We take a look at the Silencio 650 chassis, the TPC 812XS tower cooler, and Eisberg – closed loop liquid coolers with a twist.
Vortez had the privilege of reviewing a number of excellent Cooler Master products in 2011 and so were eager to see if the designers and manufacturers of a wide range of PC components had any previews on display at CeBIT this year. On our way round their booth we took a few quick snaps to give you a sneak peak at a sample of what you can expect from them in 2012.
This prototype of the Silencio 650 immediately caught our eye. The 650 is to be Cooler Master’s newest low-noise chassis, designed to build on the success of the Silencio 550 released last year. The chassis is a full tower constructed from aluminium, steel and plastic to house ATX and mATX motherboards, weighing in at a fairly hefty 13kg.
Though it’s built for quiet operation, the Silencio 650 cooling is still more than capable of supporting high-end components. The front is populated by two 120mm fans drawing in dust-filtered air through the cavity behind the door, the floor of the chassis also allowing the installation of an additional 120mm for more air flow. The rear features a standard 120mm fan exhausting air, and the top of the case also has mounting points for one 120mm fan.
Sadly we weren’t able to see inside the chassis, but the listed case specifications indicate a removable HDD cage which could allow the installation of long dual-GPU graphics cards. An additional 120mm fan can also be mounted on the cage, improving airflow over the hard drives and towards the GFX card and CPU which is sometimes a little anaemic in low-noise chassis.
Supporting three 5.25″ optical bays, seven 3.5″ HDDs and one 3.5″ drive via the hot-swap bay, and one 2.5″ SSD, the storage options make it ideal for a home server as well as high-end gaming or rendering system. The top I/O panel features two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks and the somewhat unexpected addition of an SD card slot; if you’re a photographer, or someone else who finds themselves using SD cards often, the latter will be especially convenient. The upshot is that even opening the door will be a relative rarity for most users, neatly sidestepping the usability issues often associated with having a door in the first place.
Also included on the top I/O panel are two sliding controls, the purpose of which isn’t clear: they may be fan controllers or side panel/door locks. Finally, gone is the high-gloss finish seen on the Silencio 550 door – something of a dusting bugbear in some environments – and in comes a matt version which fits in well with the rest of the case.
We’ll endeavour to keep you updated with regional release date pricing information as we hear it.
Up Next: Cooler Master TPC 812XS
Cooler Master TPC 812XS
A departure from previous Cooler Master CPU air cooling lines, the TPC 812XS is the first heatsink to feature dual vapour chambers in addition to six heatpipes and a copper base.
Vertical Vapor Chambers feature less than half the air resistance by reducing airflow vortexes and noise generated by air streaming through a heatsink. At the same time vertical vapor chambers exhibit 3 times the fin contact area, enabling faster and more efficient transfer of heat from the vapor chambers to the fins, and overall more efficient use of the available fin surface area.
As a result, Vertical Vapor Chambers allow Cooler Master to develop cooling solutions with greatly reduced noise footprints or increased cooling performance in excess of 200W at the same or lower noise level as without vertical vapor chambers.
As a result, Vertical Vapor Chambers allow Cooler Master to develop cooling solutions with greatly reduced noise footprints or increased cooling performance in excess of 200W at the same or lower noise level as without vertical vapor chambers.
Included in the TPC 812XS package is one 120mm PWM fan rated from 500 to 1600 RPM, attached to the heatsink using a similar fan bracket to that of the Hyper 212 EVO. The fins appear to be shaped in such a way that a second bracket may be installed on the opposite side to allow push-pull fan configurations, further improving systems the cooling potential.
The cooler will be compatible with a full range of both AMD and Intel CPU sockets – including LGA2011, 1155, FM1 and AM3 – ensuring that it can be used for all upcoming Intel and AMD CPUs in the pipeline this year.
Those with side panel windows will be pleased to see that the the nickel plating on the heatpipes of these samples is especially good.
As tower coolers go the TPC812 is fairly tall, measuring 138 x 93 x 163mm and hence slightly taller and wider than the Hyper 212 EVO but not quite as large as the 612S. We’re looking forward to seeing how the new VVC technology performs and whether this innovation is taken up by other manufacturers as heatpipes were early in the previous decade.
Last Up: Eisberg 120 and 140 Closed Loop Liquid Coolers.
Cooler Master Eisberg 120 and 240
Cooler Master have taken the plunge into the Closed Loop Liquid Cooling segment with two new products, forgoing the thin radiators seen in early closed loop products. The Eisberg 120 is based around what appears to be a 30mm thick 120mm radiator, and as the name suggests the Eisberg 240 features a similarly thick 240mm rad. The cooler is as expected compatible with a full range of Intel and AMD CPU sockets.
The meaty looking pump, reported to be by German manufacturer Eheim, has a operational speed of 1500rpm and standard fittings for a wide range of water cooling attachments. By implication the Eisberg range may be used as a stepping stone to a custom water setup using the radiator and pump as a basis for such an upgrade. This would certainly be a sea change from previous closed loop set-ups which have placed an emphasis on ‘closed’.
The Eisberg 120 is priced at ~130 EUR and Eisberg 240 at ~140 EUR, placing it at the higher end of the closed loop price bracket. An additional 360mm radiator version, the Eisberg 360, will also be upcoming in April.
