Stone PC Case, Cooler Master GPU, DIY Case from Scratch, and Metal FansJune 4, 2025Last Updated: 2025-06-04Cooler Master is doing some really interesting stuff with its new casesThe HighlightsCooler Master’s upcoming MF600, MF500, and MF400 reconfigurable frame cases are assembled from columns and cornersThe company also showed off interesting stone facade case front panelsCooler Master is working on a “GPU” with AsusTable of ContentsAutoTOC Grab a GN Tear-Down Toolkit to support our AD-FREE reviews and IN-DEPTH testing while also getting a high-quality, highly portable 10-piece toolkit that was custom designed for use with video cards for repasting and water block installation. Includes a portable roll bag, hook hangers for pegboards, a storage compartment, and instructional GPU disassembly cards.IntroWe visited Cooler Master’s booth at Computex 2025 where the company showed off several new cases. Arguably the most interesting one is a modular case. It comes with, we believe, 8 corners and 12 columns.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 20, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsHostSteve BurkeCamera, Video EditingMike GaglioneVitalii MakhnovetsWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangCooler Master MF CasesThe case comes with a front panel that has a dust filter in it. With it all assembled, it looks like the cases in the image above. The cases are the MF series, with the largest one being the MF600, which we assume translates to “Motherf***ing 600.” There’s also the MF500 and the smaller MF400. Initially, Cooler Master is basically going to be selling pre-configured models. Eventually, the company wants to allow people to customize the case on their site and have it assembled and shipped from around the City of Industry. It’s pretty cool as it’s a fully modular approach.The side panels are secured to the case via magnets, which is actually a nice touch. Internally, the MF600 we saw came with 3x140mm fans on the front and 1x120mm fan on the back. The motherboard tray is pretty standard for the most part. Exceptions include a rail system that provides numerous holes for screws to go in, which allows Cooler Master to reconfigure things. Inside the case towards the back, there’s also a rail system, which forms bits and pieces of the motherboard tray that allow for more customizability. Cooler Master has been kind of on-and-off in the DIY space over the years where they’ve had some really big wins and some really big losses. They were also kind of absent for a while, but these MF cases represent a better showing from what we’ve seen in a while from the company. According to Cooler Master, a pre-configured MF600 is supposed to cost $200. We expect to test and review the case. The MF500 is supposed to go for $165 and includes 2x200mm fans in the front and 1x120mm fan in the back. The smallest MF case, the MF600, which is a very large micro ATX box, is going for $150. In terms of fans, it has 2x120mm ones at the bottom coupled with a 1x120mm fan in the rear.  Cooler Master also showed off different panel types they’re experimenting with. One of them included a facade-style stone. One of the pre-built MF cases we looked at had stuff flipped around in an inverted layout. One of the benefits of its rail system allows the case to have a bar that screws in which can support the GPU. Looking into this system, you can see that the PSU is at the bottom next to a bottom intake fan. Updated Cosmos Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.Cooler Master’s updated Cosmos has the NVIDIA-like DGX style front. We also saw a variant of the Cosmos with thermal baffles in it. We have some criticisms of its execution, but overall, it’s an interesting idea.  The way the baffles are designed, Cooler Master is trying to bring air straight in through its channels. There’s a channel for the CPU that exposes the fin stack and Cooler Master's V8 CPU cooler. It conveys an idea similar to an engine cover. The GPU has a separate baffle beneath the CPU one. The company is trying to isolate air flow. In theory, this should work well and we would love this idea applied to more affordable cases, like the MF series, especially since they’re already kind of configurable. Looking at the back, fans can be mounted on the rear, which can help pull air out. We also saw another variant of the Cosmos case running liquid cooling with a distro block. It was coupled with 4x180mm fans and a “720” radiator, which pulled air into the case. Unfortunately, the air is blowing straight into the wall of a motherboard tray, but Cooler Master says the plan is to pull the air up and out of the case with additional 180mm fans on the top and to move the PSU towards the bottom of the case. Looking closer at the front of the special edition of the Cosmos cases, we can see the NVIDIA DGX shroud, which Cooler Master manufactures. It’s essentially like a sponge-like mesh. The special edition of the Cosmos doesn’t have a price yet, but the non-special edition variant is supposed to be around $400, which is before any potential tariffs. Cooler Master CoolersCooler Master showed off some CPU air coolers that had some 3D heat pipes, which had more heat pipes protruding from the center. The company also showed off its V8 cooler and a full-metal fan. The fan’s blades and frame are both aluminum.  Cooler Master Elite Series CasesCooler Master does some really cool sh*t but has a branding problem. For instance, the company’s “Elite” series cases, shown in the image above, are actually budget cases. From left to right, we believe they are called the Elite 482 ($50), Elite 600 ($65), Elite 490 Wood ($50), Elite 691 Wood ($60), Elite 693 ($60), Elite 692 ($70), Elite 302 ($40), and Elite 502 ($60). Our advice to Cooler Master here is for them to unf*ck these names.Most of the Elite series cases don’t come with fans with the exception of the Elite 302 and Elite 502, which come with 3 ARGB fans. MF360Next up are Cooler Master’s MF360 cases, which conveys that you can see inside the case from all sides. While it’s going to have some thermal challenges, to give the company credit, it’s actually really good looking. The MF360 is a showcase fish-tank style PC that you can see through from both sides. Inside the case, we saw a distro block and tubes routed through on both sides.Cooling XThe case in the image above, which goes by "Cooling X,” and uses the company’s new MF frame system. If you look at the corner, you can see the individual columns. At Computex, we saw it as a pre-built system.The top of the case has a magnetically attached panel, which just pulls right off. The panel itself provides really good porosity and the material is pretty nice. Removing the top panel exposes 2 offset fans. The back fan tries to pull in air with the front fan trying to exhaust air out of the top, which is why they’re offset. That’s kind of cool to see.  Cooler Master FansCooler Master showed off all-aluminum fans, which include the blades and frame. The MF120 XT is a 120mm model, is supposed to be $35, and the company says it goes up to 4,000 RPM. The fan’s RPM can also be button-controlled via an external remote and it uses a dual-ball-bearing solution. Cooler Master’s mixed fans, which use plastic blades coupled with an aluminum frame, come with fluid dynamic bearings (FDBs). The clearance between the fan blade tip and the frame is important as the smaller that clearance is, the better performance you get. The major downside is that as the fan ages, it can start to clip the interior of the frame. Having it too close can also negatively impact yields. The solution to this is LCP, which is incredibly expensive, or metal, because it doesn’t deform, but that’s also expensive. Right now, Cooler Master says it’s about a .8mm distance, which is pretty good. The company is targeting 0.6mm by the time the fan launches. Cooler Master Video Card Shroud Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)Cooler Master also showed off some video cards, which is not something the company is typically involved with. Cooler Master created a GPU shroud with adjustable slats that can accommodate 15-30mm fans. This solution is geared towards pre-built PCs and isn’t planned to be sold separately.Examining one of the fans, we saw a standard 25mm-thick fan, which Cooler Master’s GPU shroud solution can adjust to via different notch options.Cooler Master is also using a vapor chamber, which is supported by 8x8mm heat pipes running through the shroud and a gigantic fin stack. In total, it weighs almost 7 pounds (3.2 kilograms).Cooler Master claims that, in terms of cooling, it performs similar to the 4-fan Astral solution at lower noise levels, but we don’t have those numbers. With 4,000 RPM fans running on a 600-watt heat load, Cooler Master claims a 5090 will run at about 49 degrees C or so for the GPU.

What just happened? Enthusiast-class discrete graphics cards typically dominate conversations about high performance, but integrated GPUs aren't far behind when it comes to overclocking records for clock frequency. The latest world record holder recently explained how he managed voltage and temperature levels to push an Intel iGPU past the 4GHz mark for the very first time. Overclocker Pieter Massman recently detailed how he set a new graphics clock frequency world record at Computex 2025. While most recent record holders have used Nvidia's flagship RTX 4090, Massman surpassed them using the integrated GPU from an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. With help from Asus overclocker Peter "Shamino" Tan, Massman pushed the Arrow Lake processor's Xe2-LPG 64EU iGPU to 4.25GHz – more than double its stock boost clock. The team achieved the feat twice, validating the results in CPU-Z during a livestream in the early days of this year's Computex event in Taiwan. According to Massman's blog, Skatter Bencher, the achievement marks a new world record for both integrated GPU clock frequency and GPU clock frequency overall. Since the RTX 4090 launched in 2022, frequency records have steadily climbed from around 3.3GHz to 4.02GHz in 2023. Massman had previously set the iGPU record at 3.9GHz during an Arrow Lake launch event late last year – using the same chip he would later overclock at Computex. The overclock involved setting the GT ratio to multiply the default reference clock by a factor of 85, the highest available setting. Initially, Massman supplied 1.3V to the integrated GPU via a VccGT voltage rail dedicated to the CPU's graphics tile cores, but this only reached 3.1GHz. // Related Stories Pushing further required a delicate balance of overvolting and liquid nitrogen cooling, ultimately achieving 4.25GHz with 1.7V and a temperature of -170°C. However, measuring the iGPU's performance at those settings overwhelmed several common benchmarking tools. Furmark crashed after reaching 2,800 points in 1080p, 3DMark Speed Way halted around 650 marks, and GPUPI 1B only ran for about 17.9 seconds. To stabilize the system, the team overclocked the graphics die-to-die interface and increased the reference clock. While discrete and overall GPU clock frequency records have steadily risen since the early 2000s, progress with iGPUs only resumed recently. After breaking the 2GHz barrier in 2011, integrated GPU overclocking plateaued for nearly a decade before surpassing 3GHz in 2023. Whether graphics overclocking will stagnate as CPU frequency gains have since 2010 remains to be seen.

Coolers News Noctua's Next Big Thing: Liquid Cooling and Thermosiphons | Technical Deep-DiveJune 2, 2025Last Updated: 2025-06-02Noctua's Computex 2025 showcase includes engineering and design information on their new Thermosiphon cooler and CPU liquid coolerThe HighlightsNoctua shows off its upcoming AIO liquid coolerThe company also shows off its new NF-A12 G2 fanNoctua also discusses its Antec Flux Pro Noctua Edition PC caseTable of ContentsAutoTOC Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)IntroWe visited Noctua’s booth at Computex, where the company showed off its upcoming liquid cooler, which is set to launch in Q1 2026. Once again, we have to give Noctua an award for least RGB LED BS we’ve seen at a trade show as we couldn’t find any in their booth.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 20, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsHostSteve BurkeCamera, Video EditingMike GaglioneVitalii MakhnovetsWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangThe company showed off its AIO liquid cooler prototype, which consisted of 3D printed pieces that are intended to go into the pump block to reduce some of the most annoying aspects of liquid coolers with pumps as opposed to thermosiphons. The fan that goes on top of the pump block is an existing Noctua fan that they’ve reshaped the frame for. And it’s optional to mount on top and it projects the air out towards the memory and VRM components. We also looked at the company’s thermosiphon, which was briefly shown at Computex last year. It is a 2-phase thermosiphon, which means that it does a phase change. This makes it comparable to a heat-pipe in a way. We also got to see a bunch of different types of cold plate designs.We also got another look at the Noctua x Antec Flux Pro case, which we previously covered at Antec’s booth.G2 FansNoctua showed off its 120mm G2 fan, which also appears in the shroud top of the Antec Flux Pro case. A couple things have changed about the fan, which include the RPM offset being a little different.Grab a GN Soldering & Project Mat for a high-quality work surface with extreme heat resistance. These purchases directly fund our operation, including our build-out of the hemi-anechoic chamber for our acoustic testing! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)When we reviewed the NH-D15 G2, the RPM offset between the 2 fans was about 25, but the fans we saw at Computex are about plus or minus 50.  Noctua provided some first-party data and stated that on a 120x49mm water cooler radiator comparing the G2 fan versus the company’s NF-A12x25 fan under a 200W heat-loud, the G2 fan performed roughly 3 degrees cooler, which is really good.    Paired with an air cooler, there was about a 1 degree difference between the 2 fans, which is a lot for an air cooler. Noctua Liquid CoolerFor its liquid cooler, Noctua is working with Asetek, using the company’s Gen 8 V2 platform.  Asetek has been around for a long time and they’re one of the biggest suppliers. In the old days, they worked with Corsair, NZXT, and basically everyone’s stuff.The landscape has diversified a bit. Apaltek has gotten really big as a supplier. For as much s*** we’ve given Asetek over the years, in our experience, they’ve had fewer widespread failures of gunk buildup compared to competing solutions. Noctua MouseWe don’t cover mice, but Noctua also showed off a mouse with a small fan built into it. Noctua's Jakob Dellinger Interview Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.We wrapped up our Noctua coverage by interviewing Noctua’s Jakob Dellinger. Make sure to watch our Computex video where we do a deeper dive into the company’s upcoming liquid cooler, how a thermosiphon works, and more.

Multiple makers of enthusiast-grade DRAM modules showcased CAMM2 memory at Computex 2025, but there are doubts about its adoption due to uncertain motherboard support and trade-offs compared to traditional DIMMs.

Molex unveiled its Genesis connector and cable system at Computex, targeting future PCIe 7.0 deployments with a design optimized for 128 GT/s signaling.

Thermalright is a Menace: Dozens of New Coolers, New Case, 17-Blade Fan, & Mini PCs, ft. CEOMay 30, 2025Last Updated: 2025-05-30We take a look at Thermalright’s crazy amount of air coolers, closed-loop liquid coolers, fans, and examine the company’s first caseThe HighlightsThermalright continues to overwhelm the CPU cooler market with a crazy amount of coolers at cheap pricesThermalright showed off its first case, the TR M10 MATXThermalright is experimenting with fans of all kinds, ranging from high-end all-LCP and metal fans to more modest PPT onesThe company also unveiled a number of new closed-loop liquid coolersTable of ContentsAutoTOCGrab a GN Soldering & Project Mat for a high-quality work surface with extreme heat resistance. These purchases directly fund our operation, including our build-out of the hemi-anechoic chamber for our acoustic testing! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)IntroWe visited Thermalright’s booth at Computex 2025 and the company handed us a big booklet showing everything the company was showing at the show. It’s impossible for us to remember the names of everything the company was showing at the event as there just too much of it, but we'll try to highlight the most interesting products.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 20, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsHostSteve BurkeCamera, Video EditingMike GaglioneVitalii MakhnovetsWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangThermalright Air CoolersThe biggest thing that Thermalright is doing when it comes to coolers is mostly in digital displays and screens. The company showed off many CPU air coolers at Computex and only a few don’t have them. Frost TowerThe company’s Frost Tower comes with a 140mm fan in the middle coupled with a 120mm front fan. The middle fan is 27mm thick and the front fan is a standard 25mm. Thermalright is targeting about $50 for the Frost Tower. The company is using LCP blades, which is very expensive, and a 30% fiberglass reinforced PBT for the frame, which is a balancing mechanism for cost. It uses a 6-pull fan and its fin-stack is soldered, which is higher quality than press-fit.Royal LordThe company’s Royal Lord cooler is supposed to be a $43 cooler and it uses 2 fans. Thermalright says it’s an extra $10 if you want to add an extra LCD to it. Like the Frost Tower, its fin stack is also soldered. It uses 7 heat pipes with a 30% fiberglass reinforced PBT for its fans, which are both 2x25mm. Thermalright FansR-Series Fans The company will release its R5 and R9 fans. The number denotes how many blades the fans will have. Thermalright says the R5 fans are designed to push air through radiators. The R9 fan has 9 blades and is a 28mm thick fan. The company is moving towards LCP on a lot of its fans. X12 FanThermalright showed off a fan with 17 blades that’s completely made out of metal. It’s got a zinc alloy frame and aluminum blade set. It’s just a prototype for now and costs the company $100 to make, which tells you a little about how much it might cost for the company to mass-produce it. The unit we saw was fully CNCed. 17 blade fans are very abnormal. The company says it would mostly be useful in mini PCs. The fan uses an all-metal design to get the blade-tip clearance to functionally be 0. The fan also has an inner ring to it. Thermalright Stream Vision Liquid Cooler Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)Thermalright showed off numerous liquid coolers, but we’re only going to focus on one. Thermalright’s Stream Vision is supposed to be $100. The liquid cooler comes with a screen on it and there’s also a fan that cools the memory and VRM. One of our suggestions to Thermalright is to angle the grill on the sides of this fan away from the mounting brackets. The company is trying to compete in the liquid market more. Rainbow Vision and Wonder VisionThe company is also competing with Tryx’s panoramic cooler. Thermalright has an interchangeable screen with one of the 2 options providing a full separate cold plate. They are 2400x1800 resolution from what the company told us and leverage a 60Hz panel. One of the options is a 6.67-inch OLED display. Thermalright says that both options should be about $200. TRM10 CasesThermalright also showed off a case that it’s been working on, the TRM10. The company hasn’t made computer cases before. It’s one of the few products that it’s not making in its factory. Thermalright’s plan for cases is to do what they’re doing in the cooler industry, which is to be extremely competitive when it comes to pricing. The cheapest version of the TRM10 will be $45 and the more expensive one will be $65. The more expensive model will come with an LCD display on the side and a digital display on the front to display numbers like the time. The cheaper one, on the other hand, will most likely just come with a steel plate instead.  The mATX case is mostly steel with a bunch of perforations on the top and glass for its sides. The top of the case also has plastic that is made to look like brushed aluminum. Inside the chassis, there’s a good amount of depth for the cable management and it has passthrough for the cables at a side angle with the exception of the EPS12V, which is on the top. Everything else about the case is pretty standard. Looking inside the case, there’s a lot of perforation, like at the top and bottom of the hard drive cages, which is a good thing to see. The top of the power supply shroud is also heavily perforated along with the bottom of the case. There’s about as many holes as you can get in the case.  The case is going for airflow with its panel design, with the exception of the front, but the side makes up for some airflow. The steel in the middle of this panel adds some rigidity and is also probably a play on Thermalright’s logo.   Thermalright Mini PCsWith its mini PCs, Thermalright is trying to compete with Minisforum and the company tells us that the mini PCs we saw will be liquid cooled. This theoretically means it should have better thermals and be a little quieter compared to competing systems if it’s done well. Pricing is still TBD but Thermalright says they will be cheaper or equal to competing mini PCs, which we take as Minisforum. The company started running a benchmark on one of its mini PCs with a 100% load and we saw the CPU, which is an AMD 395 SOC, temps being 61 degrees C, though that may ramp up as it hits steady state. Thermalright showed off 3 models.One of the mini PCs at Computex was just there for show. The unit in the image above is fully CNCed. It looks super nice with its red accents, but it’s not something the company is planning to sell unless there’s a lot of demand for it.  Thermalright Tank PCLeveraging its factory, Thermalright wanted to build something cool and took 3 months to make a computer that looked like a tank. The company told us it’s composed of around 450 pieces.Thermalright CEO Interview Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.We also conducted a brief interview with Thermalright’s CEO. To check that out, make sure to watch that portion in our Computex video.

Lian Li Lancool 4 Has Fans in Glass, 217 Infinity, DAN B4, and $45 Case, ft. CEOMay 29, 2025Last Updated: 2025-05-29During Computex 2025, Lian Li showed off several new cases that include the Lancool 4, Lancool 217 Infinity, Lian Li O11 Mini V2, and moreThe HighlightsLian Li's Lancool 4 case has gigantic holes cut into the glass for intake fans, coupling airflow with glassThe company’s Shifting Block PSU has a rotating plug that is geared for back-connect motherboardsThe company’s Vector 100 cases are very cheap, starting at $45 without fansTable of ContentsAutoTOC Buy a GN 4-Pack of PC-themed 3D Coasters! These high-quality, durable, flexible coasters ship in a pack of 4, each with a fully custom design made by GN's team. You'll get a motherboard-themed coaster with debug display & reset buttons, a SATA SSD with to-scale connectors, RAM sticks, and a GN logo. These fund our web work! Buy here.IntroWe visited Lian Li during Computex, where the company showed off several of its upcoming products. We think the most interesting one is the Lancool 4, which has fans built into its glass front panel. It’s supposed to be a $130 case that will come with 6 fans.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 19, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsHostSteve BurkeCamera, Video EditingMike GaglioneVitalii MakhnovetsWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangLancool 4The big thing about the Lancool 4 is that it embeds its fans into the front glass panel. This kind of takes us back to about 20 years ago, but instead of glass, the fans were integrated into acrylic and people would take a hole saw and would mount their own fans into it. One of the challenges with this design pertains to potentially reducing the yields with glass breaking being a concern. This wasn’t something that case companies did before, but Lian Li CEO Jameson Chen tells us the glass manufacturing process has improved dramatically lately. The CEO says that the failure rate used to be abysmal but has gotten down to about 5% to accommodate for the curve of the glass. Drilling holes into the glass brings the failure rate down at least another 5%. To mitigate failure rates, Lian Li found that there needs to be at least a 3cm gap between the holes. Chen revealed that the glass is 4mm thick, which is to bolster its quality.  In between the fans are plastic pieces which are used to hide the cables. The fans also use Pogo pins, which are integrated into the bottom of the front panel. When we asked Chen what happens if one of the fans dies, the CEO stated that Lian Li would provide a 5-year warranty. He elaborated that the fans are a new design and that they are 10% fiberglass PBT. Chen also revealed that the fans use fluid dynamic bearings (FDB). Considering Lian Li is still prototyping the case, the company is still thinking about whether to put RGB LEDs on the fan blades or to put the RGB LEDs around the fan’s frames. The Lancool 4 has an aluminum top and the rest of the chassis is made of steel, which is 1mm thick.The back glass panel releases via a button. Chen says this was done so that people could open up the glass panel without opening up the bottom side panel. Looking at the design of the rest of the case, it has a lot of similar panels as seen in the Lancool series. It’s got 4 doors and the 2 on the bottom sides are ventilated mesh and there are fan-mount options on the side. While we were there, Chen told us that Lian Li is considering shortening the case from the front to the back a little bit. This would bring the fans in closer to the components. This will benefit an air cooler and GPU. In our experience, performance in shorter cases, in a like-for-like scenario, is better. Chen also thinks the aesthetics of the case would improve as well with a tighter design. The downside is that the case would no longer support 420mm radiators and would support 360mm radiators max. The back panel of the Lancool 4 uses glass, which would normally expose the cable management but the case will come with a cable cover. There would be 2 screws to remove it. A downside here is that there’s less cable-management space to work with.The Lancool 4’s PSU mount is towards the back and bottom of the case. The bottom front has a cut out, which provides some space to route cables. Shifting Block PSU Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.The company also showed off a new interesting power supply, which has a rotating plug. This creates a shifting layout for the cable connections and allows users to re-orient the PSU. Chen tells us it's designed for top and bottom chamber cases and it’s also geared for back-connect motherboards.  Looking at the PSU, it has its 24-pin connectors off on one side. It also has an optional fan and USB 2.0 hub.Lian Li O11 Mini V2Moving on to the Lian Li O11 Mini V2, it has mesh on one of the side panels that’s popped-out about 3mm, which is to accommodate for ATX PSUs that protrude past the frame of the case. The company designed it this way because it had a very specific width it wanted to tackle to avoid the case looking too chunky. Currently, the volume of the case is 45 liters, which includes the feet, but does not include the protruding mesh side panel. The case we saw used bottom intake fans, which are slanted at 25 degrees and the only place for air access is underneath the back panel side. This is coupled with a tiny dust filter on the bottom, which slides out through the back. In terms of other fan mounts, the case has 2 on the side, 1 on the back, and 3 fans can fit in the top. The Lian Li O11 Mini V2 is targeting $89 without fans and $99 with five 120mm fans (2 on the side and 3 on the bottom). Dan Case B4Moving on to Lian Li’s Dan Case B4, we’ve reviewed Dan cases before. The unit we saw at Computex isn’t done yet. We’re told it’s about 60% completed. The case can rotate and has feet and an extension that allows the case to support up to a 360mm radiator. The downside is that about 30% of one of the radiator’s fans would be obstructed by a metal wall. It’s possible that they may perforate this wall to help with cooling. Lian Li is planning to put some mesh or covering on the front panel of the case. The unit we saw was fully exposed and open. What’s interesting about this layout is that the GPU fans are right up against the case’s front intake fans, which is going to be about as cool as you can get for the video card. Most GPUs these days have vertically-oriented fins where the air is going to come out the sides. In this case, air should come out through the punctured side panel but may re-circulate into the back radiator, especially if its fans are intake. If the fans are oriented to be exhaust, that might work better in this case. Lian Li is planning to provide 2x120mm fans along with the case. The case can also be rotated to look like the image above. 217 Infinity CaseLian Li also showed off its 217 Infinity case, which is the 217 case with an updated front and leans on some of the changes that the Lancool 4 has made to get its fans into its front glass panel. The tooling is mostly the same. The things in the back of the case are all basically identical. The changes pertain to the front panel, which have some giant holes in them to accommodate 170mm fans that are 30mm deep. The glass panel has the infinity mirror styling. The only other major change pertains to the IO. Some people complained that the original 217 had its IO on the bottom side, so now the company has moved it to the top with an option to have it on the bottom side. The case comes with 2x170mm front fans and a rear fan. The black version of the case is targeting $120 with a white version targeting $125. Lian Li Vector SeriesAnother Lian Li case we looked at had some “functional gimmicks.” On the back side, it has a cut-out area that looks like a handle, but definitely isn’t. Instead, there’s a very fine mesh filter that’s an area that’s meant to help with intake. This should also help with GPU cooling. The case is targeted at the system integrator market, but will still be sold at retail. Lian Li is targeting $110 for it without any fans, but includes an 8.8-inch IPS screen that carries a 1720x4080 resolution. Pricing may change in the US based on tariffs. Vector 100 and Vector 100 MiniThe main reason we’re bringing these 2 cases up is price. The Vector 100 is targeting $60 (without fans) and the Vector 100 Mini, which is geared for MicroATX, is targeting $45 (without fans). Lian Li Wireless FansLian Li also showed off its new wireless fans, which comes with a battery pack. There’s currently no price on it, but it’s designed to allow its users to “flex,” as Chen put it. It comes with a built-in receiver. The fans and RGB LEDs use up to 12 volts. In terms of battery life, the CEO says that 3 fans with their LEDs on will last for about 20 minutes. Hydroshift 2 Liquid Cooler Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)The Hydroshift 2 Liquid Cooler has a click actuation ring around the cooler, which can be used as a software-less switch for the display and all of that is pre-written to the device. This means that toggling it doesn’t require software, though you could use software. Compared to Lian Li’s previous Hydroshift 1, the radiator size has been reduced to offer more compatibility but Lian Li says it’s tried to improve flow within the cooler. The company also pushed the micro fins closer to the heat source.

Cases News Hyte's "Impossible" Case: X50 Ultra-High Airflow ChassisMay 27, 2025Last Updated: 2025-05-27We'll look at Hyte’s upcoming X50 PC case and delve into some of its engineering and manufacturing challengesThe HighlightsHyte is working on a new "X50" series of computer cases with strange, bubbly panel designs, and vibrant colorsThe case will have a high focus on airflowHyte wants to make the X50 one of the highest performing cases on the market, especially for the price, and will be launching it in the next few monthsOriginal MSRP: $120 (mesh variant), $150 (glass variant) Grab a GN15 All-Over Print Component Mouse Mat for a high-quality mousing surface that'll fit your keyboard & mouse. These mouse mats use a high-quality yellow rubber underside, a blue stitched border for fray resistance, and are covered in PC parts. This is the best way to support our work and keeps us ad-free to support consumer-first reviews!We visited Hyte’s office in Taiwan during Computex 2025 and the company showed us its upcoming X50 case. Externally, it’s very strange…in mostly good ways.We also met with Hyte Product Director Rob Teller, who walked us through the many challenges of creating the case’s unique curved panels.  Editor's note: This was originally published on May 18, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsHost, WritingSteve BurkeCamera, Video EditingMichael GaglioneVitalii MakhnovetsWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangAs Hyte explains, the case is not easy to make. For instance, examining the front panel, you see perforations continue around the edge but maintain some structural rigidity.The back also has louvered vents, which require a 3-step process to manufacture.The cases are expected to be $120 or $150, but the US price may be different, and we expect to review them.The thing that jumps out to us most about the X50 is really just the panels. They are essentially gigantic pieces of perforated metal. Most of the case is steel. It has a unique power supply shroud that looks like plastic but is also steel.The X50 does not include any fans and Hyte’s focus has been to make something that looks different and has an emphasis on performance. In terms of fan options, the X50 supports up to 3x120mm fans at the bottom, which has a filter underneath the case that you can simply pull off.  Hyte has fans that color match most of its models. The X50 also has side-intake options and front intake mounts. The case is heavily ventilated everywhere. Taking the front panel off and examining it, we noticed that it has a lot of perforations on the side, which looks like it would provide more access to air. One of the things that isn’t final for the cheaper $120 model, which has the mesh panel as opposed to the glass, is the presence of the grommets. Teller tells us that the grommets are “the most expensive part per volume of a case.” The product director says that they are trying to see if Hyte can get it in the cheaper variant, but says that since it will be covered by a mesh panel, people aren’t likely to notice its omission. The case has a very deep cable management channel. It also has drive support on the sides. Looking at the glass-panel variant, the glass is 4mm thick, which is gigantic. We’re told that it’s a “laminated acoustic glass.”The horizontal louvered vents on the back are mostly straight, even though they may not look like it on camera. There were 2 reasons for its design here. Hyte tells us it was for structural reasons and flow. We often talk about impedance to flow into a case, but impedance to flow going out doesn’t come up as much. There were a few instances in which we have brought it up, like in the Lancool 207 (read our review), where it has a really restricted airflow in one of its panels. In theory, being able to help the air exit faster should help with thermal performance. Hyte is trying to make a thermal performance chart topper and we’ll see how it does in our testing. Another thing worth pointing out is that the front IO ends up routing, basically, internally and kicks out towards the back side. This is coupled with a couple cable management velcro straps, which is a more standard feature. Hyte continues its louvered vents on the PCIe slots.Speaking with Teller, the product director emphasized how difficult it was to design and manufacture the case. He explained that, in general, round things are typically difficult to make, which is even more difficult to make out of steel. In the case of the X50, it has compound curves, which are curves in 2 directions. This is exemplified in the corners of the case. Explaining how it was produced, Teller stated that the metal is stamped with a 3-ton hydraulic press that has to come down very slow and smoothly. According to the product director, most case tooling uses a 1-ton press that comes down very quickly. He also points out that the yield contributes to the cost. This means Hyte’s yield is lower with the X50 and its production is more difficult.  Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)Teller explained that its machines have to run slowly otherwise things will tear and rip. Thus, the metal needs to be gently massaged into position. If the press comes down too quickly, it would act like a guillotine and cut things in half. The process of figuring out the manufacturing took a lot of experimentation. The company practiced with heated up presses, which Teller tells us is very expensive. Hyte also experimented with stainless steel and steel that doesn’t have any nickel or chromium in it, which reduces the structural rigidity that allows for easier manipulation, but then quickly oxidizes and rusts.The company initially thought that if they had less mesh, making the panels would be easier, but the factory making the X50 informed Hyte that it would actually be easier if they had more mesh. This ended up being an unexpected benefit as they wanted more ventilation.  The curved metal PSU shroud also required a slow stamping process with very tight tolerances, which is common with many kitchen products like colanders and metal bowls. The louvered slats on the back were also a challenge to implement. Some of the factories that Hyte has worked with have told them it couldn’t be done or that they didn’t know how to do it. Teller said that the factory that produced Hyte’s Y60 (watch our review) and Y70 (read our review) cases, however, has an appreciation for doing difficult things and understands that if they’re able to do difficult things, they’ll be able to produce more units, which can generate more money. The factory was able to pull it off. Next up, we’re going to take a look at some of the failed panel prototypes that Hyte has produced. Teller tells us that Hyte spent tens of thousands of dollars to create many different prototypes as they have different tooling. The company also initially heard that what they were asking for was “impossible.”One of the first prototypes we looked at was made using plastic, which would be easier than making it out of metal, but ends up feeling flimsy.Another one we looked at was all rusted, which was due to the fact that Hyte used a softer metal with less nickel and chromium to reduce the chance of it tearing during the manufacturing process. Like we said up above, however, this introduces oxidation, which causes rust. The panel in the picture above is only a week old despite looking significantly older than that. The reason Hyte tried that is because previous prototypes would just tear, especially at the seam of where the mesh meets the solid metal. These issues made Hyte second guess their manufacturing process and case design. Another prototype was stamped but also welded together, which wasn’t going to be acceptable. We looked at another prototype that was both ripped and rusted. This unit had a difference in hole size and spacing, which lent itself to tearing.  Another unit we looked at used lower porosity mesh on the edges, which is what the factory Hyte worked with said was the limit of what it could do. Hyte couldn’t accept this design, however, as they were targeting over 40% porosity. Teller says the X50’s final design ended up having about 45% porosity with 2mm holes and 3mm spacing. The last prototype involved a stamped sheet of mesh and looked close to what Hyte was going for but presented another issue. The downside is that it prevented Hyte from mounting any mounting points on it. This means the company couldn't attach it to a case and the factory couldn’t control the tolerances very well. It would have to require some welding.  Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.Looking at the final front panel design, there’s about 40mm of mesh depth and that’s stamped into a piece of steel that was at one point a solid piece. The company then folds the remaining solid piece, which have studs in them that click into clips. When we asked Hyte if the X50 would be coming to the US, Teller stated, “We’ll see,” which is up in the air due to the US’ unpredictable tariff policies.  

Montech is Targeting Thermalright: Cheap Air Coolers, Sky 3 Case, Micro-ATX, X5, & MoreMay 26, 2025Last Updated: 2025-05-26We take a look at several of Montech’s upcoming cases and coolers, which the company showed off at Computex 2025The HighlightsMontech is preparing to launch new air coolers to battle Thermalright, especially when it comes to pricingMontech is trying to take over the space that DeepCool left in the US marketMontech is releasing several new cases in the coming months that include the Sky 3, King 45, King 15, X5 budget case, X5M, the "ten," and moreTable of ContentsAutoTOC Grab a GN15 All-Over Print Component Mouse Mat for a high-quality mousing surface that'll fit your keyboard & mouse. These mouse mats use a high-quality yellow rubber underside, a blue stitched border for fray resistance, and are covered in PC parts. This is the best way to support our work and keeps us ad-free to support consumer-first reviews!IntroEvery single cooler company we talk to does not understand how Thermalright can have the prices that they have. The only thing we can think of is their factory relationships, but the point is that it’s become a serious challenge for others to compete on price. Montech is trying to compete with Thermalright on price and attempting to replace DeepCool’s spot in the market. Before DeepCool got kicked out of America, which is a hell of a thing to put on your resume, the company really started dominating in the cooler market before Thermalright came in and kicked their ass on price. Where DeepCool was able to compete was in build quality. So, Montech is looking at that and they want to take that part of the market.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 17, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsHost, WritingSteve BurkeVideo Editing, CameraMike GaglioneVitalii MakhnovetsWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangMontech specifically told us that its objective is to sort of compete with Themalright, which is everybody’s objective.  NX400 CPU CoolerLooking at one of Montech’s new CPU coolers, the NX400, the company pointed out that its fan is 28mm, which should help with pressure and performance. Pricing on the single-tower NX400 (non ARGB) is supposed to be $25.90. When you’re down to the 10 cent mark, that’s how you know there is zero margin left in the product.  The cooler uses a 2-post mount. It has a C-shaped bracket for the actual board. There is no offset mounting for AM5. The one thing we’re curious about is how much an offset mount might or might not matter for the 4-heat-pipe approach. The cooler is supposed to sort of be as cheap as possible while still actually being kind of good. This is a very fiercely fought over category right now, which is a good thing. Again, Montech is using 28mm fans. Typically fans are 25mm, but that has been scaling upwards. The reason for this is to increase static-pressure performance. When you stick a fan onto a fin stack, you introduce a ton of resistance behind it. This is the nature of a heat sink as opposed to a fan on the front of a case, where it’s basically accessing the open air and the only thing it’s fighting is whatever’s in front of it to filter the dust or perhaps glass. As the cost for larger fans starts to come down (as more people make them) then we should see the prevalence of more, larger fans. We asked Montech if they’ve done a comparison testing of a 25mm fan vs 28mm one and the company told us it did. Montech says that on the NX400, there was about a 1 to 2 degree difference in favor of the larger fan, which makes sense and is actually a large difference for an air cooler.    Again the non RGB NX400 will cost about $26 whereas the ARGB variant will cost about $30. NX600 CPU CoolerThe NX600 is a 6-heat-pipe version of the NX400 that uses a 2-tower approach to its design. Its price is currently TBD, but it sounds like it may be in the $40-$50 price range from what we’ve heard. It will also use 30mm-thick fans but there are 2 of them. Its cold plate uses an enclosed nickel-plated copper base plate with 6 heat pipes going through it.   Montech X5 and X5M CasesWe originally talked about how Montech used a “molex centipede” for its X3 case, which was a bunch of daisy-chained molex connectors, but that’s gone with the company’s X5 case, which is supposed to kind of replace that series. The X5 is targeting $75.It has a wavy mesh front panel. Montech is experimenting with either painting or placing a sticker on the case to make it look like carbon fiber. They kind of did that with a wood veneer in the past. It’s not real carbon fiber, but that shouldn't be expected out of a $75 case. They tended to do pretty well overall thermally despite using cheaper quality fans. Hopefully the company will be able to deliver on that front again because the below $80 case market is largely dead. The 4000D was supposed to be a case around $80 and that was kind of the last major one that was really successful. So, it’s nice seeing a $75 case, especially if it’s not made out of scrap metal. Internally, the case comes with 3x140mm fans in front and 1x120mm on the back. The reason the X3 was so interesting was the amount of fans it provided for the price. As a matter of fact, we started paying attention to Montech due to their super cheap cases coming with a lot of fans. Looking at the back, we can see that they colored all of the wires white in an attempt to match the rest of the case. The plastic isn’t the same white exactly, but that’s apparently hard to do across all of the different materials like metal, plastic, and rubber. On a $75 case, that isn’t as big of a deal, though.  Looking at the PSU shroud, there’s an option to mount 120mm fans, though there isn’t a ton of room against the power supply. There is some ventilation on the side, however, which might help the GPU.  The case also has an integrated GPU support. Otherwise, the case is simple and cheap. The X5M, which is smaller and aimed at MicroATX, is targeting $60. Pricing is higher than what Montech wanted to target as a result of cost increases and potential tariffs, etc.Montech Sky Case Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)The thing that jumps out to us about this case is its canted tray for its 2 bottom fans, which are reverse blade ones that act as intake. On the back of the case, it has large ventilated holes both vertically and horizontally. Taking the back panel off, one thing we’d like to see is refinement on the magnetic filters. Currently, they’re not done yet but you can see a lot of metal ending up in the hexagon-shaped cut-outs. If they could punch out larger holes or use a finer mesh and get rid of the dust filter or something like that, that would help a lot with thermal performance and letting air through. Looking at the glass side panel, we can see an alternative to traditional Pogo pins, which are used to power the case’s light strip. This design is supposed to be more resilient to damage and it’s located towards the front corner of the case and Montech says this design was incorporated to avoid breaking. Overall, we have some critiques to the case, but it's finalized. The biggest ones we have for this case include the aforementioned side-panel ventilation and the fact that when the fans are oriented towards the front bottom of the case, the drive cages underneath end up blocking potential air intake from underneath the chassis, but then again, there’s not a lot of space for air to come in through the bottom to begin with. As a result, the bottom fans don’t have much access to intake aside from small ventilated areas.  In terms of pricing, it’s supposed to be $80 for the mesh-fronted version and $100 for the glass version. The case will come with 3 fans. HS02 3DAnother case we looked at is one that we’ve already reviewed, the HS02, but the biggest difference with the unit we saw at Computex is that it has glass on the back. Montech is calling it the HS02 3D.Montech TenMontech’s Ten case kind of reminds us of Lian Li’s O11 DYNAMIC MINI, where the case can be rotated and modified into 3 different configurations. The Ten can be flipped, pulled apart, and users can swap around all of its panels. Montech tells us that it takes about 5-10 minutes to do this. The case has excellent side panels. They are basically giant pieces of mesh and also provide air access to the GPU, which is great. Using a glass-side panel in front of the GPU would really suffocate the card. The challenge with the case’s design is that flow-through video cards will dump heat to the power supply fan, which is fine as the PSU can take it. The question becomes where does the air go after that?We think Montech might want to pull down a wall under the power supply to block re-circulation. Other than that, it’s an all-mesh box, which is hard to complain about. Externally, it represents about 27 liters of volume when you factor in the feet. ITX is an option and Montech is calling that the I3. There’s also an mATX variant, which is being called M1 or M2, which designates whether it’s flipped or not.  The Ten is supposed to start at $90 but that’s not finalized yet. King 15 and King 45The King 15 and King 45 are just continuations of the existing King series. They already have the King 95 and King 65, and we reviewed the 65 somewhat recently. The 15 and 45 both still have the curved glass to their fronts, making them very familiar overall.   One thing worth pointing out is that its bottom fans are sunken into the bottom, which means they’re pretty close to the floor and the intake is primarily relegated to the back side panel of the case, where there’s a bit of an angle which should help with intake a little, but it’s still somewhat boxed in.  For the King 15, they are targeting 3x120mm fans and a 1x140mm fan at $110. Without fans, they are looking at $90. Air 2000 Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.Moving on to the Air 2000, we saw a black one with a glass front and a white one with a mesh front. The case has a digital display panel on the side. It tells you the fan speeds but also provides controls as well. Each button press up or down targets 10% increments in control. There’s also a button that defaults to the motherboard’s controls. Looking at the backside of the display panel, it’s just one big PCB coupled with a wire that connects to the fan hub. The upside to this approach is that no software is required. This has been done before by a couple of companies, but it isn’t that common. Being able to control fan speed externally is a nice feature, especially if it doesn’t require software.The Air 2000 is supposed to be $100 with 4x140mm fans and that is with the screen. They will also have a screenless variant as well. Taking a look at the mesh variant, the case’s top panel has 70% whole porosity and the thickness of the steel means that it doesn’t end up being flimsy. The power supply shroud is ventilated with perforations on the top and bottom. Even the top of the drive cage has perforations, which is a nice, small attention to detail. That probably won’t matter a lot but it’s nice to see. The rest of the case has a pretty standard layout. Thermally, the case should be one of the more interesting ones, especially the mesh-fronted version.

Traditionally, PC graphics cards have included two types of ports: DisplayPort and HDMI. Now, they may be adding a third: Thunderbolt. Sparkle showed what it called “Project Thundermage” this year at Computex, a prototype OPC graphics card that put HDMI, DisplayPort, and a pair of Thunderbolt ports onto the same graphics card. The tell, however, was the partner: Intel, whose “Battlemage” Arc GPUs were paired with the Intel “Barlow Ridge” Thunderbolt 5 controller. To date, graphics cards have taken advantage of either the latest DisplayPort or HDMI ports, which both offer the bandwidth necessary for gaming-class displays — such as in the graphics card above, which isn’t from Sparkle. Meanwhile, displays with integrated USB-C ports were typically paired with laptops with Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 ports for laptop docking stations: perfect for productivity, but lacking support for the high-refresh-rate displays normally associated with gaming. Thunderbolt 5, however, alters that equation. Thunderbolt 5 offers 80Gbits/s upstream, and even 120Gbits/s in certain cases. That’s enough for both high-resolution content creation as well as high-speed gaming, provided that manufacturers support it. It’s not clear whether display makers will be willing to add yet another port to their displays, but Intel partner Sparkle is obviously making the case that it could. Videocardz, which noted a @akiba_ten_M’s photo showing off Sparkle’s booth, notes that Thunderbolt’s integrated power delivery could be used to power external displays, too. That seems less likely, but certainly could be a way to reduce the cost of an external display.