One of the popular chassis series Aerocool — XPredator – is relevant again, thanks to the emergence of two new design options the Evil Blue and Devil Red. Apart from a small «cosmetic repairs» newcomers got two ports USB 3.0.



Full-Tower hulls of XPredator Evil Blue and Devil Red (respectively, black and blue and black and red) are made from cold rolled galvanized steel with a thickness of 0.8 and 1.0 mm. Their weight is about 13.4 kg, dimensions — 600 (H) x 234 (W) x 555 (D).


Inside, can be placed the motherboard form factor XL-ATX, E-ATX, ATX, microATX and Mini-ITX, ten PCI Express expansion cards up to 330mm, CPU cooler up to 185mm, ATX-compatible power supply, six 3 5-inch hard drives and the same amount of devices size 5.25 ". Kit includes two 230-mm fans: Front with lighting and rear without lighting.


Ease of assembly is guaranteed by the availability for screwless installation of drives and video cards, holes with rubber «curtains» for cables and …

EK Water Blocks is about to put on sale its VGA waterblock, designed specifically for Asus ROG Matrix HD 7970 graphics card. Codenamed EK-FC7970 Matrix, the product will become available in retail sale already on 8 March and will cost approximately €110. Such price is justified by the utmost heat management facilities that ensure 100% percent reliability.



EK-FC7970 Matrix belongs to the echelon of waterblocks with full coverage. Its base is made of nickel-plated copper, its rear backplate – of anodized aluminum, and its lid – of acetal. The model shows compatibility with all standard fittings of G1/4 dimensional type.


It should be mentioned that EK Water Blocks furnished its new creation with all necessary fastenings, a backplate, and a mounting plate; the latter takes only two slots, unlike a nominal Asus ROG Matrix HD 7970 plate which takes three slots. Such switch of plates will be useful on simultaneous installation of several expansion cards.


This …

Motherboards based on Intel Z77 chip have been lately given much attention, to the detriment of products featuring AMD solutions. In fact, motherboards with AMD chips are in abundance in the market, providing a competitive conditions for the manufacturers and plentiful offers for potential consumers. Asus developed a lot of boards with Intel Z77 chip, but it also boasts the products, like Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0, based on AMD 990FX chip for AM3+ socket. This model is an apt sample of performance, resources and design.



Integration


Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 is developed in ATX form-factor and features 305x244 mm dimensions. The motherboard accommodates five sockets for the connection of fans and large heatsinks which manage heat quite efficiently; heatsinks located on the northbridge and CPU power converter are joined by a heat pipe. There is one peculiar feature pertained to the implemented heatsinks: each of them is notable by an individual fixture type. The reverse side of the …