Battle of the Boutiques Part 2: A4-SFX | S1 | SM550 | SM560
The following article is for Part 2 of our multi-part review. If you haven’t already seen it, you can view Battle of the Boutiques Part 1 here. We had originally intended to release the 2nd and final part of this review back in July but due to immature BIOS issues with Ryzen’s latest CPUs, we experienced some questionable voltage results and instability, so we decided to wait it out. Finally, on the 15th of August, ASUS provided a BIOS update(1.0.0.3 Patch AB, still not perfect) to their ROG STRIX X470-I GAMING motherboard, so I decided to crank through this in …
SilverStone’s VT01 – TJ07-esque uSFF!
Recently, I looked at SilverStone’s VT02 – a subtle Mini-STX case along the lines of the ASRock DeskMini styling. Aftermarket cases for the M-STX form factor aren’t exactly common, but SilverStone does have two compatible models in the range – today’s review is of the VT01, the cheaper sibling to the VT02. Inspired by the SilverStone TJ07 – an iconic (albeit huge) case of years gone, the VT01 is an ultra small case for the SFF generation. Built entirely from SECC steel, the VT01 isn’t exactly a pure descendant of the TJ07, but it does offer great value and a …
The Scythe Big Shuriken 3. Big performance at a small price.
We would like to thank Scythe for providing us with a review sample of their Big Shuriken 3 heatsink. Without their generosity, this review would not be possible. Scythe, the heavy hitting underdog of the HSF world, has once again hit us with another surprise entry into the SFF market with their Big Shuriken 3. At just 70mm tall, it will be interesting to see how this cooler compares to the competition. Packaging The packaging looks exactly like we have come to expect from Scythe. There is not much else that can be said besides it doing a adequate job …
Battle of the Boutiques Part 1: A4-SFX | S1 | SM550 | SM560
With the tremendous success of the Dancase A4 from community member Dondan, we now have several boutique cases that feature that iconic sandwich hardware layout. For anyone unfamiliar with the terminology, the sandwich layout is MOBO/CPU/RAM/PSU on one side and GPU on the other. This layout is made possible by the use of a flexible PCIe riser cable that plugs into the PCIe slot on your motherboard and relocates that slot to the backside of the motherboard. This layout is extremely efficient not just for space savings, but it also provides hardware with the ability to pull in fresh air …
