Cases News 6 Years to Make a Fan, G370A Budget Case, & Phanteks Technical Fan Discussion, ft. CTOJune 9, 2025Last Updated: 2025-06-09We cover Phanteks’ new G370A budget case, the XT M3, and the Evolv X2 MatrixThe HighlightsPhanteks’ new X2 Matrix case has 900 LEDs and is aiming to be around $200Phanteks’ G370A is a $60 case that includes 3x120mm fansThe company has a new T30-140 fan that required 6 years of engineering to makeTable 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 Phanteks’ suite at Computex 2025 and the company showed off several cases along with a fan that took the company roughly 6 years to make.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 21, 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 ThangPhanteks Matrix CasesWe’ve talked about Phanteks’ X2 case in the past but the company was showing off its new Matrix version, which has matrix LEDs. The X2 Matrix has 900 LEDs in a 10x90 layout. It’s supposed to be about $30 to $40 more expensive than the base X2, which means it should end up around $200.  The interesting thing about the case is that the LEDs wrap around the chassis. In terms of communication, the LEDs connect to the motherboard via USB 2.0 and use SATA for power. This allows Phanteks to bypass a WinRing 0 type situation. Another Matrix case had 600 of them in a 10x60 LED configuration and is supposed to be about $120. Phanteks also has software that allows you to reconfigure what the LEDs display. When we got to the company’s suite, it had been programmed to say, “Gamers Nexus here,” which was cool to see. We also saw that the LEDs can also be used to highlight CPU temperature. Phanteks G370A 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!)Phanteks also showed off its G370A case, which is a $60 case that includes 3x120mm fans in the front coupled with a mesh front that offers 38% hole porosity. The company tells us that manufacturing typically offers around 25% porosity.  It has a glass side panel and the back side panel of the case is just steel and has no ventilation. Taking a look at the placement of the front fans, we asked Phanteks why they weren’t higher on the case so the bottom fan could get more exposure to the bottom power supply shroud area and the answer the company gave us was simply clearance for a 360mm radiator at the top. There’s not a lot of room for the air coming into the shroud. Some of it will go through the cable pass-through if it’s empty. The back of the case features a drive mount.XTM3The company also showed off a Micro ATX case called the XTM3. It comes with 3 fans and is $70. For its front panel, it has a unique punch out for its fans. The top panel is part standard ventilation but it does have one side that provides less airflow, which covers where the PSU would exhaust out of. The side panel does have punch-outs for the PSU, however. We don’t test power supplies, though that may change in the future. Power supplies can take a lot of thermal abuse, however, so we’re not super concerned here.  The case should be shipping in the next month or so and is 39.5 liters, which includes the feet. We appreciate that as not a lot of companies will factor that in. There’s also a lot of cable management depth on the back and the case also supports BTF. In addition, there’s a panel that clamps down all of the power supply cables. T30 FanPhanteks’ T30 fan took the company 6 years to make and is a 140mm fan. The company is competing with Noctua in the high-end fan space, but is going for a grey theme instead of brown. Phanteks CTO Tenzin Rongen 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.Finally, we interviewed Phanteks CTO Tenzin Rongen to discuss technical details behind the company’s long-developed fans. Make sure to check it out in our video.

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.

According to Bloomberg, the next versions of Apple’s operating systems may be labeled by year, starting now. It makes sense. At this point, we’ve got VisionOS 2, watchOS 11, macOS 15, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. Instead, they might all be tagged 26 — even if they launch this year. It’s not the first tech company to align new products with the year of release. Samsung started naming its phones by year of release in 2020 with the S20, which followed the S10. We’ll learn for sure in under two weeks: WWDC kicks off June 9. — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The news you might have missed Fujifilm GFX100RF review: A powerful, fun camera that’s far from perfect Can you still buy a Switch 2 on launch day? Maybe Weber Smoque review: A simplified smart grill that’s still a workhorse Video Games Weekly: Grand Theft Auto is no friend to the queer community Volkswagen ID.Buzz review: A head-turning EV microbus with unfortunate flaws PlayStation’s DualSense Edge wireless controller is cheaper than ever Sony is discounting consoles, accessories, games and subscriptions. Engadget One of the standout deals of this year’s Days of Play sale is the PS5 DualSense Edge controller. You can pick one up for $169, which is 15 percent off its usual price. The deal is available on Amazon and directly from Sony. The Edge resembles a regular DualSense controller, but there’s a lot more to it. For instance, there are function buttons below each thumbstick and rear paddles, and you can choose between a set of levers or shorter half-domes. If you haven’t jumped on the PS5 yet, the PS5 Pro also gets a $50 discount. Continue reading. The new Opera browser can surf the web for you It’s not Chrome, Safari or Edge, but if you’re willing to be different… Opera has launched another… Opera browser. Neon is its first fully agentic browser. That means it’s baked in AI chat with users and can surf the web on their behalf.  It… clicks for you. It can even fill out forms and shop for you. If you’re feeling more ambitious, you can ask Neon to build websites, animations, even games, and it can continue chipping away at big projects while you’re offline. Will that all be enough to swing you away from all your Chrome plugins or Safari passwords? According to recent figures, just over 2 percent of internet users use Opera. You can try it for yourself now. Oh wait, no, there’s a waitlist. Continue reading. This gaming mouse has a tiny fan inside For the pro gamers. Pulsar Pulsar’s latest competitive gaming mouse features a premium tiny fan from Noctua, the renowned fan brand. (Apparently, no one makes fans quite like the Austrians). With a skeletal shell designed to enhance airflow, it’s for sweaty-palmed professional gamers. Like the original Feinmann mouse from Pulsar, it has a 32,00 DPI sensor and an ultra-fast 8,000 Hz polling rate. Due to the fan, it’s a little heavier than the original at 65 grams. And the price of dry palm calm? $180. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121525453.html?src=rss

Pulsar's latest competitive gaming mouse will literally help you keep your cool during intense matches. The gaming gear company joined forces with Noctua, known for its quiet fans in its signature earthy-brown tones, for a remix of its lightweight Feinmann mouse. The two brands wanted a solution for gamers whose hands get especially sweaty, leading them to jam a 4x4 cm Noctua fan inside a Pulsar mouse. It's not the first time we've seen a computer fan inside a gaming mouse, but it will be the first one to house Noctua's premium fans that keep noise to a minimum. Looking at the updated Feinmann mouse's design, it's a match made in heaven. Pulsar's mouse already has large gaps in its shell to make for a lightweight build, but also a perfect opening for Noctua to squeeze its fans inside. Buying this mouse won't magically boost you to Radiant in Valorant, but it won't be sweaty hands holding you back. Don't forget this is a mouse made for competitive gaming, so it will share the specs from the original Feinmann that has a 32,00 DPI sensor and an ultra-fast 8,000 Hz polling rate. Considering the extra element, the Noctua collaboration will be heavier than the original at 65 grams and have a battery life of 10 to 11 hours, according to Pulsar. The mouse is still a prototype that was available to demo at Computex 2025, but it's expected to hit the market later this year. With the Feinmann retailing for $179.95, don't be surprised if the Noctua collab is more expensive than that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/this-gaming-mouse-has-a-tiny-fan-inside-to-keep-sweaty-palms-at-bay-161723820.html?src=rss

Cases News Noctua Has Competition: HAVN Performance Fans, BF360 Case, & Engineering DataMay 23, 2025Last Updated: 2025-05-23We take an early look at HAVN’s new BF360 case and the company’s new unique fans at Computex 2025The HighlightsFor its new products, HAVN has put a heavy emphasis on thermal performance and acousticsHAVN’s upcoming BF360 case brings in new fans in the 180mm, 140mm, and 120mm categoriesHAVN’s 180mm fan uses a 40mm thick frame and special shaping on the hub for what HAVN claims will improve pressure performance across the hub 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 visited HAVN’s lab in Taiwan during our Computex 2025 trip. We saw that they were experimenting with a 52mm thick fan for a case it was showing off. The company didn’t end up using that for its case and instead used a new fan design that we’ll discuss in this article.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 BurkeCamera, EditingVitalii MakhnovetsMike GaglioneWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangDuring our visit, the company showed off its new BF360 case, which follows up their HS 420.  Taking a closer look at the company’s new fan design, you can see some careful shaping to the fan’s hub, which is supposed to help with guiding air flow. We’ll have to see how it performs in our testing, but the idea is taking a thicker fan approach and thickening it even more. The company ended up using a 40mm-thick fan, which should help with pressure.    The company also uses 2x180mm fans mounted to the front of the case.  While we were there, HAVN prepared some CFD simulations for the flow and some simulations for mechanical stresses, on the panel for example, which is pretty interesting.Taking a look at the BF360, the front panel pops out with a tug as it uses magnets to attach itself to the front of the case and has 3 plastic feet that help it snap in at the bottom. The interior of the case’s front panel has a removable fan tray. Its design is somewhat typical but refined from what we’ve seen. HAVN has done a lot of iterations on it. The top panel pulls off and its design is familiar to the HS 420 with its structural design. Once you remove the top panel, it exposes the case’s top fan/radiatory tray, which has rubber bumpers and a slide mechanism that lets you pull it out of the case, providing full access to the top of the chassis and should help with ease of installation. A lot of the steel on the case is either .8mm thick and there’s some that’s 1.0mm, which is thick by today’s standards. Taking a look at the backside of the case, we can see that it has marked cable management pathways, much like the HAVN HS 420 (read our review). This was kind of a nice thing for brand new system builders. Whereas the HS 420 used stickers, the BF360 incorporates it into the molding. Our understanding is that they may refine its design to try and get more light reflection so it’s easier to see. This is a nice attention to detail that adds to the ease of installation. HAVN learned from the HS 420 on the 3 and ½-inch drive support and improved its implementation. There are 2 bays on the back side of the case for those drives and they can be removed. HAVN also changed how it handles the grommets with the case. The string-like material in between is the same but there’s now a little rubber tab that helps to prevent it from popping out by accident once it’s filled with cables. The point here is that HAVN is trying to learn from what they’ve done with the HS 420 and to refine their designs. Taking a look at the BF360’s front panel, it’s supposed to look like stone, but is made of plastic as stone would be extremely heavy. Behind the front panel in the unit we saw are 2x180mm fans. HAVN has shoved a piece of steel at the top, which is supposed to prevent recirculation. This was a huge issue in old BitFenix cases, where due to the company’s design, it would recirculate hot air back into its fans. This design can improve performance in big ways.HAVN tells us that the best setup for the BF360 is to have the top front fan be intake and the top back fan be exhaust, providing you’re using 180mm fans on the top. This matches our testing for other cases in the past. We’ve also found that if you’re populated the top slots, doing intake in front of an air cooler works better because otherwise air gets in the front and would get stolen by an exhaust fan out of the top. The case we looked at had 4x180mm fans (2 in the front and 2 on top) and 1x140mm in the rear.   HAVN tried different types of power supply shroud designs. One had an angled scoop to bring in air from the front bottom 180mm fan. One design had what we’re calling a “toilet-bowl” design, but that ultimately didn’t go through. The next design we looked at featured a more cylindrical/conical design. We asked one of the company’s thermal engineers why that design didn’t work better as it looks like it would project air towards the GPU, which would be a hot spot, and the rep told us that going with a wider design ended up performing thermally better. HAVN provided us some numbers for that, which we’ll take a look at below, but we’ll eventually do our own testing if we can get an early sample. Taking a look at the first mock-up of the case, we can see some rails for the front fans. This design did not progress into the final. It uses a rail system and we’ve seen it in other cases. Corsair has implemented it and has a trademark for it which they call the “InfiniRail.”Looking at the second mock-up, the company moved to vertical rails coupled with horizontal slats. HAVN ended up ditching that design altogether and moved to a tray design, which is sort of moving to a tried-and-true approach. The company incorporated another change where they’ve stamped and folded the tooling. Then we took a look at a design that was closer to final, which has its full corner covered. HAVN showed us 3 different prototypes for the front panel of the case. The first one we looked at featured a wood panel design, which we’ve seen on a lot of cases lately. Wood has certain manufacturing challenges to consider. The white panel you see above is made of aluminum, which is very expensive.The last thing that HAVN is working on that they showed off are fans. There’s been a lot of fan development in the last few years. One of the big marketing phrases you hear a lot these days is LCP (liquid crystal polymer), which is something we talked a lot about at the last Computex. One of the benefits of LCP fans (which HAVN isn’t using here) is that you can get the blades way closer to the interior of the frame. The downside is that it’s incredibly expensive. We have an interview with Noctua’s Jakob Dellinger from 2 years ago that delves into how the company wanted to avoid using LCP for a long time but determined it was necessary to get the performance they wanted. HAVN isn’t using LCP but has designed a fan that has some “teeth” cut out on its blades, which is something we’ve seen before. The company has also shaped its fan hub to be able to scoop air in more. HAVN tells us that having the hub protrude out like a little mountain would offer the best performance but this presents clearance/compatibility issues, especially if you want to put a radiator up against it. Taking a look at the 180mm fan, there’s a 2.0mm distance from the blade to the frame of the fan. We asked if HAVN tried to get it closer and were provided with a lot of data. The company showed us 3 revisions. 1 had a 1.8mm spacing, another had 2.0mm of spacing, and the third had 2.2mm. What they ended up seeing for pressure in mmH2O, is that a 2.0mm spacing ran at 2.19. The 1.8mm fan ran at 2.23, which is an improvement. The CFM (cubic feet per minute) for both was nearly indistinguishable at around 165. The 2.2mm spacing, however, had a big drop off, which is a design they didn’t go with. It had a 2.21 mmH2O pressure, which is more or less within error of the others, but the 159.9 is where that drop off occurs in the CFM. Comparing the 1.8 vs the 2.0mm spacings, they are basically hitting diminishing returns. Seeing this information is nice. We imagine that the benefits here weren’t worth the yields and costs because getting the blades closer to the inner frame could lead to a bad yield during manufacturing or might have the blades expand and hit the frame as it ages with time. This is what happened with a lot of Enermax fans in the past.  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!)Now we’re going to go over HAVN’s first-part numbers, but we plan to do our own performance review of the case and fans once they’re available. First-party data should be looked at with some reasonable care. Thermal comparisons should only be made against their own results here, not against ours, as the benches are different. The flat, typical shroud style was comparable to the rectangular type in result, with the rectangular type slightly better. We think this will see a larger impact in our testing, but we'd need the three types to know for sure. The important comparison is against the cylindrical type, where HAVN saw worse results by a measurable amount. Performance worsened by 1-2 degrees on the CPU and about 2 degrees on the GPU. That's a large GPU temperature increase.In their next test slide, HAVN tested various fan configurations with the flat shroud. The results were mostly as expected: CPU performance is hurt drastically by having only a bottom intake fan, to no surprise.More interestingly, the ramp type shroud makes comparisons in "B" with a fan level with the top of it and "A" with a fan sunken to the floor of the ramp. The sunken approach resulted in marginally worse CPU thermals in A as compared to B, with GPU thermals mostly unchanged.This slide shows CFD simulation and flow mapping for ramp angles at 120 and 135 degrees. HAVN has drawn a few highlights around areas of re-circulation or heat accumulation, particularly marked at "1" where the 120-degree ramp angle shows worse areas of heat build-up. HAVN tested this in 5-degree increments from 120 to 140, finding that 135 was a good balance when noise normalized.In the above image, they show the fan spacing again, with a 20mm height increase benefiting performance.HAVN didn't shy away from competitive comparisons. The company says its BF 360 with its final front panel, shown above in light blue, had competitive performance against the H6. They also suggest significant reductions in flow resistance (which is a good thing) versus the Lancool 3, with the HS 420 also making some appearances here.HAVN began studying its slot spacing and porosity of the ventilation slots in the panels next. The company found that a ratio of length divided by depth being ideally about equal to 6 was optimal for minimizing flow resistance, with the only downside being potential structural challenges. These charts show their flow performance with different slot sizes.As shown in this set of images, the point is that HAVN is really mocking up a ton of different styles of panels, from the shrouds to the slot spacing, to try and determine the thermal performance and optimize for it. This is a major progression for them. It’s a lot of work to do all of this, which is cool to see. Of course, we have to test the product to see how it came together, but the CFM performance of type 4, as they called it, was the best, but we're ultimately looking at tiny differences here. Still, all of those small differences across the case will add up in theory.This image was cool: After all of this thermal testing, HAVN next did mechanical stress simulation for torsional forces against the panel, which allowed them to dial-in the thickness and makeup of the plastics.That continued in this image, where the so-called "type 4" gets another highlight.HAVN highlighted "Design C" for having a 0.8mm metal thickness with the chosen hole sizing.By shaping the fan hub itself to guide flow, HAVN claims that it can better maintain pressure across the hub of the fan and along the inner wall of the blades. This is the area of worst performance in every fan, so optimizing here can also help minimize dead zones behind the hub. HAVN says that the molded flow guide in the hub benefited its noise significantly. The company claims its flow rate also improved significantly for the guided hub.The image above is really cool. Referencing whale-fin evolution, HAVN used tooth-like leading edges on the fan to improve its thermal performance. We've seen this plenty of times in the past, but it never seems to stick around and we're not sure why. In this simulation though, HAVN suggests that the air stream is more uniform along the wavy blade design.Using a 30% glass fiber composite, HAVN saw performance with the new design slightly improve in CFM but largely improve in static pressure, going from 2.21 to 2.40 mmH2O.There's a ton more that HAVN did. The P/Q chart above shows the mock-up performance, including the stall region centrally. We'll save all this discussion for the review, though.HAVN had about 41 pages of this technical presentation, which is actually greatly appreciated. A lot of what remains will be covered in our review, so we'll leave that for now.The bearings are also interesting to talk about. These are called FDBs (Fluid Dynamic Bearings), depending on how you want to define that. We looked at one that was designed for the company’s 180mm fan. It was a 15mm-tall FDB.  One of the things with fans, in terms of the support, is how the fan’s rod seats into the bearing. As we’re told, the longer the bearing is, the more it will help with the wobble of the blades. Internally looking at the 15mm-tall bearing for the 180mm fan, you can see 3 grooved channels. In our bearings-factory tour, we learned that the grooves are part of the mechanism that allows the fluid to circulate to keep that pressure even across the bearing. That’s supposed to be what's special here but we don’t test bearings individually, but the idea is that 3 channels are supposed to help with the stability of the fluids across the bearing. For the 120mm fans, HAVN is going for roughly a 12mm tall bearing. The company claims that most are between 9-11mm tall for 120mm fans. HAVN allowed us to look at the company’s thermal chamber. There are pros and cons to HAVN’s solution. The pro is that it’s supposed to help control the thermal environment as it circulates the air. The downside to the chamber is that we found it can influence the results, though it depends on the chamber. We found that for our testing specifically, having a larger, open-room environment works better. It is very environment-specific. The company also had a flow-rate tester, which is similar to ours, that can do PQ charts, which the company used to test its new fans. It has a throttle control and a laser tachometer, which provides a reading of the speed of the fan. On one side of the flow-rate tester, there are tubes for the counter blower, which our system also has. Their flow-rate tester also has an air compressor, which is used for actuating some of the nozzles inside the system. We also saw that their flow-rate tester also came with an inexpensive desktop OEM computer (in this case, a ThinkCentre PC running an i5-12400).HAVN also has an acoustic chamber, which has a pass-through on the outside coupled with a noise meter, which collects noise levels. One thing we liked seeing once we looked inside the chamber is that we saw a mechanical rigging for the fan, which allows it to be free flowing. They put their microphone in the corner, which we used to do when we had a chamber of a similar size. Putting the mic here allows you to maximize the distance of the chamber by going diagonal, providing maybe a half a meter of space. They also have a foam floor as well, which makes it closer to an anechoic chamber as opposed to something like our hemi-anechoic chamber. 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.HAVN is targeting a launch around September for its new products at which point we aim to run our own benchmarks to see how it all performs.

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardcore hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. In it, we dig into the hottest topics from our YouTube show, plus hot tidbits seen across the web. This week, we crack open local Taiwanese beers while chatting about Computex—grab a cold one of your own (or maybe some Kuai Kuai chips?) as you join us on this fine Friday! Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! In this episode of The Full Nerd… In this episode of The Full Nerd, it’s all things Computex! Live from Taiwan, Adam Patrick Murray joins up with Jeff of CraftComputing, Paul of Paul’s Hardware, and Nick of GearSeekers to chat about the highs and lows of their week. With Computex 2025 being a pretty sleepy show, the guys have a more casual two-hour discussion, with more than one tangent about an enthusiast hot topic near and dear to the individual’s heart. AI and enterprise servers benefitting us consumers? Nvidia’s hijinks for RTX 5060 review timing? Worst of Computex? Best of Computex? Yep, those are all covered. And a lot more, too. Finishing out Computex strong.Willis Lai / Foundry I literally did a double-take when Paul described this Computex’s vibe as the “enterprise sector being all sexy.” What? And yet, somehow, the tech industry’s latest favorite buzzword could mean good things for consumers. As Jeff explains that AI’s effect on enterprise servers could have benefits for us at home—like if the bubble bursts and suddenly all that hardware makes it our way. Or as Adam shares from a talk with SilverStone, we could see more powerful cooling solutions get adapted over, like thick radiators. There’s a muscle build waiting to happen. Is it a resistance? Or is a reprisal? PC reviewers are upset about Nvidia’s review practices—namely, its decisions for its release of its new RTX 5060 graphics card. Sure, reviewers got samples in hand before the launch, but not a pre-release driver—and the launch happened during Computex. In other words? The inability to run numbers in a timely fashion, meaning potential buyers couldn’t make informed decisions when considering this new 50-series GPU. Should reviewers complain about not having functional free cards before launch? It’s not that simple, says Nick. He points out a review sample isn’t free, since so much work goes into running numbers and presenting the data. Readers and viewers expect to have information to guide them, and when reviewers can’t provide it, it’s problematic. Aesthetics vs performance—an age-old question, and one that bubbles up as Adam kicks off the Computex disappointments by naming the Hyte X50 & X50 Air. (He’s very wrong. The X50 in red is going to look so good on my desk.) Jeff pushes back, willing to sacrifice a few percent for the joy of looking at something he likes. More disappointing to him? Corsair Air 5400D, the company’s first triple-chamber case that has no panel on one side. And blocks the installation of additional PCI-e add-in cards. But that’s not the only thing that baffled the guys—Paul and Nick have their own nits to pick, too. (You’ll have to watch the episode for that pun’s context!) I’m fully on-board with Paul’s pick for best in show. In fact, I may have decided on my own top pick for PCWorld’s Best of Computex roundup after watching his report from G.Skill’s booth. Memory DIMMs may not sound racy, but a set in neon yellow and neon orange can make you reconsider. (I prefer the sparkly silver concept finish. Speaking of, go tell G.Skill you like it too, so it becomes a thing.) But no one can rival Adam’s enthusiasm for his top pick. In fact, he waxes so poetic about scented thermal paste that I’m slightly reconsidering my stance against it. Still don’t think I’d build with it, but okay, I guess I could at least see it in person. Not sure about that baby-diaper smelling one, though. But these topics aren’t the whole of the conversation. Strap in for chatter about AMD’s Radeon strategy, the level of consumer interest in power efficiency (it’s the U.S. vs the rest of the world), fab capacity, and more. Bummed you missed the live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time!  And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s best nerd news Some things should be left in the past. Or at least made with aluminum and a shiny clear coat.Foundry Hardware, software, we love all the cool stuff meant for nerdy brains. This week is chock full of Computex reveals—which are especially exciting because unlike CES, you can mostly count on seeing these products arrive on retail shelves. The only wrinkle? Pricing may not be certain for U.S. residents, due to ongoing fluctuations with tariffs. Get an AMD RX 9060 XT, not Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti? AMD claims its upcoming Radeon graphics card costs less and performs better than the Nvidia RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti. If reviews agree, this $350 card will be a boon for mid-range gamers upon its June 5 release. Microsoft dropped a PC into coolant designed by AI: I have my doubts about AI’s usefulness, but this experiment at Microsoft Build was pretty dang cool. There was even a demo of Forza Motorsport played on the submersed hardware! SilverStone made a throwback beige PC case: I’m going to catch heat from the internet (and my coworkers) for this, but I hated the beige boxes of the 1990s and still do. However, this retro-style case does come with a lock. And a Turbo button. Hmm. Cooler Master’s all-metal case fan is metal as heck: Its Masterfan XT Pro can hit such a high RPM (4,000) that the product has to ship with a fin grill for safety. But only on the front. Watch your fingers. Noctua brings brown town to AIO coolers: A special kind of person loves Noctua’s signature color scheme (truly, one of our Discord server members is like this and he’s a gem). Now you’ll no longer need to choose between love for water cooling and for so much brown and tan. A split mechanical gaming keyboard for the masses!: An ergonomic keyboard that doesn’t feel gross when typing? And also a gaming keyboard? Sign me up. Y’all, this thing can be tented. (Vertical pitch makes this kind of design way more comfy.) I want Hyte’s X50 case very badly: I mentioned how much I want one in red, right? Adam’s so wrong about the bubbly edges. It’s so refreshing among a sea of sharp-edged boxy cases. AMD is dropping a 96-core Threadripper CPU: For when you crave workstation performance but not workstation prices. Ninety-six cores and 128 threads. That’s all for this week—for all my fellow U.S. residents, enjoy the long holiday weekend! -Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Want The Full Nerd newsletter to come directly to your inbox every Friday morning? Sign up on our website!

Anyone who’s spent hours at their computer, whether gaming or working, knows that sweaty hands can ruin a good session. Ergonomic mice help with grip and comfort, but rarely do they address the clammy, uncomfortable feeling that comes from long periods of intense clicking and scrolling. Enter the Feinmann Noctua Edition skeleton mouse, a playful and techy solution to the age-old problem of sweaty palms. Most gaming mice focus on buttons, DPI, and flashy RGB lighting, but rarely do you see a mouse designed to keep your hand cool. The Feinmann Noctua Edition breaks the mold by building a mini fan right into the body of the mouse. It might sound like a frivolous feature, but it’s a game-changer that could mean the difference between a fumbled shot and a flawless clutch moment for competitive gamers. Designer: Pulsar Gaming x Noctua The first thing you’ll notice about the Feinmann Noctua Edition is its wild, skeletal look. The perforated shell exposes the inner workings of the mouse, following the trend of “showing off the guts” rather than hiding them. Not only does this give the device a striking, almost futuristic vibe, but it also allows for better airflow even before you flip that fan switch. The real innovation, however, is the partnership between Feinmann and Noctua, the Austrian brand beloved by PC builders for its high-performance cooling fans. The Noctua Edition squeezes a tiny, powerful 4×4 centimeter fan into the mouse’s frame, gently circulating air over your palm during those marathon gaming sessions. It might sound like overkill, but for anyone who’s struggled with a slippery grip or uncomfortable heat, it’s a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. Unlike the original Feinmann F01, the Noctua Edition swaps out the usual gaming mouse colors for Noctua’s distinctive beige-and-brown palette. Love it or hate it, this unique color scheme is a badge of honor for hardcore PC enthusiasts who know the Noctua brand on sight. If you want that signature cooling, you’ll have to embrace the look: quirky, retro, and oh-so-functional. Even with its playful design, the Feinmann Noctua Edition doesn’t skimp on performance. The skeletonized structure keeps it lightweight for quick flicks and precise movements, while the fan adds a subtle hum that’s oddly satisfying. This is a mouse that’s equal parts conversation starter and serious tool, aimed at gamers who want every possible edge or who simply want to stay cool under pressure. With more makers and brands experimenting with the internals of our everyday gear, the Feinmann Noctua Edition mouse is a fun reminder that there’s always room for innovation. Whether you’re a sweaty-palmed gamer or just love unique tech, this mouse proves sometimes it pays to keep your cool.The post Gaming Mouse with Tiny Fan Keeps Your Hand Cool and Comfortable first appeared on Yanko Design.

Not often have I heard of a mouse overheating and blowing up in the hand. The little computing rodent is safe to deal with. Not surprisingly then, we are consciously okay handling them during those nerve-wrecking battles and work hours extending beyond dawn. But the same cannot be said for sticky, sweaty hands you’re left with on the plasticky mice. Notwithstanding, no one has thought of giving the mouse a fan, until now. Noctua, the famous Austrian computer hardware manufacturer, that has for years kept CPUs cool with its incredible fans, has teamed with Pulsar for a gaming mouse with a built-in fan. The beige and brown Noctua fans have been part of our lives, ever so quietly beefing up our devices’ performance. Now a small Noctua is finding its way into Pulsar’s flagship mouse. The idea of the fan inside a mouse is simple, to keep the hand dry; not that we thought the innards of the mouse required cooling. Designer: Noctua x Pulsar Showcased at the 2025 Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, the Pulsar x Noctua gaming mouse is based on the Pulsar Feinman F01, whose internals have been adjusted to integrate a 40 mm Noctua NF-A4x10 5-Volt PWM fan. The exterior of the mouse is an innovative magnesium alloy exoskeleton with cutouts to direct airflow to your palm, keeping it chill when the going gets tough. For the new collaboration, Pulsar has painted its flagship Feinmann mouse in Noctua colours, including a fan – which of course is in signature beige-brown outfit. The co-branded mouse is called the Pulsar x Feinman Noctua Edition and, despite the fan onboard, is said to have ultra-quiet operation. According to the available information, the fan inside of the mouse runs almost quietly with a noise level of 17.9dB. Since quietness and the idea to keep the sweating palm dry don’t make for a good gaming mouse, the Pulsar x Feinman Noctua borrows all its impeccable features from its predecessor. For a gamer’s benefit, the lightweight wireless mouse has a XS-1 sensor delivering an awesome 32,000 dpi. To ensure smooth gameplay, it offers 8 kHz polling rate, an acceleration of 50G, and a speed of 750 IPS, and comes with its own charging dock. There is no word on the exact weight of the mouse, or how much the fan eats up on the battery, but considering Feinmann F01 weighs only 46g, thanks to its magnesium housing, the fan-based mouse probably weighs just as much. Same is for the price, the F01 costs about $180 and the Pulsar x Feinman Noctua Edition is expected to cost $200, when it goes on sale in November 2025. The post Pulsar x Feinman Noctua mouse has a built-in fan to chill your sweaty palm first appeared on Yanko Design.

In context: Noctua is mostly known for its fans, CPU heatsinks, and other cooling products for computing devices. The Austrian company also cooperates with third-party peripheral and GPU manufacturers, though its latest partnership is likely the most unusual so far. Noctua is putting a 4x4 cm (1.57 x 1.57 inches) fan inside a competitive gaming mouse made by Pulsar Gaming Gears. The Korean peripheral manufacturer announced the oddity ahead of Computex, promising that the new mouse would be demoed during the computer hardware show held in Taipei, Taiwan. Noctua is well-known for the "exceptional" cooling performance of its fans, Pulsar stated, while gamers – and competitive gamers in particular – are prone to sweating during esports events. The Asian manufacturer is therefore equipping its pre-existing Feinmann gaming mouse with a tiny Noctua fan, so that gamers can be comfortable even in the heat of the most ferocious (e)battles. Pulsar didn't have to reinvent the wheel, as the Feinmann already includes a very light shell riddled with holes. The Feinmann F01 is an ultra-lightweight gaming mouse weighing just 46g, providing all the features a competitive player would expect, including an 8,000Hz polling rate, a 32,000 DPI sensor, a "fast" 8K docking charger, and more. Thanks to the newly embedded Noctua fan, gamers buying the new Feinmann model can expect their hands to be constantly cool. Even users with particularly sweaty grips should enjoy a more comfortable gaming experience. We would very much like to test Pulsar's statements while replaying Doom Eternal's DLC 1 during summer months, just to be absolutely sure it really works the way the manufacturer says. // Related Stories Some Computex attendees say the Noctua-powered Feinmann mouse is indeed comfortable and the additional air flow keeps palms cool. Pulsar's product doesn't appear to be just a gimmick, though the specs are clearly being affected by the new fan. The mouse weight is now a bit higher (65g), while battery life should be around 10-11 hours. Pulsar said the mouse is still a prototype, so battery life and other specs are "preliminary." Modern wireless mice can go on for hundreds of hours on a single charge, so we're curious to know how the final product will turn out. The standard version of the Feinmann F01 Gaming Mouse is currently on sale at $180, so we expect the new model will cost more than that.

Major trade shows like Computex are always exciting for brand-new computing hardware, but companies also take this opportunity to showcase their creative design prowess. At its booth, Asus showed off three new graphics cards ranging from the technologically interesting ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 BTF Edition to the devilishly decorative ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 Doom Edition. Here's a closer look at each custom RTX 50-series graphics card and everything we know so far. As a heads up, Asus has not issued pricing or release date information for any of these products—this is purely a sneak preview.Asus' New ROG BTF Card Has One Neat TrickAsus debuted its Back To the Future (BTF) hardware a few trade shows ago, with more supported components debuting over time. The underlying concept for Asus’s BTF hardware is to supply all the power a graphics card needs directly from the motherboard, reducing the number of cables cluttering up your PC case. As such, this has required customized graphics cards and motherboards to support it.(Credit: John Burek)The newest card Asus has created to support this design is the Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 BTF Edition, which slots into an Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Hero BTF motherboard. One improved aspect of these new designs is that the edge power connector on the graphics card is removable, turning it into a standard graphics card.(Credit: John Burek)Turning into a regular card conflicts with the purpose of the BTF design. However, doing so enables you to connect the graphics card to standard PCIe-equipped motherboards for testing purposes or to sell the GPU off after a later upgrade.(Credit: John Burek)ROG Goes Full Slayer Mode for DoomDriving hype for the newest entry in the FPS game series, Asus also showed off its Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 Doom Edition graphics card. This product is a fairly typical RTX 5080 video card in most ways, but its thermal solution is lavishly decorated with artwork inspired by Doom: The Dark Ages.Recommended by Our Editors(Credit: John Burek)This makes the graphics card look a lot cooler and more interesting. It's a callback to the early 2000s, when graphics cards frequently shipped with decorative thermal solutions. Sadly, this isn’t something we typically see anymore. Most graphics cards today tend to be plainer, and colors are often limited to just black, white, and shades of gray.(Credit: John Burek)Noctua Brings Its Signature Beige to GeForce RTXThe final new card that Asus showed us was a more plain-looking product with prominent brown overtones. This color profile is thanks to Asus' collaboration with Noctua. Featuring that unique Noctua look, this graphics card is named the Asus GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua Edition.(Credit: John Burek)The Noctua thermal solution includes three 120mm NF-A12x25 G2 fans that are said to be exceedingly quiet. The card also has a thermal pad for interfacing with the GPU die, which changes phase from a solid to a liquid to support optimal heat exchange as temperatures increase.When to Expect These New Custom RTX 50-Series CardsAll of these new graphics cards that Asus showed off have unique features that some will certainly want, but unfortunately, it’s unclear when or if any of these will go up for sale. Some other BTF hardware has made it to retailers, and we will likely see the new BTF hardware do so, too.The Doom and Noctua graphics cards seem likely to be limited editions. They may go up for sale soon, and if you want one, you should not hesitate to order it. They will likely sell out quickly and never return.