CeBIT 2008 Day 3 - PSUs and Cases
by Christoph Katzer on March 6, 2008 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
OCZ and PC Power & Cooling
OCZ added another color to the PCP&C Silencer series. The Silencer 750 is now also available in blue, which is not as nice looking as the red edition (Ed: at least in some reviewer's opinion). OCZ told us that there might also be a Lamborghini-like yellow version coming, which might be even cooler than the red edition; we will see. OCZ also introduced a 500W Silencer power supply that we are looking forward to testing soon.
Another addition to the lineup is the EliteXStream series, introduced at CES this year. The new series has final status now and will ship very soon. We already had the chance for a sneak peek into this new series, and it is performing very well indeed. A review will come very soon. Also on display was the new Turbo Cool 1200W ESA edition, first shown at CES. We tested the normal 1200W edition and found a decent quality PSU. The ESA model now has final status and will ship soon.
Scythe
Scythe is a Japanese company famous for their extraordinarily big and high-performance coolers. At CeBIT last year, we saw several of their first attempts in the power supply market, and it now looks like they have finished samples ready for mass-production. Unfortunately, we had no chance to look inside, but from the outside it looks like an Impervio-made product.
The rest of the booth focuses on their coolers. All the coolers use heatpipe technology, with plenty of them to provide the best cooling possible - or at least close to it. One cooler even came up with 10 heatpipes and a huge fan. The fins aren't spaced as close to each other anymore, but that would have made the cooler extraordinary heavy as well limiting airflow. We will have to see how it actually performs in actual use, however - hopefully sooner rather than later.
Silverstone
There wasn't much new at the Silverstone booth, since they showed the same products we saw at CES just two months ago. Silverstone developed the products internally and they either are close to mass production or are already at that stage. Some of the cases Silverstone developed over the years are really innovative, such as the Sugo series. The ESA model is shipping to resellers now and should be available for purchase very soon. With the Commander, users will be able to use the ESA function without actually owning an ESA certified case. We don't know how it will work out, but it seems the power supply or motherboard at least will need to be ESA models. We will see how this works out in the near future.
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Christoph Katzer - Friday, March 7, 2008 - link
I added the last gallery with misc products.kilkennycat - Friday, March 7, 2008 - link
Did Enermax not have a booth? That's weird. Their power-supplies are somewhat popular in Europe.Christoph Katzer - Friday, March 7, 2008 - link
They had but there was nothing new to show in fact. We wrote quite a lot at CES about the new PRO82+ and MODU82+.MGSsancho - Friday, March 7, 2008 - link
first of all their the best.http://www.anandtech.com/GalleryImage.aspx?id=1398">http://www.anandtech.com/GalleryImage.aspx?id=1398
more on that HTPC case? my current htpc is amd 690 based and its just sitting here in pirces. im looking for a nice case. so yeah moer htps cses please :)
PS. im loving the silverthone cse
Christoph Katzer - Sunday, March 9, 2008 - link
That case is actually for the Xbox360 but Lian Li has the same case also for SFF.Freddo - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
All the manufacturers seem to be bragging about having xxxx Watt, but I'm not interested in that.300 is enough for me. I just want a really efficient and quiet PSU. A passive cooled one. Looking at the market today, it seems like the last passive cooled PSUs were released 3 years ago. I'm sure if they tried, they would be able to make passive PSUs more efficient today than they were 3 years ago. So where the heck are those? Stoopid companies.
7Enigma - Friday, March 7, 2008 - link
I'm still waiting for these case/psu companies to get a clue and have a properly vented setup. Why do I have a psu that has a horizontal vent out the back with a closed-top on the case? Seems pretty logical to me that the psu (be it passive or actively cooled) should have the intake at the side (as in the highest point in the case), and the outlet at the TOP with corresponding opening at the top of the case to let the hot air out. Put a piece of removable mesh or something to prevent dust from getting in.I've seen some cases with huge 200mm fans on the top of the case, what I really want is a port hole on the top where the PSU is mounted, with a PSU that has its outlet also on the top. This would reduce the need for active cooling under all but the most demanding situations since the hottest air will have easy access to simply rise out of the case the way physics intended.
For SFF or low power/silent setups you wouldn't even need an intake case fan since the escaping heated air would cause a suction at the front (ideally at the base of the case for the coolest air).
Maybe I haven't looked around enough but comon, SOMEONE, make a PSU/case that would address this. Heck I'm about ready to start my own company to produce these!
xsilver - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
if you're only after 300w then I think the second hand market is ripe for the picking at the moment.a lot of noob people who are upgrading their 300w-500w fanless PSU's are selling them off for cheap!
JarredWalton - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
Did you read the NesteQ comments? Semi-passive sounds like a good compromise: if you don't break a certain threshold, you get pure silence. It sounds like they're working on US partners right now, so I'm definitely interested to see where they go.JarredWalton - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
Just an addendum, I recall quite a few people experiencing failures with purely passive designs. If there's no airflow at all (i.e. no case fans or other fans), temperatures can and do get out of control. Without the potential to activate a failsafe fan to cool things down, you run a risk of overheating and failure. Sure, it fails silently, but I think most people would prefer a little occasional noise just to be safe.