On! reports is basically just silicon jam-packed with carbon fibers.

At the convention, Sony showed off the Ex20000C's ability to cool down CPUs using a side-by-side comparison of identical, yet unnamed processors; one used the EX20000C thermal sheet, while the other used a traditional (yet also unidentified) thermal paste. The thermal sheet actually kept the CPU 3 degrees (Celsius) cooler than the thermal paste. (Pictured above)

Intriguing, sure, but the EX20000C is still just a prototype. Would you consider using a thermal sheet if it conducted heat as efficiently as paste? (If not, you should check out our thermal paste showdown to see which compound you should be using.)

Via Geek.com Image credit: Tech-On!

Colorful's Working On A Massive, Passively Cooled GTX 680 Graphics Card

Brad Chacos — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:18:47 +0000

If you're building a silent PC, nothing beats a passively cooled GPU. Ditching all those spinning fans works wonders for noise levels! Unfortunately, most passively cooled video cards tend to be less-powerful models; with great power comes greater thermals, after all. Colorful, a Chinese graphics card maker, is bucking that trend and working hard to bring a fanless GTX 680 to the market.

The iGame GTX 680 trades in the traditional fan for two massive aluminum heatsinks, each of which sports seven 6mm copper heatpipes and 140 cooling fins. Six 8mm copper heatpipes handle the heat exchange between the two heatsinks, bringing the grand total up to two heatsinks, 20 heatpipes and 280 cooling fins with over 200 square meters of combined cooling area.

Yep, it's big.

We don't know quite how big, though: Colorful hasn't come clean with any final specs or measurements for the passively cooled iGame GTX 680, nor pricing or release information. The prospect of a dead-silent GTX 680 is mighty intriguing, though, and we hope to hear more in the near future.

Check out all a bunch more pics in the gallery below, all of which come courtesy of EXPreview.

Via Geek.com and EXPreview

Noctua, RotoSub Developing Fans With Integrated Noise-Cancelling Technology

Brad Chacos — Thu, 31 May 2012 17:17:37 +0000

Running a silent PC isn't possible if you've got a rig that generates a lot of heat -- at least, it isn't possible today. The cooling specialists at Noctua have announced that they've teamed up with a company called RotoSub to create the world's first fan with Active Noise Cancellation, and they plan on showing off a working prototype of a Noctua NF-F12 running the tech at Computex next week.

Engadget first pointed us towards the news, but Noctua has also written a press release about the joint venture. Said press release includes a short primer on the tech behind the active noise cancellation:

Active Noise Cancellation is the technique of using sound waves to reduce noise by means of an effect called phase cancellation or destructive interference.

Basically, ANC uses sound waves to cancel out other sound waves. Rotosub has developed a system that lets the fan itself emit a sound that largely cancels out the, um, actual fan sound. To us, it sounds a bit trippy (if nevertheless scientifically valid), but Noctua thinks that with the RotoSub ANC technology its NF-F12 fan will be able achieve 80 percent more airflow and 120 percent more static pressure while maintaining its current noise level. Not too shabby, that.

RotoSub hopes to have the fan-based ANC fine-tuned and ready to ship within the next year. The Rotosub website has a brief animated graphic showing how its fan technology works as compared to traditional ANC methods if you're interested.

BitFenix Rolls Out a Pair of Fan Controllers

Paul Lilly — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:50:49 +0000

The world's population of fan controllers grew by two this week, courtesy of BitFenix, including one model the company claims is the world's first Internet-connected fan controller (Recon) and another that sports low profile sliders (Hydra Pro) for compatibility with just about any case, even ones with doors. The Hydra Pro features 30W per channel performance (with five channels), offers push-button LED on/off functionality when combined with BitFenix's Spectre and Spectre Pro LED fans, and boasts BitFenix's SofTouch surface treatment similar to what you find on many rubberized smartphones.

Probably of more interest to most folks is the Recon, an Internet-connected fan controller that also boasts five channels, but offers fan monitoring and control via mobile devices. The mobile interface is browser-based, so you can control it with just about any operating system, including iOS, Android, and Windows.

"Users have been clamoring for these two devices for a while now, and I'm proud to report that the wait is finally over," says BitFenix Product Manager David Jarlestedt. "With Recon and Hydra Pro, BitFenix once again takes our disruptive ideas and brings them into a new design space – fan controllers. Offering never-before-seen functionality at competitive price points, Recon and Hydra Pro are set to become the go-to thermal control devices for enthusiasts the world over."

The BitFenix Recon carries an MSRP of $39 in the U.S. and will be available next week, while the Hydra Pro will run $34.90 when it ships in June.

Image Credit: BitFenix

Overclocking Site Solves Mystery Behind Higher Ivy Bridge Temperatures

Paul Lilly — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:45:26 +0000

Intel stepped up to the plate and seemingly hit a homerun with its Ivy Bridge architecture (which, by the way, is now showing up in retail). It's the first commercial processor to boast a 22nm manufacturing process and 3D transistors, a combination that ultimately leads to better performance with less power consumption than previous generation processors. At the same time, some have reported higher temps with Ivy Bridge compared to Sandy Bridge, and it could have to do with the way Intel attached the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS).

Overclockers.com set out to solve the mystery of why Ivy Bridge can run as much as 20C higher than Sandy Bridge. The two prevailing theories are that power density is greater on Ivy Bridge than Sandy Bridge, and that Intel is running into issues with the manufacturing process. But the real reason, according to Overclockers, has to do with Intel's decision to use TIM paste between the IHS and CPU die on Ivy Bridge instead of fluxless solder as found on Sandy Bridge.

"If you’ve been paying attention, we saw similar issues between the E6XXX and E4XXX processor lines," Overclockers explains. "The E6XXX used a solder attach under the IHS and were far easier to keep cool. The E4XXX used a TIM paste under the IHS and ran hot!"

Overclockers pried apart an Ivy Bridge processor to verify the existence of thermal paste, and according to the U.K.'s The Inquirer, Intel has already "admitted" that Ivy Bridge runs hotter than Sandy Bridge. Intel, however, isn't concerned.

"This is as designed and meets quality and reliability expectations for parts operating under specified conditions," Intel explained about the increased thermal density, according to The Inquirer.

Are you concerned that Ivy Bridge may run a little hotter than Sandy Bridge, or do you trust Intel's decision to use thermal paste?

Image Credit: Overclockers.com

MSI Unveils GTX 680 Twin Frozr III OC

Brad Chacos — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:13:39 +0000

It's a fact of life: all of the manufacturer graphics cards are built using the same core GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, so for a card to stand out, it needs to bring a little something special to the table. Some manufacturers go for sky-high overclocks; others go for unique cooling systems. MSI offers both with the newly announced GTX 680 Twin Frozr III OC.

As you might have guessed from the name, the big draw of the GTX 680 Twin Frozr III OC is MSI's third generation Twin Frozr custom cooling system, which rocks a pair of 80mm fans with grooved propeller blades along with several nickel-plated copper heatpipes. MSI claims that the Twin Frozr tech keeps the card 22 degrees (Celsius) cooler and 10.2 decibels quieter than a reference GTX 680 under full load. The Twin Frozr design has a decent reputation for keeping cards, well, Frozr'ed, so it'll be exciting to see how the GTX 680 Twin Frozer III OC actually performs.

Of course, you can't have the "the GTX 680 Twin Frozer III OC" without the "OC." The video card rocks a modest overclock at 1058MHz base and 1124MHz boost speeds. Memory speeds -- and pretty much everything else -- stick to reference specs.

Price? Availability? Your guess is as good as ours. MSI didn't talk specifics in its press release. Hey, MSI fans: Are you interested in this or holding out for a Lightning variant?