CES 2009 - Cases, Coolers, and Power Supplies
by Christoph Katzer on January 14, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
Zalman with New Coolers and Power Supplies
There will be a new larger CPU cooler, the CNPS9900 LED. It can cool any of the new processors including the Core i7. The second cooler started as a graphics card cooler; once installed the engineers of Zalman found out it has the potential to cool even modern CPUs, so they added all of the necessary mounting brackets.
Finally, Zalman released two new power supplies. These power supplies don't come with a series name, but there is a large Extreme written on them. The two new power supplies come are rated at 660W and 770W. We had a closer look and it appears these two new power supplies are made by Enhance, just like the ZM850 and ZM1000. Both new power supplies come with 80 Plus Bronze certification, which is a slightly higher efficiency standard than vanilla 80 Plus.
If you want to see nice video footage from the CES head over to German PC-Max.
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legoman666 - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
You said they'd see our comments about the case, so here it is.Get rid of the door. It serves no purpose, it is probably easily breakable, and it just blocks access to the drives.
JonnyDough - Thursday, January 15, 2009 - link
I'm in agreement about the doors. What would be nice is to have OPTIONAL doors. Some cases have doors that just aren't easily removable if at all, and while some cases give you the option of removal, removing the door just leaves your case looking less than desirable/unsymmetrical. Also, the whole mesh cover thing is way overused. I personally don't much care for the look, and it serves little benefit. A very small FILTERED air slot between EACH bay would be ideal. Keep this in mind on future designs please. We want to keep the inside of our cases CLEAN, we want easily removable/washable filtration, and we want EACH BAY to receive a tiny bit of air flow. In fact, why not have a stick with filter "fingers" that slide into a slot. One pull and all the filters between the bays come out. Make it flexible/attachable/replaceable. I'm sure it can be done.My idea is kind of like this:
|----
|----
|----
|----
|----
|----
|----
Where the | = a connecting bar on the front side edge of the case
and
---- = filter fingers between bays.
Thanks.
JonnyDough - Thursday, January 15, 2009 - link
Also, if any case designers like my idea feel free to get a hold of me through Anand. I have a ZILLION other fantastic case design ideas. I am creative, but unfortunately I am not very good with CAD.Christoph Katzer - Thursday, January 15, 2009 - link
You can be sure that the companies are reading each comment. The problem with front-doors is that some like it some not.JonnyDough - Saturday, January 17, 2009 - link
Doors provide a nicer look, and they protect the drives. Arguably, they can also keep the drives cleaner. The problem is that you have to open the door before you can use the drive. So if designers can make the front of the case look better, while still providing some protection then the problem is solved. I think what case designers need to do is perhaps borrow from the HTPC drive cases. HTPC cases sometimes incorporate an aluminum flap for the drive bays, which requires one to sometimes remove the front bezel or tray bezel from the DVD drive.What we really need is a new standard for disc drives and cases. The fundamental DVD drive bezel and case bezels need to be reinvented.
9nails - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
My only purpose for the door = Windows COA stickers.I don't like the looks of the COA stickers on my case, but from time to time I need to rebuild and read and need the number from the sticker. (I actually buy my software, so I have the sticker.) This is, when I don't bother to slipstream a CD/DVD with the Product Key preloaded in setup. It would be helpful for me, at least, to have an ID Card that slides out (maybe this can be a part of the Antec took box?) that I can put my XP, Vista, and probably soon to be Windows 7 stickers.
gemsurf - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
To Antec- Please upgrade the quality of the front usb port modules that come with many of your cases. The quality seems to have slipped the past year-(I have had 3 or 4 replacements for approximately 50 Antec builds). I love and am loyal to Antec cases, but these have been an annoyance!Additionally, with USB everything being used nowadays, and most motherboard manufacturers having atleast two internal USB headers, why are 4 front port usb connections so rare? I build or modify many systems based soley on the fact that I put either 4 or 6 (easy to get to) front usb ports.
gemsurf - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
Just to add to my above suggestions- I build alot of workstation systems and have been using the NSK 4400/4480 as my primary case. I like them for the quality and look and the Earthwatts 380 PS. A similar case, with the addition of 4 front USB ports, and an easier to open design would be near perfect in my little world.7Enigma - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
That's why the 500-550w PSU article hasn't been put up on anandtech. OK vacations over, gimme the review please! :DHopefully you have included the Tuniq Potency 550PS that Mr. Fink mentioned in the comments section of the $1000-2000 system builders article. I ended up purchasing it sight unseen due to the incredible price ($40 after $40 rebate). I didn't really want a new PSU, but couldn't pass up this *possible* deal.