Conclusion:

We at Overclockers Tech find this chassis wonderful to work with. It is rare for a case at this price to be able to fit a water cooling radiator (as large as a 360mm) without having to ‘modify’ the chassis. Additionally, with a small amount of modification a second radiator (a 240mm) can be added to enable a dual loop system. Although the case is made from steel, the quality of the case is still apparent.

The top panel, where the power on/reset switches are, is easy to access and includes a slide cover for any unwanted use. Internally the Haf-x has a lot to brag about with its wire management system and hot swappable bays. Although for some reason Coolermaster has not made the presence of a system of managing the eight-pin EPS connector. This is partly caused by the manufacturing of the CPU inspection hole a little too large. The only other flaw we found is the use of ‘castor wheels’ as not everyone installs the case underneath their desk and some people like to have their computer on the desk in order to ‘show off’ their system, this is in addition to some bare wires (instead of being braided) In this case (pardon the pun) some people may say that ‘it is a computer not a luggage trolley.’

We also like the ‘hot-swap’ bay feature which will come in very handy for the enthusiast sector of the market. Having said the former we feel that the Coolermaster HAF-X really is a quality case and has some outstanding features. When we give a product a gold we at Overclockers Tech like to see some truly creative features and Coolermaster have certainly achieved this. It is our pleasure to give the HAF-X a 9/10 award and therefore a gold.

This chassis can be purchased at www.watercooled-pcs.co.uk for only £139.50

Discuss in our forums!!

Author: Gilgamesh

Introduction

Self-Built Home Theatre computers typically use mini ITX based motherboards and the power supplies they use are of a similar size that offer at maximum 400 Watts of power at best. A way around this would be to go for the next size up, which is Micro Atx, which offer a wider range of supporting hardware. However this increases the size of the case. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a case that allows for a Mini ITX motherboard but allows the option of installing a full sized power supply unit? Or even better yet, have the option for either the larger Micro ATX or the smaller form factor without the case resembling a box on steroids in your living room? Lian Li believes they have the answer.

Company Background

Lian Li Industrial Co., LTD was founded in 1983. We are the one of the largest and most reputable manufacturer of aluminum PC case in Taiwan . With over twenty years of experience in the computer products field, our dedicated team of engineers, production specialists and adminstrative staff provide the finest quality accessories available on the market.

In 1993, Lian-Li Introduced the new lines of computer hardware, including bracket (for case & interfaces), Mobile rack(for H.D.D.), mounting kit(for FDD & HDD), aluminum PC cases, IPC, external cases, server cases and more. We also provide OEM & ODM services, you are assured of designs that will meet your exact specifications, innovative ideas in manufacturing that will give your products an essential market edge.

Coolermaster Brings Back its World-Wide Case Mod Competition for 2011

Cooler Master’s worldwide case mod contest is back! No matter if you are an expert or an amateur, we have a great event for you to showcase your mods for the world to see. Not only will you get bragging rights, but this time the rewards are huge! All in thanks to our partners, AMD, EVGA, GIGABYTE, Kingston, PowerColor, THQ and ZOTAC. The accumulated prizes from our partners amount up to USD 15,000 in value!

Register now to starting sharing your projects. Now until April 15^th: http://www.coolermaster.com/casemod2011

Click to Expand

Dates

1. Registration: now April 15^th

2. Worklog update & submission: now May 15^th

3. Voting: May 16^th May 31^st

4. Winners announce: June 7^th

Cooler Master was founded in 1992 to provide the world’s best thermal solutions. Since its establishment, the company continues to invest in product development to provide leading-edge innovations. Cooler Master’s line-up includes heat sinks, fans, chassis, power supplies and accessories. Cooler Master is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, with branch offices located across Europe, America and APAC to offer our customers the unsurpassed service. For more information on Cooler Master, please visit

Introduction

Computer chassis are all the range these days, with many a shape and size available for purchase. These products come in many differing colours and concepts; some are more unusual than others. However one manufacturer has tipped the scales in their favour (in the unusual computer chassis concepts) is Lian Li. The T1 Pit-stop case is the product in question and has come in a rather unusual design. Billed as a ‘test-bench’ chassis for those whom use the mini ITX board standard, the product is certainly eye catching and almost ‘shock worthy’. However can it live up to the reputation garnered over many years by Lian Li. Will it be a case (pardon the pun) of style over substance? Let us read on and find out.

Company Background

“Lian Li Industrial Co., LTD was founded in 1983. They are the one of the largest and most reputable manufacturer of aluminium PC cases in Taiwan. With over twenty years of experience in the computer products field, their dedicated team of engineers, production specialists and administrative staff provide the finest quality accessories available on the market.

In 1993, Lian-Li Introduced their new lines of computer hardware, including brackets (for case and interfaces), Mobile rack (for H.D.D.), mounting kit (for FDD & HDD), aluminium PC cases, IPC, external cases, server cases and more. They also provide OEM and ODM services, you are assured of designs that will meet your exact specifications, and innovative ideas in manufacturing that will give your products an essential market edge.

Our outstanding quality has earned us ISO 9001 certification for all of our products. In addition, we back up our quality assurance with a two-year guarantee on most of our products.”

?

Today sees the release of two new reservoirs for the water cooling enthusiast market. Designed around the popular Liang D5 and D5 vario these products are set to provide maximum compatibility whilst being user friendly.

The reservoirs attach directly to the Liang pumps, thus eliminating the need to install tubing from the reservoir to the pump itself. This saves the consumer money, space and time.

The products are available in two flavours, bay and tank designs.

http://www.xspc.biz/d5bayres.php

http://www.xspc.biz/d5tankres.php

This reviewer would be very interested to see what XSPC comes up with next.

Author Gilgamesh

Introduction

In the performance water cooling industry, we have seen many CPU blocks vie for our attention; with many products and a myriad of interesting ideas. A company that has hugged the limelight is with their heat killer range of blocks and indeed they have been bestowed with the performance’ crown for a log time. With baited breath water cooling enthusiasts have been expecting the new heatkiller killer for quite some time! This is where the new XSPC RASA steps in with its new mounting mechanism, which is of a similar nature to that of the Swiftech XT.

XSPC have been around for many years, offering cooling parts for the computer consumer. They made their name with their range of radiators and of their quality water cooling tubing. In recent times XSPC have purchased ‘Thermochill’ which is in joint ownership with Watercoolinguk and it has seen to have gone from strength to strength.  With the release of their new RX radiators time is indeed looking good for XSPC!  Those ‘good times’ may be set to continue with the launch of their new CPU water block entitled Rasa. The word or concept Rasa is Sanskrit for the concept of ‘essence’, it is also Latin meaning ‘Slate’ as in Tubular Rasa’ meaning blank slate’.  The reason why the block was called this as that this block is not based upon any existing XSPC product, rather they started from ‘scratch’-hence the name Rasa!

Without further delay let us look further into the Rasa’s capabilities.

Specifications

• ¼ inch thread mounting holes for the barbs
• Chrome mounting bracket
• Weight 150 Grammes
• Compatible with Intel Sockets 775, 1156, and 1366

One must note that the block that this reviewer received was the final revision prototype, this means that the chrome is not as polished as the final sales version that the consumer would see. Additionally the screws holding the Rasa block together will be stainless instead of mild steel.

Introduction

In the computer industry, cases are a rather hit and miss affair. With some monstrosities such as the forthcoming Thermaltake Ten to the elegant Lian Li cases, we have seen computer chassis come and go.

Remember the days when computer cases were a drab off-white colour and full of razor sharp edges?  In those days building a computer was considered baptism by fire!  The nearest a consumer could get to an elegant case was from Apple and these had the resemblance of boiled sweets  In today’s  world we  see many types of computer enclosures and in many interesting shapes. To add another factor into this ‘whirlpool’ of chassis configurations; we now have the consumers themselves making their own cases!

Company Background

Fractal Design was founded in Sweden in the year 2007 by a Mr Hannes Wallin! They first entered the Scandinavian Market in 2007 and two years later they had explored additional markets in Europe; namely Germany, France, Switzerland and the UK amongst others.  They also have recently signed a contract with their new distributor in Australia.  In addition, during the second Quarter of 2010 they will enter the North American market!

Their goal is to be widely recognized for a high end level of design and products.  Fractal is putting great effort into choosing the right partners in each region, and their strategy is to work with a good structure of selected distribution partners and retail/e-tailers!

One of the core ideas of Fractal Design is to provide products with an extraordinary design level. The principles of their products have been stylish, simplistic and clean; which they prefer to call the Scandinavian design! Their ethos is to produce products that incorporate the above, but without compromising quality, functionality and pricing.