CES 2007: Wrap Up

Antec

Antec is a leading supplier of computer cases, cooling fans, and power supplies and has one of the most recognized brand names in this market sector. Their Nine Hundred series of cases is one of our favorites around the labs and continues to be one of the top cases in the market. They announced several new products at CES that include the P190 case that is a slightly larger version of the P180 but features EATX motherboard support, dual power supply support, a 200mm fan on the side, two 140mm fans on top, and 120mm fan support for the front and rear of the case. The Sonata III will be introduced shortly that is an update to the Sonata line along with new EarthWatts and Neo power supply units.


Antec will be releasing an update to their P180 series that will be designated the P182. The case features a dual chamber system to isolate the power supply and CPU into separate cooling zones with up to five configurable fans. Three-layer sound-deadening panels dampen noise, something you need to hear in person as it really lowers the system volume even with five fans running. The case also comes with eleven drive bays. The case features improved cable management since the motherboard tray has been offset into the case to allow for cable routing behind the tray. The motherboard tray has also been redesigned to allow easier routing of cables/wiring to and from the motherboard. The rear of the case has two holes that allow you to route your tubes for water cooling and includes a fan control switch to adjust speeds.

Antec will also be releasing new 1000W and 850W power supplies featuring full support for the upcoming PCI Express 2.0 standard that requires an 8-pin connector for video card support. These power supplies feature a unique paint scheme (still under revision) and full specifications will be available shortly with retail availability expected in March.

Cooler Master

Cooler Master is a leading manufacturer of air coolers, liquid coolers, enclosures, and power supplies in the world. The majority of the products we viewed at the Cooler Master display were products announced at Computex that are now shipping. We will be reviewing several of their cooling products over the next few weeks and their CM Stacker 830 Revolution is our standard case for testing motherboards. This case has been updated to the CM Stacker 832 recently that features improved cooling capabilities.


One of the more interesting cases on display was the CM Media 280/281 series that can be converted from a tower to desktop configuration and is designed for the power HTPC user who needs expanded drive bay capability, full length cards, and a SLI/CrossFire configuration.


Cooler Master also introduced their new Real Power Pro 850W power supply with six +12V rails designed for Quad-SLI desktops and 2P server systems. The unit features a 135mm cooling fan with speed control for quiet operation, 85% efficiency, and full support for Intel ATX 2.2 and SSI EPS 2.91 standards.