News Corsair Bulldog

So Corsair has decided to take their shot at a Steam machine. Don't much like the looks myself but it's approximately 20.4L and it has a nice, compact CPU cooler and what appears to be a SFX PSU!

Excluding the feet it looks to be about 128mm H x 430mm W x 370mm D = ~20.4L

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Bleh. Too big, and too ugly - though the CPU cooler is indeed an interesting design.

 

[Vittra]

They're moving in the right direction, but still have some work to do. The SFX PSU is a good sign.

 

[rawr]

And then we find out that it's a Silverstone psu rebrand
Honestly I would dislike it more if they are actually aiming at the upcoming Steam Machine market. Slightly off topic, but adding yet another option and sticking cookie-cutter i5 and 970s - with it priced at twice/thrice that of consoles - is not going to do Valve's initiative any good.

 

[Vittra]

Whether or not it's a rebrand of a current PSU doesn't matter all that much. Having a company such as Corsair interested in this size of PSU and being able to push units may indeed force someone like Seasonic to take a serious interest in the form factor. That will be of great benefit to us all

 

[jeshikat]

The PSU will be available separately:

Do any of the parts come separately?
Yes! While you have to buy the Bulldog kit to get the Bulldog chassis, the Hydro Series H5SF cooler and SF600 power supply will both be available separately.

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showpost.php?p=781791&postcount=1

I'm liking the flush connectors and 92mm fan:

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Do we know how they sourced that power supply? The lower profile connectors are a nice touch, and it may be less bothersome noise-wise than the SX600-G, no?

 

[Vittra]

Unknown, still too early to find out likely.

 

[Phuncz]

Nice to see Corsair taking SFF seriously, but I've got my doubts about that cooler. It seems to be a proprietary design all-around, with a blower-fan and a much more block-shaped radiator. While it solves the problem of having a rear exhaust in a flat case, it does so by using a presumably louder fan-technology and what I'd guess smaller radiator surface.

The PSU also seems to have the ports sticking out a little, not totally flush (look at the rightmost connectors).

The design is indeed not for everyone

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Nice to see Corsair taking SFF seriously, but I've got my doubts about that cooler. It seems to be a proprietary design all-around, with a blower-fan and a much more block-shaped radiator. While it solves the problem of having a rear exhaust in a flat case, it does so by using a presumably louder fan-technology and what I'd guess smaller radiator surface.

At 20L, it's really confusing that they still had to come up with a kludgey way to get an AIO in there. Especially since the exterior design is so covered in vents already... They weren't exactly sparing the aesthetics much by doing that :rolleyes:

Really, though, when looking at the inside, it's just a mess. It doesn't look thoughtfully designed at all, and it's simply huge for a mITX, SFX-based LRPC. I'm not sure who would want to buy this even when compared to other LRPC and Steam Machine options, really.

 

[Phuncz]

Corsair's engineering department:
Chris: Hey guys, management wants us to do another small case for those mITX boards no one actually buys, but they said to make it more "compact" this time.
Tom: Ugh those idiots of marketing with their sleek Macs must have whined some more how our cases are "way too big" and "people don't want bulky cases anymore" de-doy
Chris: Yeah talks about a "hole in the market" that Lian-Li and SilverStone are flooding with those fidgety cases, it was stupid. They aren't using their head, why would anyone want a gaming PC that only has one GPU and a handful of HDD's, not even an ODD ?
Pete: Wait, you guys all have 3 or 4 GPU's, a bunch of HDD's and the automatic cup holder ?
Chris: No derp, but we might one day and what then Pete, WHAT THEN ?!
Tom: LOL this guy.

*team goes on to create a ridiculously stupid SFF case*

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

...

I lol'd

Also, I'll just put this here...

Turns out, if you flip currently-known-as-Nova on its side, you have a Bulldog killer!

 

[Phuncz]

LOL awesome
Maybe the difference is that they started to design from the outside instead of the inside ?

 

[Vittra]

...but they still did a bad job on the outside!

 

[rawr]

No derp, but we might one day and what then Pete, WHAT THEN ?!

Haha this actually made me lol. Love it when this actually happens.
However before we endlessly circlejerk, I think we gotta realize that a company like Corsair probably dislikes taking risks, and is going to go for "lowest common denominator" kinds of cases. Even Silverstone has never ventured further than their RVZ01 style case, which they must have made like a hundred variants of now. So don't expect super innovative things from these companies.

 

[QinX]

What a hideous Case!

Also this thing makes me feel like I need to hurry the F up with my project.
They are asking 400 USD for the kit!

 

[Phuncz]

However before we endlessly circlejerk, I think we gotta realize that a company like Corsair probably dislikes taking risks, and is going to go for "lowest common denominator" kinds of cases. Even Silverstone has never ventured further than their RVZ01 style case, which they must have made like a hundred variants of now. So don't expect super innovative things from these companies.

Well, let's not forget Silverstone's Sugo SG01-series (still in production OMFG), the unique FT03 "true tower case", their many HTPC cases that ventured in many sizes and forms. While the RVZ01 is not a risk-taker, it's still very much SFF at only 14 liters. Compared to Corsair that's miles ahead. Even this Bulldog contraption is over 20L and it required a proprietary cooler and very iffy design to close the lid on.

 

[rawr]

Well, let's not forget Silverstone's Sugo SG01-series (still in production OMFG), the unique FT03 "true tower case", their many HTPC cases that ventured in many sizes and forms. While the RVZ01 is not a risk-taker, it's still very much SFF at only 14 liters. Compared to Corsair that's miles ahead. Even this Bulldog contraption is over 20L and it required a proprietary cooler and very iffy design to close the lid on.

I agree. I've always considered Silverstone to be more adventurous though, with Corsair tending to try to appeal to the mainstream market (imo).

 

[Vittra]

Between Silverstone's cases and PSUs, they have taken a ton of risk spearheading this stuff for years now. Ignoring their SFF stuff, reducing the size of ATX down to the FT05 to try and show people that 60L+ cases are no longer relevant has met with a significant amount of criticism. While I agree the FT05's execution (currently using one) isn't perfect, they've shown that they've taken philosophy of size and efficiency to heart across their whole range of products.

Corsair expanded by taking some serious risks with PSUs. They no longer need to do so to maintain healthy profit and marketshare. Good for them.. but bad for us .

 

[jeshikat]

The original manufacturer (OEM) of the SF600 is High Power, which lately has made a strong entry into the SFX PSU market where up until now, Enhance Electronics dominated the field.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/corsair-sf600-sfx-psu,29317.html

Interesting if it's true. So that would give us two players in the high-wattage SFX PSU market.