CES 2006: Motherboards, Memory, Cooling, and a Few Surprises
by Wesley Fink & Jarred Walton on January 11, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
OCZ
OCZ recently went beyond their memory roots with power supplies aimed at the enthusiast. That move was a huge success for OCZ, so this year, OCZ is taking aim at a new product line for the Enthusiast.
When computer hobbyists get the overclocking bug, it isn't long until they discover that the key to pushing the performance envelope is cooling the CPU. The first stop is improved air-cooling, and OCZ has been a supplier of air-cooling solutions for many years. The next logical performance jump is water cooling, which cools better than air with the added advantage of near silent operation. The ultimate is phase-change cooling, which operates much like a freezer with a compressor. Phase-change allows insane CPU overclocks, but the cost of admission has been $800 to $1500 or higher - which makes it out of reach for all but the most dedicated, and well-heeled, enthusiast.
OCZ hopes to make phase-change a real choice for more buyers with the introduction of a $299 MSRP Phase Change cooling system. Shipments should begin in about 30 days, and OCZ tells us that once sales volume picks up, they are hopeful that prices can drop even further to the $200 range. This will make OCZ phase-change about the same price as some of the better water-cooling kits.
That $299 will include a copper head for the processor. The OCZ design is not a full case, but a compressor with a phase-change head. OCZ tells us that the shipping design will have the head cable coming from the top of the compressor box - which will allow modders to use the compressor case as the base of an existing case if they choose.
The front of the unit reports operating temperatures at the CPU. The demo unit was reporting -25 to -27C driving an AMD FX57 processor at 3.2 GHz through loops of FutureMark 3DMark2005.
OCZ recently went beyond their memory roots with power supplies aimed at the enthusiast. That move was a huge success for OCZ, so this year, OCZ is taking aim at a new product line for the Enthusiast.
When computer hobbyists get the overclocking bug, it isn't long until they discover that the key to pushing the performance envelope is cooling the CPU. The first stop is improved air-cooling, and OCZ has been a supplier of air-cooling solutions for many years. The next logical performance jump is water cooling, which cools better than air with the added advantage of near silent operation. The ultimate is phase-change cooling, which operates much like a freezer with a compressor. Phase-change allows insane CPU overclocks, but the cost of admission has been $800 to $1500 or higher - which makes it out of reach for all but the most dedicated, and well-heeled, enthusiast.
OCZ hopes to make phase-change a real choice for more buyers with the introduction of a $299 MSRP Phase Change cooling system. Shipments should begin in about 30 days, and OCZ tells us that once sales volume picks up, they are hopeful that prices can drop even further to the $200 range. This will make OCZ phase-change about the same price as some of the better water-cooling kits.
That $299 will include a copper head for the processor. The OCZ design is not a full case, but a compressor with a phase-change head. OCZ tells us that the shipping design will have the head cable coming from the top of the compressor box - which will allow modders to use the compressor case as the base of an existing case if they choose.
The front of the unit reports operating temperatures at the CPU. The demo unit was reporting -25 to -27C driving an AMD FX57 processor at 3.2 GHz through loops of FutureMark 3DMark2005.
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Leinad - Saturday, March 4, 2006 - link
I see that the Corsair Nautilus500 is available, and at pretty much the expected price. I have searched around looking for any information on the Cryo-Z, and don't see any. Just curious if anyone in Anandland had any further information...I also wanted to second the request/suggestion of the addition of a cooling area to Anandtech.
yacoub - Thursday, January 12, 2006 - link
And the best thing about all the Asus boards pictured? EVERY ONE OF THEM IS PASSIVELY COOLED. About time. Dinky motherboard fans are the bane of many otherwise-quiet systems and they're often of such poor quality as to die within a few months and leave the user with a board that can overheat.Very nice work, Asus.
JarredWalton - Thursday, January 12, 2006 - link
Funny you should mention that. I have an ASUS K8N4-E Deluxe board that has been used less than 3 months. It has a dinky NB HSF, and guess what died this past week? So now I replaced that 30mm or whatever fan with a spare 60mm fan jury-rigged into the case, and it cools better and runs quieter. Small fans are garbage.SignalPST - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
Sounds very promising. Hopefully, they'll fix the problems with the NB heatsink and 7800GTX 512MB getting in the way. When should we expect more details for this board?
FlyingShawn - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
Quick correction on what looks like a typo on your DualCor coverage. The article states that the 1.5 Ghz processor runs XP Pro and the 400 Mhz runs XP Tablet. Actually, the 1.5 Ghz runs XP Tablet and the 400 Mhz runs Windows Mobile 5. So basically you have a full XP Tablet for when you need it and the instant-on benefits of a Mobile 5 PDA for when you need information like PIM data quickly.abakshi - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
Yeah I was about to post that.That brings up another interesting issue though -- is data synchronized between the two sections (e.g. Outlook contacts/calendar/etc.), and do that mean you can run both parts at once and simply switch between the two (since they seemingly share only the user interface elements)?
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
Yes, DualCor was demoing synchronized data between the 2 OS. I will correct the OS/processor statements in a few minutes.monsoon - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
since we didn't get the new MAC MINI at Macworld, i'm eager to read your coming review of the AOpen PC Mini with CORE DUO insideHoudani - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
Those Aopen boxes look stupendous on the outside. I'm eager to hear how their innards fare. All three of them there boxes are intriguing.wilburpan - Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - link
This is probably the wrong trade show for this, but was there any indication from CES as to whether BTX is increasing its penetration into the market?