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 …

Gigabyte keeps on expanding the segment of mini-PCs with its proper Brix solutions. This time the lineup has been replenished with two models: Brix GB-BSCEA-3955 & Brix GB-BSCEHA-3955. The two differ from each other by the height of the case. The first new-comer features 119.4x112.6x34.4 mm dimensions, whereas its companion boasts 119.4x112.6x46.8 mm dimensions. The latter allows for the installation of an additional 2.5-inch drive of 7.0 or 9.5 mm height. Both models are targeting Intel Skylake platforms.



The other characteristics of these mini-PCs are identical. They are based on two-core Intel Celeron 3955U CPUs (14 nm) which operate at 2.0 GHz frequency. Processors cooperate closely with Intel HD Graphics 510 that runs at 300-900 MHz clock frequency. The motherboard PCB (110x105 mm) houses a couple of SO-DIMM slots for DDR4-2133 MHz RAM (up to 32 GB).


Both Brix solutions offer one slot for the installation of M.2 2280 drive and a sole M.2 expansion slot which is …

Phanteks decided to amaze the public by releasing a new high-performance cooler PH-TC12DX that is able to cope with practically any up-to-date CPU from Intel or AMD. The sales campaign has started from the USA market where the model goes at $55-$60; the price depends on the color version: coolers with black fan impellers and heatsinks go at $55, while models with red, blue or write components cost $60.



Phanteks PH-TC12DX features tower-like framework. Its construction consists of two heatsink blocks, four U-shape heat pipes that pierce those blocks, and two voluminous 120 mm fans which are located on both sides of aluminum heatsink blocks. The latter are designed with an unusual shape of impellers, known as Maelstrom Vortex Booster (MVB). This cooler is equipped with PWM controller that monitors and regulates fan rotational speed; thus, the speed might be adjusted to the minimal 600 RPM and to the maximal 1800 RPM.


The implemented type of bearings provide for 150000 hours …